In reading The Salt Lake Tribune recently and reflecting on the fiasco of the Salt Lake County recorder, I am reminded of a bigger and more global concern.
There was speculation for a good deal of time that Gary Ott — who died last week of Alzheimer’s disease — was not functioning “on all cylinders.” As I watched, my heart went out to him as it was becoming a public spectacle that he was clearly not capable of functioning in his position or even answering the questions posed.
We are now aware of the rather lurid details of the alleged advantage-taking of two female cohorts. The term exploitation comes to mind. I agree with The Tribune editorial that these positions should not be elected for a multitude of reasons which therefore made it difficult to remove him when he was found to be incompetent.
When he was being questioned, he clearly was clueless in how to answer even the simplest of questions. How sad that he had to endure the public spectacle that he found himself in. Why did it take so long for someone to come forward and take action?
Most of us are not unaware of the symptoms or behaviors of advancing dementia. Over 5 million people in the United States are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease. A new diagnosis for this awful disease occurs every 66 seconds. And many are much younger than in previous years, occurring in their late 50s and early 60s. Who is not astonished by that? It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. It is cruelly debilitating and it robs the individual of all of their capacity to be independent, free-thinking, communicative and to interact as well as many more sinister betrayals to the mind and body.
The last thing we should do as a culture is denigrate and make a public display of a person in that unfortunate position. As a hospice nurse for more than 20 years, I have observed how difficult it is for our culture to accept illnesses that cannot be cured. For many of us, the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is a disease worse than cancer.
Six years ago, my sister was working in a medical office doing reception-type work, when she was counseled and then summarily let go. Imagine a medical office not recognizing that she was struggling with details and not able to properly key in information? In the position she was in that was necessary for the job. Why did they not say, “We’d like you to take some paid time off and get checked out as this issue is so uncharacteristic of you.” Instead, they let her go and she suffered a double assault to her esteem. Do we lack all compassion in our culture?
In my mind there are several concerning issues here. We need to change them. Open discussion about the disease needs to be forthcoming. Testing at intervals in medical appointments. Much more money needs to be invested towards research to find a cure. We have no cure but also no treatment. Planning and talking about choices and options ahead of time for care, oversight, power of attorney for health care decisions should occur sooner. Our health care system and elder care options are nowhere near ready for the deluge that looms to take care of this population of people in a dignified, competent and caring manner.
But why are we so slow as a culture to confront and tackle these kinds of concerns? People such as Mr. Ott need advocacy, caring and concern and not to be vilified in the media and exploited by close associates. As a public, we should be more informed about memory loss and the key things to watch for. This information is readily accessible on the Alzheimer’s website. Let’s be a more caring culture.
Patricia Sadoski, Logan, is a long-time hospice nurse and a consultant for senior advocacy and independence with Cache Valley Senior Consulting.
