I just heard on the news that Jay has been granted full conservatorship of his wife of more then 40 years, Mavis Leno has been diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's disease. Having seen my mother-in-law and her sister go through this, I feel really bad for Jay and would write him a letter if I thought there was a chance in hell that he would ever get it. Alzheimer's sucks.
Yeah, it is old news, Jay's wife has been suffering with it for some time now. Yes, Alzheimer's sucks for sure. My part time job is working for Long Island Alzheimer's and Dementia Center. I drive them around every week so I see it up close. It is a devastating disease. https://www.lidementia.org/
No I work at Long Island Alzheimer's and Dementia Center. I pick up participants with Alzheimer's, and other forms of dementia, at their homes, and bring them to the center. I bring them home in the afternoon. I drive one of 2 vehicles they have. A GMC bus conversion, or a Ford Transit 350HD Van. It's a great part time job, but I get to see what that disease does to the participants and their caregivers. It's an eye opener, and makes me thankful my parents never suffered like that.
As I posted earlier, my late wife's mother and her mother's sister both had it. It was my wife's lifetime worry that she would get it as well. Fortunately she didn't. It was Cancer - another disease that sucks - that finally got her.
Larry, thanks for giving, even though it's a job too. Kindness plus + excellent public transit experience...nobody could do it better! Devon
Thanks Devon, When I retired from NYC Transit in 2012, I really didn't intend to work anymore. About a year later, in 2013, I had lunch with a few retirees, and one of them was working for Long Island Alzheimer's Foundation (LIAF). He told me all about the job and it sounded so good, I said to him, "Hey, if they need any help, call me". About 3 weeks later, he calls me. He says, "get your butt down here, they just fired a guy because he kept hitting things with the bus" They had been hiring drivers out of the Pennysaver, and needless to say, they weren't getting quality people. I went down there, and the Executive Director comes out with a stack of papers, and says, "you are hired, fill these out, we need to do a back ground check, and you need to go for a drug screening". After that, they trained me by having me ride along with the other drivers for two weeks. I have been working there ever since. By agreement, they pay us 4 hours for each shift. There is an AM, where you pick people up at their homes and bring them in, and a PM shift where you bring them back home. It NEVER takes more than 2 hours though to complete a shift, so I am, in effect, making double the hourly rate. In addition, I get 10 vacation days, 8 personal days, and there are many paid holidays. They give you holiday pay only if you are scheduled to work for that day. I work Mondays, and Wednesdays, (AM and PM), and AM only on Friday. I clean up in Holiday pay, since most Holidays are on Monday. Anytime they close due to weather, or other reasons, I get paid. I never thought I would work a part time job like this, but you can see why I am still there. The staff are really nice people, not surprisingly. There is always a bevy of beautiful young social workers rotating in and out of there, so it really is a pleasure to work there. They have Holiday parties, and staff appreciation parties where they cater in some great food. The sad part is, that you form relationships with the participants, and then see them decline, and sometimes pass. There are others with other types of dementia though, that have been there for many years. It really is a feel good job the overwhelming majority of the time. There was a time when LIAF was struggling financially. They asked the drivers at the time to bear with them as they didn't want to furlough anyone. We had 4 drivers at the time, so we all took a reduction in hours. They then were able to recover financially, and they moved to another location and became Long Island Alzheimer's and Dementia Center. We now have 5 drivers and run 2 buses a day. Through the years, we have lost drivers. We lost one, due to COVID. Every time they needed a driver, I would be able to find someone that had retired from Transit. During the COVID era, they closed, and to my surprise, I was able to collect unemployment, with all the bonus money. In addition, I was paying into Social Security, so that helped to up the amount I eventually started to collect at Full Retirement Age. So all in all, this job has been one of the best things that has happened to me, and the reason why I am still there. Here is a picture of a Staff Appreciation, bowling and Pizza outing they paid for back in 2021. I am the last one on the right.
I’m caregiver for my mom who has dementia and is now in the memory care wing at a nursing home. It is sad to watch loved ones deteriorate with this condition.
Larry, thank you for this. And Jim, sorry to hear. Being a part of GM again after ten years away from the workforce taking care of wifey, I'm also taking part in their inclusion side. Several avenues to make sure we take care of each other. I am able and available to those who are in the caregiver role. I'm not an expert, just one to offer my insight.. And Jim, stay strong, smile even when it hurts. My fav Star Trek character was Spock, 2nd McCoy. "Dammit Jim, I'm a Doctor, not a magician". Though I wish I was. Devon
Larry ! What a great thing to do!!!!! Yes so devastating to see and loose people you love to this ugly monster called alzheimers/dementia!. One of my Buick buddies has it! And also Mom, my best friend!. Getting so very hard to see her! A blessing is that she still knows me! Wouldn't wish it on anybody! Didn't think so many people would be missing at this point ,would no longer be in my life! Not pleasant to watch deterioration of your loved ones! Lost Dad along time ago not to dementia, even so watched him deterate, so hard.Dad was 6' 4" wore a size 1 7 ring size and weighted over 300 at his heaviest,he weighed less than half when he passed! I feel blessed and fortunate that I got to spend four more years with him from when he got sick. Many people never get a chance or even to say goodbye! I even quit working to help take care and spend time with him even as hard as it was! In closing , spend time when you can with the people of importance in your life!
Both of my In-Laws had dementia and died within the last 6 months. It's tough to witness the decline in your loved ones.
We had to remove all of the mirrors from my mother-in-law's house (except one on the inside of a closet door). She was convinced that the lady she saw in the mirrors was stealing her clothes. Sad.
Get off the carbs and sugar in general. Your body can make its own if needed. You need salt to live. Sugar and carbs can be stopped all together.
I have long felt it to be interesting that NaCl (salt) which we need to survive, is made of Sodium and Chlorine, which by themselves if eaten in any quantity, would kill you.
I stopped adding salt to my food 50 years ago. There is plenty in most foods, especially anything processed. My blood pressure is excellent.
Pretty much the only things I add salt to are salads and Eggs. If you purchase either Campbell's or Progresso canned soups, check the labels for sodium content, it's scary. Another item to look out for is soup stock that usually comes in a box with a screw lid. I will only use the "no added salt" versions. My blood pressure is fine, but I don't know of any good reason why I should want to load my system with salt.
