I read online People magazine today about Glen Campbell's family putting him in a memory centre. What disturbed me more than anything were some of the comments by a few readers criticising the family for doing this! Is it not bad enough that we have to watch our loved one deteriorate before our eyes without the added burden of people judging us when we do make a decision with regards to our spouses!
My hubby Paul and I are still early days yet. He is still quite independent. I have not reached the stage where a lot of you are with regards to my responsibility, but today feel like crying. How dare people judge Glen Campbell's family!
I am so thankful for this site. I am going to try for as long as I can to keep Paul at home. I've not been married 41 years to give up easily, but what I have learned from members with more experience, is not to let this disease take two victims. Today my heart goes out to the Campbell family and all the other people and families who have had to makethe painstaking decision to put their loved one in a care facility.
His significant other, spelled out for the skeptics in the press exactly why she placed him for his safety. she told that he drinks anything and that he is prone to grab knives and not give them back willingly. His daugher also told alot of specifics about his behavior. Maybe this open some eyes to the things that caregivers face. He had 5 caregivers and they said that they just could not watch him every minute. I am so sorry that they are having to face this in public.
I am not sorry they are having to share how he is. We need more people like his family to share exactly what this disease it, that it is not just memory problems. Yes, I am sorry he has AD (I was more upset to learn of Glen having it than my husband) but I am not sorry his family is being asked the questions. I am sorry for the cruel comments they receive. Call that selfish, but no one would care what you or I go through, they would pay very little attention or give it importance. But, if families like the Campbells will share, people will listen and maybe the government will get more serious about funding and research.
I was fortunate to see Glenn Campbell in concert on his "farewell tour". It was evident how much his young daughter cared for him. He became upset because he thought someone had given him the wrong guitar and she smoothed things out quickly. Several times between songs she seemed to come to his aid when he seemed upset. When he was singing or playing he was his usual talented self. Maybe I was looking for somethings that others might not have seen. Onlookers should not comment on situations they have no first hand knowledge. Every family has to do what they know is best for them. They must be heartbroken as we all know when that loss of a loved one comes. My dh was with me at the concert and we enjoyed the evening. This was a Christmas gift to us from one of our sons a few years ago.
Some people have fixed ideas of how things should be done. They believe that no one should ever go to a nursing home and that spouses or children (usually this means wives or daughters) should care for them at home. That allowing for others to care for our LOs equals abandoning them.
Glen Campbell Returns Home By Billy Dukes September 15, 2015 2:30 PM
Glen and Kim Campbell 2012 Rick Diamond, Getty Images Kim Campbell says her husband Glen Campbell is back home, and the family is taking his Alzheimer’s Disease battle one day at a time. The singer is usually healthy and cheerful, she says, but prone to physical outbursts, including one that gave her a black eye. Kim Campbell tells Country 92.5 (Hartford, Conn.) morning show host Broadway that her husband is in late stage six of seven stages of the disease. He can’t communicate and doesn’t understand others. He can, however, say short phrases. In a separate interview with the Lexington Herald-Ledger, she talked more about his speech. “He calls me Mrs. Campbell,” she says, “But he definitely understands smiles, hugs, kisses. He’s physically healthy, cheerful and content most of the time.” “I’ve been married to him for 33 years so I just intuitively know what he needs,” she tells Broadway. The difficulties for caring for someone with Alzheimer’s are becoming more well-known as the singer’s battle with the disease becomes more and more public. He chose to tell his story when first diagnosed, and two filmmakers documented it for the moving Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me documentary. Kim Cambell reveals they brought her husband home in July, and once again she’s his primary caregiver. “Sometimes he can be combative if you’re trying to help him get bathed or change his clothes or something and that’s typical with a lot of people with Alzheimer’s,” she tells the radio station. “He punched me in the eye … I had a black eye for two weeks.” According to HelpGuide.org, Stage 7 requires care for all functions and can last one to two and a half years. Campbell went public with his disease in 2011.
Read More: Glen Campbell Returns Home | http://tasteofcountry.com/glen-campbell-returns-home/?trackback=tsmclip
I haven't read the article yet, but does she say why he was brought home? His one daughter, from a previous marriage, had tried to cause some problems earlier on when he was placed - wonder if that had anything to do with the decision to bring him home.....
I am assuming his behavior has calmed down. They place him due to wandering and aggression. Although he still has episodes, I am assuming they are something they think they can manage at home - even though Kim says he gave her a black eye that lasted 2 weeks.
There is nothing more at the link =- just the article so don't bother going there unless you want to see pictures of Glen through out the years.
Yes, they have the money but interestingly when he was in the facility she had hired help come in the morning then Kim took over in the afternoon and evenings. I am sure there is help but Kim still wants to have his primary care.
I am glad they continue to educate the public when she talks about his behavior, speech problems, etc - to let people know it is more than just memory issues.
That is the link to the short interview she did with the radio station on 9/11/2015. Evidently they brought him home to see if they could handle him at home. Between the lines I take it if it doesn't work out he will go back to the facility.
Charlotte........Thank you for bringing this to our attention. You do so much for us here.
It seems as thought famous people are seldom effected by alzheimers, or maybe when they are caught up in it, they and their families feel embarrassed or ashamed by the crazy behavior it causes and don't want the public to know.
So isn't it wonderful that the Glen Campbell family is sharing their experience with alzheimers and even permitting a movie about it. Thereby promoting awareness.
We all know that Ronald Reagan had alzheimers but after he was diagnosed, we never heard anything more about it. I wonder if he ever gave Nancy a black eye.
George, that' s kind of funny - Nancy Reagan with a black eye!
After Charlton Heston & his wife announced that he had it & did one interview, never saw him again either. If I remember correctly (and sometimes that's pretty "iffy"!), he went rather quickly after that. Never saw Peter Falk, didn't even know he had it till he passed away. I hear tell that Sean Connery has it, but don't know if that's true or not. He surely hasn't been around for a long time.
I suspect that celebrities and their families don't want the public to see them, they want the public to remember them as they were. There are various reasons, anywhere from having been in the public and wanting to control how they are remembered (quite reasonable) to feeling that being seen as sick might affect income from sales of existing products.
I do wish the families would be more public and be dementia advocates. But I understand not wanting to share certain aspects of dementia.