YOU HAVE TO LAUGH OR ELSE YOU’LL CRY
Ruth D. Watkins-Leech
Published by Ruth D. Watkins-Leech at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Ruth D. Watkins-Leech
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means, whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in articles and reviews.
Ruth D. Watkins-Leech
19092 Swallow Way
Penn Valley, CA 95946
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I dedicate this book to all the caregivers out there and I hope this book will be an educational tool for caregivers present and future. Caregivers must take care of themselves in order to care for others. This cannot be stated strongly enough.
For each copy of You Have to Laugh or Else You’ll Cry sold, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Research Association and to our local adult day-care program, Helping Hands. I also want to contribute to the local Alzheimer’s Outreach Project, which is operated out of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital in Grass Valley.
Alzheimer’s Research Association
866 Union Plaza, Suite 508
New York, NY 10017
Helping Hands
Colleen Bond, Chair of the Board
PO Box 309
Penn Valley, CA 95946
Alzheimer’s Outreach Project
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Foundation
155 Glasson Way Grass Valley, CA 95945
Evelyn Donaldson, Coordinator
(530) 274-6350
Aunt Alice and the Pine Tree: 1996
Alice Settles into Her New Home: 1997
What we learn to do, we learn by doing.
--ARISTOTLE
The second thing to go is the memory,
and I forgot what the first is.
--RUTH D. WATKINS-LEECH
I acknowledge and thank my late husband, John E. Watkins, for all of his support and help with my late aunt. He was my rock during this time. He kept me sane and focused on taking care of myself. John’s humor and love in the face of death blessed and inspired me indescribably. Thank you so much for being my “Sugarpuss” and for your contagious laugh.
I am so very grateful for my present husband, Raymond P. Leech, for his loving support and encouragement to forge ahead with this book. Ray has a special talent for living and giving. His humor never ceases to amaze me. He is sweet, romantic, and the best thing that ever happened to me.
Special thanks to my friend, Sunnee K. Roman, for giving me the information about her publishing editor so I too could use her. Her advice was invaluable when it came to my dilemma regarding writing a dedication and acknowledgments.
I give lots of kudos to Barbara Larsen for critiquing my book and assisting me with making improvements to it.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to Karen Bleske, my publishing editor. What a pleasure to work with such a multitalented person. Her dedication to the editing and publishing process gets kudos from me.
No dignity or grace is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The person’s quality of life deteriorates through time. Alzheimer’s disease, referred to as AD, is insidious, relentlessly robbing loved ones of their minds. It slowly destroys a person’s mind, then his or her body, and leaves those who care in the position of being caregivers. The victim suffers physically and mentally and caregivers suffer emotionally. When the caregivers are family members and the care is full time, the caregiver often is traumatized and sometimes his or her health fails before that of the loved one who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
My mission in telling this story is to let others who have loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease know that they’re not alone, and that there is help.
ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION WARNING SIGNS
The Alzheimer’s Association states that every 70 seconds, someone will develop Alzheimer’s disease. By mid-century this incidence will increase to every 33 seconds.
The following lists some changes one will see in a loved one with Alzheimer’s in the early stages:
1. Memory loss;
2. Challenges in planning and solving problems;
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure;
4. Confusion with time or place;
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships;
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing;
7. Misplacing of things and loss of the ability to retrace steps;
8. Decreased or poor judgment;
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities;
10. Changes in mood or personality.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Northern California one will see these changes in an Alzheimer’s victim:
1. Denial of his or her problems;
2. Display of anxiety and/or depression;
3. Change for the worse in his or her condition after a major lifestyle change;
4. Worsened symptoms in the evening;
5. Disturbed sleep;
6. Panic after too much excitement.
INFORMATION AND HELP AWAIT ONLINE