Alzheimer’s, the journey continues: for Luella
BY KATHY TANDBERG
BHG News
Part 2 of a 2 Part series on Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, is a disease with no known cure.
It’s also become a continuing part of life for Luella Meyer and her six children ever since the 81-year-old Gackle resident’s diagnosis in October 2008.
The journey began the same year the family patriarch, Harry, was diagnosed with cancer. Harry looked after his wife of nearly 60 years, with help as needed from their six children from the beginning of her diagnosis until his passing in 2013.
It was then the torch was fully passed to the couple’s children: Cynthia Willey, Jamestown; Barb DeWitt, Hazen; Jeannette Rost, Washburn; Bonnie Denning, Gackle; Alan Meyer, Gackle; and Peggy Fettig, Jamestown.
As the siblings have learned throughout their mother’s journey, Alzheimer’s worsens over time. It’s a progressive disease in which dementia symptoms worsen gradually over a number of years.
In the early stages, memory loss is mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer’s, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to their environment.
