November is National Family Caregiver Month. Governor Cox has also declared November as Family Caregivers Month in Utah. Are you a family caregiver?
Guest Writers Blog
This blog presents the ideas and creative thinking of some of Utah's talented older adult writers. Their submissions are to inform and entertain, not to present policy or opinion positions of the Utah Commission on Aging. Enjoy.
At this year’s 4th of July neighborhood breakfast, I met my new friend, Dr. Bruce Jasper, a neuropsychologist. After explaining why my husband wasn’t with me (he died 3 years ago of Alzheimer’s) and his wife wasn’t with him (the breakfast food didn’t fit into her healthy lifestyle), we had a very interesting discussion about lecanemab, the latest FDA approved drug purported to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s, and how its effects compare with those of intensive lifestyle changes.
As an elderly person, attempts to fraudulently take my money are frequent. Here are some examples and the things I’ve learned to do to keep that from happening.
In 2010, when my dad was 90, he lost $4,000.00 to a combination lottery/bad-check scam. I looked at his bank account online almost daily, but when I asked him why he had withdrawn that large amount, he wouldn’t tell me. He said something like, “I can’t tell you now, but you’ll be so happy in a few days.” Then I saw that he’d deposited a check supposedly drawn on an Idaho Falls, Wells Fargo bank for $4,000. After a 3-day bank holiday weekend, it “bounced.”
When my husband, Dennis, was first diagnosed as being in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, I was told to expect that he would gradually have more difficulty planning and initiating a healthy variety of activities, but that it would help his emotional health and mental abilities to interact with other people. Knowing this prompted me to take the initiative when it came to planning things we could do together, and to suggest things he could do on his own or with friends and family.