Rotary gets acquainted with ‘the long goodbye’

There’s a reason people call Alzheimer’s Disease "the long goodbye."
Often, before a diagnosis is made a person will see his or her marriage be affected or may lose his or her job.
“Multiple things happen before we ever connect those dots,” said Michele Veillon, program director and dementia trainer for ElderOutreach.
Veillon is also the president of the Lafayette Regional Alzheimer’s Board. “That’s why I call it the ‘identity thief,’ because it takes everything.”
Veillon spoke to the Rotary Club of Crowley Tuesday about the disease, a cause she has spent much time educating herself and others on.
The disease, however, is leaving more questions than answers these days. In part, that is due to just how differently the disease can affect people. It is for that reason that education, awareness and fundraising — particularly for research — have become so important in the fight against the disease.
In Acadiana, the fundraising efforts have been going strong, according to Veillon with events like the annual walk in the fall and a recent “Blondes vs. Brunettes” flag football game pulling in amounts in the six-digit range.
Education in the area is also strong with informational resources.
Alzheimer’s Disease is still a work in progress, and everyone is learning on the fly with it. However, what Veillon and those at ElderOutreach are teaching at their facilities is simple in regards to dealing with someone with the disease: Live in the moment with them.
Whereas for years many thought the way to go was reminding a patient about something, playing the “remember game” and/or using “Don’t you remember...”, people are now seeing that may be doing more harm than good to the patient.
Now, ElderOutreach facilities that tend to Alzheimer’s patients, are being taught to approach the patient calmly, from the front and with a smile. Furthermore, if a patient believes it is 1950, then “it’s OK to live in 1950 with someone.
“Stepping into someone’s reality helps you be with them right there, right now,” said Veillon. “When you think about it, those moments are what define their life — moment by moment by moment.”
In other words, it is okay for the caregiver to step into the patient’s reality, which can change at a moment’s notice.
Patience is also stressed to caregivers.
On the other side, Veillon also stressed the importance of early diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease as there are now medications that are used to help slow the symptoms from spreading and because there is no way to reverse what is lost.
Earlier in the meeting Crowley Middle Youth Act Club President Jeremy Johnson updated the Crowley Rotarians of the middle school organization’s year thus far.
According to Johnson, the club has participated in three service projects, collecting clothes to be donated to Crowley Christian Care Center and making donations to the Leukemia Society and American Heart Association.
Johnson also said as part of their international service project, the school would once again be hosting a Jean Day in early April for Rotary International’s Polio Plus. That donation will be made by the club at the District 6200 Conference, which will be held in Crowley later that month.