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Show Review - Thursday, November 10, 1983 - Page 3 Mourner's Disease: There is help Support group offers v helping hand for stricken I ... A I :-- - -- 1 - . f ' f ... ' in. i Now she has gone from 115 pounds to a mere 88 pounds in the last two years. She won't eat solid food so Melvin gives her food, food supplements, and medication in liquid form. Phyllis is in the falline staee. sometimes walking across her room she falls gashing her head. Melvin isn't able to ever get a full night's sleep, as his is a constant vigil. He keeps gates across stairways and chairs in front of plate glass windows so she won't walk into them. He also keeps tapes of her favorite music and plays them for her as it seems to comfort and soothe her. Melvin describes a helpful, loving family of sons, daughters, sisters and sister-in-law- s who take Phyllis into their own homes and care for her, in order to give him a little rest. Melvin comments on his "wonderful neighbors" who want to help although he never knows if Phyllis will accept them or not. She doesn't accept strangers too well, sometimes chasing everyone, even himself out of her room. " Melvin mentions to Jack that he appreciates the Support Group and the work they are doing to help others not to feel so alone in their struggle with Alzheimer's. Jack first learned about the disease when his brother became ill. He became involved in going to the meetings and seeing the tragic situations that families had to cope with. "I just thought someone should help," Jack said. Mark Payne, Support Group Director, needed a representative to help get the message out to those needing this service, so Jack accepted the challenge. "It is something I can really get my heart and soul involved with," Jack noted. Jack would encourage all those who must care for someone who is disabled in mind or body, even if it's not Alzheimer's, to come join with them at their meetings every third Tuesday of the month at the Timp View Mental Health Center at 1161 East 300 North in Provo. It begins at 3 p.m. All family members and friends are invited. "We offer lectures by prominent doctors, films, tapes, literature and also an open discussion so that people won't continue to feel ashamed or singled out as the only one suffering a tragedy. We also try to help them find nursing care homes and doctors who are available for consultations, and we will do anything else we can," Jack adds. He encourages anyone with questions, or needing help to "Call anytime," he says, "day or night I care." His number is 785-784- ADRDA, Alzheimer's Disease - and Related Disorders Association, Inc., is a National Organization with Chapters in 35 states, including Hawaii. Pat Sackett is Utah's President, she can be reached at 232 Poke Avenue, Ogden. Her phone number is 392-558- A.B. Blake can be reached at 1481 Woodland Ave. Salt Lake City, at 467-856- Mark Payne, Support Group Director, can be reached at 373-440- 0 extension 302, or Bobby Pillar at 373-739- Yes, someone is there, and someone cares. We wish the best for the Deitlaf and Gillie families, and all those who suffer. editor's note: This is the second i final part in a series on Maimers Disease, gv G'WEN PETERSON J Outside, the world was alive with hang"8' ijeaves were turning red, and amber, clinging to life in k Lown special way. Inside the lovely home in Provo k (Three Fountains, I met Melvin fc ffillie, who was clinging to the life Cj jjjg wife with love and sorrow u colored my world that Autumn . . t Jack Fisher was also with us. J - jg the Alzheimer's Support - Group president in the Provo area. 3 K was he who introduced me to the p; j nietlaf s and now to Melvin Gillie. Melvin has learned much about a isease that he wasn't aware of a i0 years ago. Alzheimer's had been coming on his wife, Phyllis, the last eight to 10 years, with the i kit years being confining- - This last year she lost A ha ability to reason, not even A Rowing her husband's name. J It began with Phyllis telling him f that the stove was not working & properly, she was burning things. &l After calling a repairman several s times and finding nothing wrong 'r. nth the stove, they knew that was o not the problem. She went to the ji.; ifaipanogos Mental Health Clinic fhere they suggested she have a a: brain scan. It was found that she had Alzheimer's. It is important that a thorough evaluation be made when a person suffers from difficulty in thinking remembering, or learning or shows changes in personality. A complete evaluation tells you and the doctors several things: 1- - The exact nature of the person s illness. 2. Whether or not the condition can be reversed or treated. 3. The nature and extent of the disability.. 4. The areas in which the person can still function successfully. 5 Whether the person has other health problems that need treatment and that might be malting her mental problems worse. 6 The social and psychological needs and resources of the sick person and the family or care giver ' and . . 