Local Resident Hopes To Help Others Understand, Cope With Alzheimer’s

Part two of the story regarding the DSS statewide respite care program. Click here for Part one.

While politicians are making difficult decisions with Connecticut’s budget, it’s worth noting that the statewide respite program is helping, and has helped families, like Danbury resident John Whitcomb.

Whitcomb wears many hats. He’s the Chief Examiner for the City of Danbury. He sits on several boards and is a part of the Governor’s State Contractor Standards Board. But he says his most important task was caring for his wife, Farida, (Pita), who developed early-onset Alzheimer’s in her late 40s and passed away last June at age 55.

This is what Whitcomb had to say about the statewide respite program and how he was treated by the Department of Social Services.

“Nursing home care costs will absolutely bankrupt anyone, unless you’re a Rockefeller. The cost is going to wind up on the state (at 10,000 per month). Just by delaying the necessity of moving into a nursing home, the state saves very large costs,” Whitcomb says.

“She was able to make some use of the program,” Whitcomb says. “In her case, her death in June 2009 came more suddenly than I had anticipated. She did not need to be admitted to a nursing home, partly because we were able to use respite care. She would have certainly been eligible for a nursing home. So I think it’s clear in this case she did save the state money.”

“The paperwork for the program was reasonable. I know I found it more streamlined then most bureaucracy is,” Whitcomb says. “DSS treated me and my wife very well. And I’m not afraid to criticize government agencies.”

“Most folks think of Alzheimer’s as something your 70 year old Grandma gets,” Whitcomb says. “Most people think you can’t decide between the peas or the beans at the grocery store. All of a sudden, she would scoot down an aisle and my fear was that she would go out of the building before I found her. Wandering is a big thing with Alzheimer’s.”

“On one occasion when my wife was coming home from work, it’s a 30 minute drive home, and I hadn’t heard from her in 3 hours,” Whitcomb says. “She called me on the cell phone and said, “I don’t know where I am.” I had her read signs to me over the cell phone to determine where she was. She had driven out of state and I had to talk her home on the cell phone the whole way.”

“I think anyone who is needing to deal with a disease like this… it’s very important to have a strong network of friends and professionals in services that can be helpful and who know what to anticipate and what resources are available. That’s really critical. You’re not going to change the progress of Alzheimer’s… it’s inevitable that it leads to death, and progresses and gets worse. The rate is impossible to predict. But staying connected is extremely important.”

“It is also important for anyone with first hand experience to make sure folks in decision making positions realize the impact of these programs. The respite program saves money. It does not take a great deal of thinking to realize the alternative costs are far higher.”

For Connecticut residents who have questions about the program, here’s the Q&A with DSS’s David Dearborn.

James Zipadelli is a Connecticut-based freelance journalist. For more stories in the series, please go to OurParents.com or his Web site, www.jameszipadelli.com.