O’Fallon, Mo. Man shares the challenges of caring for a loved one with dementia

O’FALLON, Mo. (KMOV.com) — Norman Henderson flips through photos from the past on Friday afternoon. He holds dozens of memories over the past 50-plus years that he and his wife, Jan, have been married.

His wife is now living in a nursing home. He was diagnosed with dementia about four years ago.

“Some painful things happened,” Henderson said. This included him losing his best friend and taking care of a sick mother. This was around the time he started showing symptoms.

“He started seeing things in the middle of the night. He started seeing pictures on the ceiling, and hearing voices in the closet. At first, it was periodic. Then, it got worse,” he recalled.

For a year they kept looking for answers. By the end, a neurologist at BJC diagnosed her with dementia with Lewy bodies, an extreme form of the disease. However, they had answers, and they could begin to move on.

“We got answers about the way she was acting, and we also got involved with the Alzheimer’s Association. They sent us a case worker and a social worker,” Henderson said.

After a year of in-home health care, she found that a nursing home was better suited to providing her 24-hour care. Henderson can also start paying attention to his health. He joined the association’s men’s support group.

“For families, maybe they just got a diagnosis and they need help understanding what to do next and what plans they need to make to ensure a higher quality of life, or maybe the disease has progressed and they are facing new challenges,” said Sarah Lovegreen, vice president of programs for the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Missouri.

Lovegreen said education is important, especially in the early stages.

Lovegreen said, “We educate on the 10 warning signs, therefore, changes in short-term memory, memory or difficulty doing new things. Maybe they have difficulty doing very simple tasks like finances, or cooking up a favorite recipe.” Be.”

Henderson advises others like yourself to reach out for support. “Talk to them and tell them your story, and they’ll listen,” he said.

Jan’s illness is now in a moderate to severe stage, but he said time and support have helped in his treatment. Although for now, he continues to take it once a day.

“You take the good days with you. You leave the bad days there, but you have to learn how to deal with them and let go because it will eat you up,” Henderson said.

NS Alzheimer’s Association Annual Walk It’s Saturday, 23 October. It is one of their biggest events in support of their programs and other resources the organization provides.