‘A Gradual, Terrible, Horrible Progression’; Dementia Devastates Patients And Their Spouses
Four Californians open up to The Desert Sun about how they coped as their husband's or wife's disease progressed.
The Desert Sun:
When Dementia Upends A Marriage: Inside The Emotional Journey
The car was already packed for Park City when Dick Marks asked his wife a question that brought their summer plans to an urgent halt and further tested the strength of their 26-year marriage. Driving 10 hours from Rancho Mirage to northern Utah was already a much simpler journey than the worldwide touring they’d continued together even after Dick suffered a major stroke a decade earlier. Dick’s walker hadn’t stopped him, with Barbara by his side, from seeing the palaces of St. Petersburg and the grasslands of Africa. Now Barbara had decided that Dick’s worsening health made those trips impractical. Then finally, impossible. (Newkirk, 3/30)