SACO — Thursday was just another day for Sherri Rioux. Two of her sisters, Ruthie Foss and Nancy Tardiff, and her brother William Perrigo had gathered at her home in Saco. The members of the close-knit family sat outside by Rioux’s pool, enjoying each other’s company on one of the last warm days of summer.
From first impressions, people would be hard pressed to recognize that there was anything different about the family.
But for those who didn’t notice, 53-year-old Rioux would be the first one to tell you: she has Alzheimer’s.
Rioux was diagnosed with the disease at age 51. Her 58-year-old brother was diagnosed about three years before.
Of the seven siblings, three have been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.
Another sister, Beverly MacNeil, who has since died, had the disease. So did the siblings’ mother, Madelene Perrigo, who is also deceased.
For many, this degenerative disease, which attacks the nerve cells in the brain leading to memory loss, the decline of thinking and language skills and behavioral changes, would be devastating.
For Rioux and her siblings, however, who have been around the disease much of their lives, they handle this like most of life’s trials and tribulations: with grace, humor and together as a family.
The message that Rioux, her brother and their other siblings want people to spread this month, which is World Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, is that life still goes on and can be enjoyable even with this disease.
It was Rioux’s sister, Ruthie Foss, who first noticed something was different in her behavior.
“I noticed it in the way she talked, her actions,” said Foss.
For Rioux, one of her first clues that something wasn’t right was that she lost her ability to write and began having difficulty remembering some things.
The disease can be “frustrating,” she said, but Rioux has developed coping skills to deal with some of her lost abilities.
Foss, who is her constant companion, is a big help, she said. Foss almost always accompanies Rioux, who can still drive, to go grocery shopping, to doctors’ appointments and other places.
When Foss isn’t around, Rioux has a tablet she can use with voice recognition. She can speak into it and create her grocery list and other items she wants to remember.
Perrigo had a little tougher time when he first realized he had Alzheimer’s.
He was working at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, where he had worked for many years, when he first started to notice some cognitive difficulties.
“A supervisor gave me some paper to do the work,” work he had performed many times before, said Perrigo.
“I made it and the supervisor said, ”˜You missed something,’” he recalled. When Perrigo repeated the work to fix the mistake, “I did the same thing,” he said.
“That’s when I knew.”
At the end, said Perrigo, he was unceremoniously let go from his job at the shipyard. He was told he had 15 minutes to collect his things and leave.
Ann Vigeant, general manager of Home Instead for Seniors in Kennebunk, said the Perrigo may have been treated this way because many don’t realize that Alzheimer’s, which is perceived as an older person’s disease, can affect people in their 50s or even younger.
The purpose of World Alzheimer’s Month, she said, is to spread the word about the prevalence of the disease.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, about one in three families have been or will be touched by Alzheimer’s, and health experts predict the number of Alzheimer’s cases will increase by 50 percent in the next 20 years.
More than 35 million people worldwide have the disease, with more than 5 million in the U.S. alone.
Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but there are some drugs that can slow the progression and research for a cure and improved treatment is continuing. Fundraisers such as the Walk to End Alzheimer’s help fund such efforts. The walk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28, 10 a.m. at Payson Park in Portland and registration begins at 8 a.m.
Home Instead Senior Care of York County is offering free resources to help local families who are living with the disease. The resources are designed to help families manage the difficult behaviors that often result from the disease ”“ including aggression, belligerence, refusal to eat and confusion.
One resource is the Confidence to Care at Home kit, a collection of information, tips and resources to help handle difficult situations. To obtain a free kit, call Home Instead Senior Care at 985-8550.
Also available is the Alzheimer’s and Other Dementia’s Daily Helper, a smartphone app with free and immediate advice and tips for dealing with Alzheimer’s and other dementia behaviors and situations. The app is free and is available for download on Apple devices.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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