The Beginning of the Beginning of the End

After a meeting with her doctor and the staff at her continuing care retirement community, we have decided to put J on palliative care. That means the doctor will withdraw all medications to manage any medical conditions (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc.), and the goal of her care will be to give her comfort.

Our children, J’s brother and I initially saw this as a death sentence and we have been grieving. After visiting J today, though, I’m not so sure. Of course I know that Alzheimer’s disease is a one-way ticket and J’s recent changes are precipitous.

Alzheimer’s disease is generally regarded as having seven stages. Examine a list of the conditions of Stage 7 and we’re there. Requires assistance with daily activities and personal care. Check. Unaware of recent experiences and her surroundings. Check. Lost the ability to walk, has increasing difficulty communicating, and is vulnerable to infections. Check, check, check. At this point, J sleeps much of the time and is uninterested in most food.

But when our daughter, L, and I visited today, J was much more engaged than she has been in weeks. L got J to eat one and a half cups of chocolate pudding — a huge accomplishment. J smiled. Repeatedly. We hadn’t seen that for a while. J swayed to Aretha and was entranced by our reading aloud from the first Harry Potter book.

Activating palliative care means that J gets additional services: a registered nurse will visit her 2-3 times a week, and a speech therapist will evaluate her ability to swallow. (Difficulty swallowing is a symptom of the end stages of Alzheimer’s.)

The cynic in me wonders whether the move to palliative care is all about insurance. Since the doctor ordered this level of care, there is no charge for the added services, for which I’m grateful.

J’s rally and the increased resources have not kept my heart from breaking at the realization that, while the end isn’t tomorrow, or next week, it is closer than ever.

Rabbi Simon Jacobson teaches that “there is nothing as complete as a broken heart.” As he has written, “[P]aradoxically, the more broken you are now the more whole you have the chance to become.” @meaningfullife

If that is so, the kids, J’s brother and I have an enormous chance to become whole.