alzheimer'S IS CRUEL The Taxi Driver stopped at Block 115 of Hougang Avenue, helped the old woman up the elevator and knocked at the door. A young girl peeped out. "This woman was lost wandering in the street. She lives here?" the Taxi Driver asked. "She's my grandma. Thank you, Mister. Fare – how much?" "It's OK. We must help the old," he said, hurried down the lift. Alzheimer's, a sickness of old age, is cruel. You have to live with these sufferers to really know what it's like, or listen to people who take care of them. "I spend hours and hours looking after Mum: bathe her, feed her and change her diapers because she's incontinent. She doesn't know me. I talk to her and she doesn't say a word. I don't mean to sound unkind but I do asked, "Who is this breathing statue?" Says another, "Mum used to be orderly and tidy. Now I can't bear the stench in her room. Her small refrigerator smells of rotting food, her table littered with lizard droppings, and the bread stale and mouldy – and she just eats it. And she wanders out by herself – I can't stop her. Once she fell off the bus and broke three ribs." It's really pitiful. The pain is not so much on the patients who aren't aware of what's happening. The pain is on those looking after them. Taking care of our loved ones is time-consuming and a stressful effort. Sometimes we feel downcast and isolated and worn out by loneliness. Often we don't seek outside help because we believe only we can do the best for them, we love them. With love comes pain. Such love can only be born out of maturity. It's a totally unselfish sacrifice. A sacrifice we learn to cherish. Source: By Daniel T.S Kon, a Singaporean CA Survivor. Extracted from his collections "A Reason To Live". Edited by Jenny. |
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