RonnyG Intervention

RonnyG CALLA Blog

I’d like to start by saying thank-you to Dr. Rachel Wu, her staff and instructors that were put together for this intervention.  All are patient, understanding and most importantly non-judgmental.  And I did learn new things in each class which will be useful in the future.

My initial thoughts were three easy classes to learn something new that I probably would not have taken on my own.  I based my effort on could be accomplished during class time and not expecting the homework load that would be required to actually be proficient and excel at any of the three classes, practice, practice, practice.

From the very beginning I was behind and did think about quitting after a few weeks, just not enough time with the “perfect storm” going on in my life.  My wife workman’s comp surgery, therapy and follow-up appointments, it seemed that the medical program was sabotaging my classes by having appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which happened to be the only days the doctor was at her clinic.  The workman’s comp program schedules everything as fast as they can to get a person healed and back to work as soon as possible.  Then there was post-surgery care-giving, two foreign students at a time from China, Japan and Korea.  With my wife being on the injured reserve status it was up to me to make sure students were awake, make them breakfast and sack lunch, taking to school and picking up, dinner, dishes, housecleaning, dog care/exercise and yard-work.  By the time I got around to study time I had no more energy.

I entered this program not being involved with or knowing anyone that cared for or related to people suffering with Alzheimer’s or dementia.  I thought it was A.D.D. for older people.  While recently talking to my sister and telling her about the A.B.L.E. Intervention Program that I participate in, she responded that she recently learned from our Canadian cousins that my grandmother her sisters were affected by the disease.  We moved back from Canada when I was 4 years old and there was not much contact with my mother’s side of the family until recently with social media, mostly FB.

During my career I was required to go to training seminars or formal schools to learn new regulations, environmental law, emergency response equipment and techniques, software and other requirements for my job.  These classes were typically out of town and they sometimes implemented the 200-mile rule to keep us focused and not handling business back at our homes or offices except emergencies.

You only get out as much as you put into the classes.