It is said that Alzheimer’s Dementia is a disease of the brain but I believe that it is a disease of the heart! The diagnosis is given to you as a family member and the clock starts to tick.

First you watch your Mother decline, ever so slightly in the beginning: a few missed meds, forgetting some bills that need to be paid, a few falls here and there, simple activities of daily living becoming difficult tasks and then the changes become more significant and living alone is no longer a safe option. Choosing an adult home becomes an overwhelming decision for you as the decision maker and for your mother, who does not fully realize the gravity of the situation but does realize that her home, as she knows it, will no longer exist. The choice is made; the 300 mile trip is accomplished and within less than a week, your mother is in the hospital after falling in the adult home and sustaining fractures.

Now a nursing home placement becomes a consideration (the sandwich generation daughter attempting to accommodate the needs of all). You choose Wilkinson and the First Floor is assigned to be your mother’s new home and with the help of CNA's, LPN’s and RN’s as well as all the ancillary staff, the wheels are turning to make your mother part of their family.

Time passes, many escape attempts have been thwarted by staff, other accommodations have been made to allow for her increasing loss of reality while still maintaining a level of reality and comfort for her. And for you, her daughter, the true reality of the mind-stealing disease hits that day when she introduces you to staff as “Kay, my sister”. A tear is rolling down your cheek and staff, ever assessing, silently walk up and give you that hug, acknowledging the loss you are currently feeling for your mother—the one that has been your rock, has crumbled and no longer exists.

And the disease continues to progress…weight loss as she is eating and drinking less. Staff come to you with their concerns and questions and ask for suggestions. They have tried most things that you can think of, but willingly give the “outside the box” suggestions the 1,2 try. And the weight declines and the memory continues to fail, and the speech declines but worst of all – the singing stops! (No more Christmas carols from the lady that would sing Christmas carols all year long…and staff would explain to other residents that “it is Christmas in July”).

Then the phone call…can you come, “I think your Mom is having periods of apnea.” You rush as fast as possible not wanting your mother to take those last breaths alone and what do you find when you enter her room? She is surrounded by staff, tears rolling down their cheeks, holding her hands and providing her with companionship and love. This scene of compassion, care and tenderness from her St. Mary’s family is truly overwhelming, especially to an only daughter, who had become the silent visitor in the past few years.

A strong heart allowed my mother to continue for many more weeks, locked away in her own being, not eating, drinking little, and now completely dependent on staff for all aspects of everyday being. This St. Mary’s family became even more giving than they had been: bathing, changing, positioning, and offering nutrition but most of all, giving so freely of their love! It was a care that extended beyond a resident-worker relationship…it was the care you would see given by a caring and concerned family, i.e., daughter to mother, granddaughter to grandmother, great-granddaughter to great-grandmother. And when her moment came to join her own husband, she was surrounded in love by her daughter, her granddaughter, and the First Floor Wilkinson staff while Christmas music played quietly in the background. This beautiful passing allowed me and the staff our chances to say goodbye to our special lady and to assist in preparing her for her journey home.

For these and so many other reasons, I could not just pick one person at Wilkinson to be the DAISY nominee but I would like to nominate all the First Floor RN’s, LPN’s and CNA's (I cannot fail to mention the wonderful care displayed by the Housekeepers, OT/PT, Dietary, the Activities Department) and all who played such an integral role in making my mother’s last few years of her mysterious life magical.