Daughter ready to step up to help with Alzheimer’s
Jennifer Challenger wants to do her part to help her father, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
“When I left for Japan in 2011, he seemed mostly normal. Maybe a few forgetful things, but I kind of chalked it up to age. Then when I came back to visit in 2013, he was so much worse. I was only here for three weeks, and I didn’t come back again until 2015. By that point it was pretty much full-blown. It was 200 percent obvious that something was wrong.
“I learned about it from my mom. Of course, she’s a nice lady and she tries to watch out for my feelings. So she was like, ‘OK, don’t get sad about this. But here’s what’s happening.’ Learning that my dad has Alzheimer’s was a real shock. It took me a long time to get used to it. I’m not totally used to it even now, but I’m getting better.
“He’s 73. He’s doing all right, but he has to be told to do certain things. Sometimes if you don’t tell him that he needs to go get something to eat, he doesn’t eat. He needs to be told to take his medicine, to brush his teeth, to shave, to take a shower, that kind of thing.
“It’s not easy. At some point my mom’s going to have to stop working so she can spend all her time taking care of him. When that happens, I want to be able to support them as best I can.
“My mom’s not saying anything. But I guess I’ve always been the type of person to put that kind of pressure on myself. To do what I believe is right. To take care of things.”
— Jennifer Challenger
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