I heard somewhere that he doesn’t even remember that he was President.
Alzheimer’s is such a cruel way to go, not only for the patient but for the loved ones.
I believe the Reagans have been in seclusion for many years. This must be so hard on Nancy.
We discussed this a lot in some sessions we had on Hospice care, as we were talking about the dynamics of the different ways you could go and thinking about which one we would want. Considering that we all have to go somehow, when it comes to my feelings alone, this was the one I picked. It’s weird, maybe, but I fear facing death far more than I fear death, and becoming gradually unaware, to the point that I wouldn’t know what was happening when it happened, would probably be ideal for me. It would probably be tougher for my family, and I wouldn’t want to be a burden on them, but it would be the best for me.
As for Reagan, he has well outlived the expected natural history of Alzheimer’s disease. Not to mention that he’s 93 years old.
Did not know that - thanks, Otto.
Yes, Alzheimer’s is a lousy way to go. But as DoctorJ said, for the individual afflicted with it, they become gradually unaware of everything. Of course, this is no comfort for the family and friends that must watch somebody’s slow descent.
Slight hijack here, but I’d say amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) is probably a worse disease to get. Your mind remains healthy as your body becomes increasingly useless. - That’s scary.
The other day I was watching the Dean Martin roast of Frank Sinatra on video & got a bit sad when I realized that most the people (Martin, Sinatra, Milton Berle, George Burns, Redd Foxx, Lawanda Page, Jimmy Stewart, among others) had passed away. But what really made me sad was one who had not passed away yet- Ronnie. sigh God bless & take you to him soon, Sir!
Btw, Peter Falk & Ruth Buzzy were among the few still alive also.
Spoken like someone who has not had a relative stricken with Alzheimer’s.
Having your father not recognize you or your children is a tragedy.
I miss my dad.
Hitler died in a bunker. I feel for him, because people that die in bunkers need our love too. I sorta feel for the guy with Alzheimers that’s in a cardboard box in San francisco because he lost his job in 84 with no warning and didn’t know how to cope. The medical treatment he’s received was a slip of paper telling him that the hospital was closing.
I think its anti-etiquette to bump old posts here, but i just saw this in the news and thought it was relevant to this post.
“Reagan’s Health Said to Have Deteriorated”
They wouldn’t need to move much talent and equipment around. A canned new report about Reagan’s death covering his life made 2 years ago would still pretty much be current today. Basically, Reagan in his condition hasn’t done anything newsworthy in years. All that would be needed would be when the news report aired to add in what the official cause of death was.
Yeah, I’m sure most news organizations have had the “Reagan Death Tribute” filmed/written/HTML’ed and in the can for years. And now they are updating with any more recent information, such as Nancy’s fight for stem cell research.
Anybody remember when someone discoverd URLs into, I believe, CNN.com, that showed the death notice articles of many people who had not died yet? Did they have Reagan? IIRC, they had the Queen Mother, and it was several years before she passed.
For what it’s worth, I work in live TV, and we were on standby all day yesterday because it was thought (by the major networks) that Reagan had either died or was about to die at any moment.
Prescient threads, and the info was accurate – Reagan died about an hour ago (1:00 p.m. PDT).
That should be:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/05/reagan.health/index.html
Sorry 'bout that.
Thats what I thought too when I heard that the network was moving assets into positon. Still, the network was doing just that-- and all back in mid-May, too. Now we see why.
But, I was off by a month. Anyway…
I really didn’t care much for the guy but, best wishes to the Reagan family, and may the President rest in peace.
I don’t like to wish death on people, but I’m glad he’s died, finally.
My great-grandmother had Alzheimers, as well. Like Reagan, she was gone long before she was gone. Her death was, as much as I hate to admit this, a relief.
I’m sure Reagan’s family feel the same way, and probably feel the same guilt about it.
But at least they no longer have to watch a man they loved very much sink further away from what he once was.