Wake up everyone

My mother is a very caring and giving person.  If someone needed help of any sort, she would help.  Mom knew what it was like being poor and going hungry so wherever and however she could help, she would.  Mom to this day has half a dozen 'foster kids' all over the world.  Even month money is automatically withdrawn from her account to help these 'foster kids' and she kept every card or letter they ever sent.  The funny thing is, her first foster kid is older than me, but he still gets twelve bucks a month.  Regardless, compassionate is a trait my mother had and one she made sure her children had too and we do.
Just the other day one of the residents asked about my brother Doug.  She was touched by him when he visited last month.  Marg doesn't get a lot of visitors and while Doug was here, he made a point of sitting and chatting with her everyday.  She said she was awed when she watched Doug carry mom in his arms down the hall and out to his car and that she will take the memory of that love and compassionate with her when it's her time.  She also told me that my mother is proud of us and even though she can't say it, she is.
For many years I was very political.  But I realized that a party or politician representing them can't really make changes.  The citizens of the world must make the changes and since realizing that I try to make changes.  I have worked for so many non-profits both as a volunteer and paid and it has given so much satisfaction in my life and in my career.  Most of the people I know, I've met through my work or volunteering with a variety of organizations.  So, my new cause is dementia awareness.
Over the past year I have been educating and educated about dementia.  So many people think that dementia is a normal process of ageing and that it's nothing more than forgetfulness.  It's not.  People die from dementia and it is a hell of a lot more than forgetfulness.  Forgetfulness is normal in ageing, dementia isn't.
I started looking at statistics and the information that I have gathered through researching and talking to people is shocking.  There are roughly 40,000 people in Alberta with some form of dementia.  Roughly, because many are at present undiagnosed.  In Canada there are 747,000 people with dementia or some cognitive impairment that will lead to dementia.  Worldwide there are 35.6 million people living with dementia.   Our world is a different world and people are living much longer than they did even 30 years ago.  For this reason and others, the numbers of people with dementia is continuing to rise at an astronomical rate.  The World Health Organization did a international study, the first, just this year and because of that study they have deemed the rising rates in dementia a public health priority.  Worldwide there is a new diagnosis of dementia every 4 seconds.   So, what does that mean in Canada.  That means that by 2030, in just 18 years there will be about 1.5 million Canadians with dementia.
Experience has taught me that numbers of people don't shock anyone anymore.  But what will shock most people is money especially us Canadians with our wonderful health care system.  Unfortunately our health care system isn't equipped to deal with dementia.  Studies done by the Alzheimer's Society of Canada, just this past September, show that the direct cost of dementia (meaning doctors, facility expansion, health care workers, etc, etc) combined with the indirect costs (meaning lost wages of care givers like myself) is already 33 BILLION dollars a year.  Do the math, by 2030 that will be over 200 BILLION dollars a year.  Just to put it in perspective, the direct costs and indirect costs for cancer will be 177 BILLION.
When I discussed this with a friend of mine, she said "Well, the government will have to build more facilities".
That is not an answer because this country doesn't have the money to build the amount of facilities needed to accommodate over a million people with dementia.  The extended care facilities that we have now in this country can't accommodate the demand already and by 2030 it will be worse. There are 97 extended care facilities in Alberta that house and care for about 14,000 patients with end stage dementia.  Where are the other 26,000 Albertans who WILL need extended care or are already in need of extended care.  Chances are a family member is caring for them.
What is even more frightening for anyone between 35-50 is it is our parents currently in the facilities or at greater risk of developing dementia.  Many of the mothers (67% of dementia patients are women) didn't work so their old age pension is the bare minimum and won't cover the expenses of extended care.  Which means that my generation will have to quit working to care for their parent or parents or work harder to pay for a facility. Then factor in that those of us under the age of 50 will not get old age pension because it won't exist anymore and if any of us in this age group develop dementia, who will care for us when we don't have the money for an extended care facility or while we wait for a bed in a facility.
When I look at this on a personal level, I get scared and I get angry.  I was told by a specialist that it is probable that I will develop dementia.  I don't have stats for the probability but I do have to think about it.  I can hope and pray that I don't develop it.  I can hope and pray that my kids marry rich or have lucrative careers.  My RRSP investments will cover some of the cost but not enough if I were to live 10 years in a facility and that means there will be no inheritance (except for my ashes) for my kids.
I've started to eat as much Omega-3's and fish and I possibly can.  I do what I can to keep my brain sharp.  I get plenty of rest.  I quit drinking and I will quit smoking (again).  I exercise and keep myself healthy.  I do what I can for preventative medicine.  These things I can do for myself and my kids and my grand kids but will there be a place for me to go in 30 years if and when I do need extended care.
Now, this gets me thinking differently.  Building facilities isn't the solution.   There needs to be a national plan for dementia like in other countries (there isn't one in Canada).  More money needs to be put into research and prevention and early diagnosis and possible medications and a CURE.  There needs to be funding and assistance in place for families who have no choice but to become a care giver to a parent or a spouse or a sibling.  There needs to be training for family care givers and allowances for equipment requirements.  There needs to be a lot done in Canada or in 30 years we will all be walking around like zombies, with no one to help us.
Mom is lucky, she has a loving and financially smart husband.  She has a daughter who is more than willing to put her life on hold.  She is in a wonderful facility.  Yes, it is a terrible thing that is happening to her but it can happen to anyone and it can happen to you and it can happen to me.  In fact, our chances of developing dementia are greater than the chances of developing cancer.  So, wake up everyone and eat some blueberries for breakfast and fish for lunch.

 A few years ago there was an elderly couple in the States that committed suicide.  The wife had end stage dementia and the husband had been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  They took their motorhome and went for a drive.  He shot his wife and then killed himself.  At the time I thought it so selfish of the husband to do such a thing.  However now that I have experienced first hand how dementia effects the loved ones and how a proud person must feel so helpless and lost.  I understand why he did it.  I don't condone it, but I get it.