7. The changes you can expect in the future. There are many reasons why a person might develop the symptoms of dementia. Some of these are treatable. If a treatable problem is not found because an evaluation is not done, the afflicted person and her family may suffer unnecessarily for years. Certain diseases can be treated if they are found promptly, but can cause irreversible damage if they are JACK AND SUSAN FISHER in their Lindon home. Jack is the support group president for the Provo area. He is there, he cares. neglected. A typical morning begins for Melvin with him shaving and dressing before he wakes Phyllis. He then tries to persuade her to bathe and dress, which sometimes takes him an hour, leaving him drained of energy. He then fixes and feeds her breakfast which is nerve racking. "It is hard to see a person who is vivacious, proud, active, with lot's of accomplishments, just deteriorate. She worked in Scouting for five years, she never missed a hike," Melvin said. Newspaper seeks family who needs Merry Christmas j ' As announced in last week's publication, this newspaper is B seeking a deserving family to be 2 presented with a special Christmas of donated gifts. One family living somewhere in North Utah County will be selected from readers' suggestions as the recipient. "So far, we have received a few good suggestions," says Publisher Brett Bezzant, "but we will consider si many as possible between now and Friday, November 18. Since we want their Christmas to be a total surprise, their names will be held in strictest confidence. Those who Bubmit names ofsuggested families should do their best to tell us why the family deserves and would appreciate such a gift." "Once we have selected this year's family, we will ask our readers and advertisers to donate the makings of a great Christmas. To help with gift ideas, we'll give as much information about the family as possible, such as age and gender of the children, without revealing their identity," he says. "We hope that giving a special gift to a deserving, yet unknown family will be a very positive experience for every member of the family in the true spirit of the season," concludes Bezzant. Please submit suggestions in writing to the American Fork office at 59 West Main no later than Friday, Nov. 18. $2,000 damage in auto mishap An accident on Nov. 1 at State Road 89 and 900 South resulted in serious damage to two cars, according to the Pleasant Grove Police Department. Officer Bert Bean reported that cars driven by Paul Allen Lamb, 1375 W. 500 N., Provo, and by John Empey, 411 E. State Road in Pleasant Grove, collided resulting in damage of $2,000 to each vehicle. No one was injured in the mishap, the officer said. Christmas Special a pictorial history of the "Lindon, Our Town" town of Lindon oTT from 1861 to 1983. 3 Hardbound, 8 x 11, 300 pages cuJI$18 until Dec. 31st - then $25 Name Address Phone Number Lindon Historical Society Make checks payable to: 383 w Lakevjew Road i ik.l orfo LIIIUUII, ULdll OtUO plILet SOUNDS EASY help you llllp EAZE into the holidays ! xy The SOUNDS EASY MOVIE PASS is back!! MOV,EREOTAR$l(fD A : r ' ' ' " QjJ A $15 value. You save $5. Vj prfiV ! C 1 Members Only, Expires 113083 yJ I V :IT ;r LIFETIME $11(17) wlk MEMBERSHIP JI MJ x fvoW 1st two movie rentals FREE - K XSSX Expires 112183 t Where video is not a nllpir Raiders available Sideline, It S OUT t --- - Decisis only business!!! O-- -- Gil Ask about our Christmas layaway program. ljltK MEMBERS : Ask about our special price on : f mJ '7 VCR's, Stereos, T.V.'s, Radios, Blank Tape, Panasonic, Sanyo, j l)fi t General Electric, TDK, P.D. Mag., Bib, Alsop. r t 4 I Here's what you get at Sounds Easy: "l:rL' ; 1. Service, service, service. 6. No credit checks, no deposit, no hassle 1- - ...... j . 2. Movie selection (over 1200 movies) 7. Movie and movie rating expertise '"Vv. 3' More than 1 locatlon (5 locations in Utah County) 8. Plenty of close parking 4. VCR availability 9. n store specials lu. Members special price hiS. reservations Aviv SOUNDS EASY VIDEO 54 E. Main American Fork 756-826- 8 XN-- jr, 155 VV. Main Lehi 768-42- 36 Make jfrkinds with the future: Tbdayat . V. 4"4 cOOstoresworld LjCanllo 'District (Unturned from page 1) y .fifth grade is assessed each fall in j. the areas of reading, mathematics and language arts, plus social i studies, reference material and j idence. Grades 3, 7, 9 and 11 are tested in teh spring. The 62 percentile score means f: that that the average Alpine ? student scored at or above 62 percent of the students in the i country who took the battery. This f composite score is based on i averages of the three basic skill y Teas: Reading, mathematics and language arts. - In' individual areas, local students did well on the science fflj portion of the test with a 62 fj percentile score, but they scored Poorly in the area of reference matereials with a percentile Joking of 55. I tyhile the overall math score jme in at 61, Alpine students PPped to a 52 precentile rankign u the subcategory of computation - an indication that the school fflay need to focus the elementary .jj-- Bath curriculum more carefully on T computational skills of edition, subtraction, multiplica-- ; ton and division, district officials . said. ' Reading received an overall Wcentile score of 61, with rankings of 63 on vocabulary and 60 on comprehension. The fifth graders also exceeded national averages in all portion sof the Language ARts portion of the SRA with a composite ranking of 60 and the following subcategory scores: mechanics 60, usage 60, spelling 58. The spelling score now parallels the other portions of Language Arts which may indicate that the district effort to bring spelling scores up to other scores has been effective. The percentile ranking for the social studies portion of the SRA was 58. "While the scores only depict the status of our fifth grade students," Cox said, "they do give us some indication of the strengths and weaknesses of our elementary curriculum. The uniformity of the scores for the three important areas of math, reading and language arts, for instance, is encouraging. "The data suggests, however, that math computation and spelling could receive further emphasis," Cox continued. "In addition, the specific student scores which are being printed for teachers will be helpful in the meeting of individual student needs." |