Lisa Late on the violence and malaise of caring for her husband with Alzheimer’s disease

Toronto-Former Conservative Lisa Late talks about the violence she and her children are facing as her husband suffers from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease during a pandemic and interferes with normal treatment strategies. I am.

In a radio interview with Evan Solomon Show On Thursday, Late said her husband, Bruce Wood, 61, woke up frequently all night, wandering around the house, and cursingly wandering. His “behavioral and psychological symptom pain” occurs every day, all day long. He now calls her “mama”. She can’t work until he sleeps or hires a caregiver with him. It’s about 5 hours a day.

The situation is getting more and more intense. This summer he pushed one of their sons. Last week he hit Late.

“I know people are uncomfortable listening, but that’s the reality,” she told host Evan Solomon.

“This is where we always tell each other that it’s sick, not a person.”

Late and her sons had to take safety measures in the house. They hide knives and other potential weapons. They installed locks on the doors of several rooms in case they needed to retreat to one. They make sure their cell phones are always well charged. They install video cameras all over the house and know where he is if they need to leave.

“But the best precautions to make sure we have a drug that can help you contact your doctor and not be shy to ask for help,” she said. .. “That was the last six to eight weeks of our lives now.”

“I’m out of my league”

The COVID-19 pandemic means that the typical treatment strategy for someone like her husband is not possible. Usually he could be in the hospital and he could be “the usual blues I know” because they can “find the right drug cocktail” more easily I will.

“But what we have now is the situation where I am receiving telemedicine prompts and coaching,” she said. “I’m a nurse who graphs all reactions and treatments. I’m out of my league.”

Late was looking for a care facility where she could take over her husband, but with COVID-19 it’s more difficult. Moreover, it is unlikely that the house will take him “until his mood and aggression are equal”, so there is no choice but to own his own. “I don’t have the option of being hospitalized in a psychiatric ward because of COVID,” she said.

Earlier this month, Raitt Twitter thread About difficulties such as videos of Bruce roaming the bedroom, murmuring, and cursing. She said she felt the need to talk about it. On Thursday, she told Solomon that she knew she would share the story in her final memoirs since her husband’s diagnosis, but realized that she shouldn’t wait. Share now when it can affect the lives of others and “advance the story” about young-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Pressure on caregivers

Part of what motivated her is the stigma of admitting that caregivers are also struggling. After the diagnosis, the focus was “on the dignity of the sick,” she said. The focus is on trying cures, helping them live their best lives, and being “GungHo about wanting to find a cure”.

“And at some point it flips over and the amount of pressure acting really depends on the caregiver,” she said. “There are times when it’s not about people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, but about the caregivers around them.”

A Recent research From Australia, we found that 94% of caregivers with dementia lack sleep. This is a condition that can exacerbate the impact on health and increase the likelihood that caregivers will find space for long-term care for their loved ones.

“Enabling people with dementia [of which Alzheimer’s is a common cause] For many families, staying at home rather than moving to long-term care is the best result, but this does not compromise the caregiver’s own well-being, “said Aisling Smyth, co-author of the study. I will. New Edith Cowan University, News Release. “Therefore, maintaining sleep and maintaining the health of caregivers is essential to support people with dementia at home.”

For Raitt, one of the best ways to keep a caregiver healthy is to talk about it. “It’s good to talk about it,” she told Solomon. “I admit that I have the real problem of being inactive and negligible or active and able to deal with it.”

And sharing intimate details of her family’s personal fight against illness may help draw more attention to the study of Alzheimer’s disease or shed light on the breadth of suffering.

“Many families are suffering from exactly the same thing,” she said.