Logan Daily News

Net Watch
by Bob Green

"One day at a time" . . . are the words to a song that arise in my mind quite often when things aren't turning out the way I want. The events of this past week have brought that old song up several times. It's amazing how certain aspects of reality can snatch you away from things you like (in my case the computer) and put you into places that you really don't want to be. This week I became much more aware of the inner workings of my water supply than I ever cared to know about. The water heater started sending out wisps of electrical smoke earlier in the week. No matter how much you want to ignore a problem like that, it's not going to go away. When it rains it pours. My wife was outside at the back of the house and I was inside at the computer when I heard "Bob, you better come out here and look at this." It was said in such a way that my first reaction was to want to run in the opposite direction. Walking out onto the deck, I noticed my wife out in the yard by the pump house pointing down to where a stream of water was burbling up from underground I wanted to believe that it was a new spring miraculously come to life, or exceptionally wet ground or maybe the moles were having a water fight or something. Actually, I wanted to believe it was anything other than a broken underground water line. It was. Living out in the country holds many charms and pleasures. Maintenance on your own water system is not one of them. By Sunday afternoon, I was heading face down at a 45 degree angle into a three foot deep hole filled with cold muddy water a foot from the bottom. Raining? Of course! I'm a moderately good writer, but when it comes to cutting and splicing a piece of water pipe under yucky water with chunks of mud falling into my hair, I don't do so well. I repaired the wrong section. The right section will require a ton or two more dirt to be removed to get to it. Maybe my error could be related to the fact I was up until three thirty the night before installing a water heater that required the partial removal of a wall because it was only one inch too wide. If you pass by my house this afternoon and see a pair of legs sticking up in the air, be sure to turn up the radio and ignore any expletives you might happen to hear. It probably won't be computer jargon anyway.

Actually, I had intended for this to be a more serious column and my intentions were to spend much more time in research than I was able to spend. Last week I read Cliff Spire's very personal story concerning a family member and what may appear to be the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. This touches me because my family experienced the agonizing ordeal of watching my father go through terrible times due to a form of dementia. It nearly destroyed the family bonds and has left deep scars on all the kids. At the time we went through this, I wasn't involved in the Internet. Cliff's story made me wonder whether there might be any significant help available through the Net. After all, virtually every medical school and major hospital is linked into the Web in some way. A person might be able to find results of the latest research and if a cure is available. Are there Web-based support groups that might be able to provide emotional support and further information? What associations exist and is there information on where they can be reached? Are there government programs that can help? I'm not presumptuous enough to believe I'll turn up any information that a newspaper reporter couldn't find in a fraction of the time, but the desire to want to help prods me to look.

The good news is that many treatable conditions exist that can have symptoms similar to Alzheimer's Disease. The bad news is that if a person has Alzheimer's, there is no known cure. A wealth of information was found at this Internet site (http://www.noah.cuny.edu/wellconn/alzheimers.html). It goes into great detail about the disease, who gets it, what causes it, how it can be prevented, what the symptoms are, what the latest treatments are and I'd like to quote them on their twelve suggested steps for care givers:

Twelve Steps for Care givers

1.Although I cannot control the disease process, I need to remember I can
control many aspects of how it affects my relative.
2.I need to take care of myself so that I can continue doing the things that are
most important.
3.I need to simplify my lifestyle so that my time and energy are available for
things that are really important at this time.
4.I need to cultivate the gift of allowing others to help me, because caring for
my relative is too big a job to be done by one person.
5.I need to take one day at a time rather than worry about what may or may
not happen in the future.
6.I need to structure my day because a consistent schedule makes life easier for
me and my relative.
7.I need to have a sense of humor because laughter helps to put things in a
more positive perspective.
8.I need to remember that my relative is not being difficult on purpose; rather
that his/her behavior and emotions are distorted by the illness.
9.I need to focus on and enjoy what my relative can still do rather than
constantly lament over what is gone.
10.I need to increasingly depend upon other relationships for love and support.
11.I need to frequently remind myself that I am doing the best that I can at this
very moment.
12.I need to draw upon the Higher Power which I believe is available to me.

I don't want to take too much from one site, but something else that was written here might be comforting for some to read concerning some Alzheimer's patients. Not all afflicted individuals are that hard to get along with:

" Although much attention is given to the negative emotions of Alzheimer's
patients, some patients become extremely gentle and sweet?natured, retaining
an ability to laugh at themselves even after their verbal abilities have
disappeared. They appear not unhappy but to be in a drug like or "mystical"
state focusing on the present experience as their past and future slip away.
Encouraging this state can bring some comfort to a care giver."

My space is up, but to sum it up, I'd have to say that sometimes life is going to pull you right into the pit. It's up to you whether you fill it with angry expletives or gently sing "One day at a time". Surf safe, and we'll meet again next week.