Beyond the Diagnosis: A Personal Story of Living Well with Alzheimer's

Hear one man’s personal journey with Alzheimer's as we’re joined by Scott Griswold, a retired pastor and volunteer community educator with the Alzheimer’s Association. Listen to his message of hope and empowerment as we discuss key brain health tips he’s implemented in his own life to keep his mind and body challenged. From the importance of physical activity with his beloved Labradoodle, to the value of lifelong learning, Scott’s story about living a fulfilling life with Alzheimer's is inspiring. In this powerful episode, you’ll learn 10 things you can do for brain health. 

Chapters

• 3:19 What can you do to challenge your brain? Why is it important to challenge your brain?
• 5:27 Why is lifelong learning important to brain health?
• 8:13 What activities can older adults do to keep their brain and body in shape?
• 10:58 What are common injuries older adults should be aware of? How can older adults protect themselves from injuries?
• 11:51 How is smoking bad for your brain?
• 13:44 What healthy habits can you implement to prevent or slow Alzheimer's and dementia?
• 15:59 What foods are good for brain health?
• 18:33 How much sleep should I get each night? How does sleep impact brain health?
• 20:05 Advice for someone diagnosed with Alzheimer's or dementia

Transcript

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(music) Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Senior Living Today. With us today I'm going to be joined by Scott Griswold, a volunteer community educator for the Alzheimer's Association. Scott, thank you for joining me today. It's a pleasure to be with you this afternoon. So since this is your first time on our podcast, would you mind telling our listeners a little bit about yourself and the work you do with the Alzheimer's Association? Sure. My name is Scott Griswald. I'm a retired pastor. My wife and I live in West Liberty, Ohio. We are a blended family with six children, 13 grandchildren, and one on the way. Oh, wow. Big family. Yes, I came to the Miami Valley Alzheimer's Association oh probably around January, February of 2019. After receiving my own diagnosis of dementia, Alzheimer's, and not really being too much educated on exactly what this meant. As a pastor I knew that I had individuals in my congregation that were experiencing what I would call aging. Sometimes I would call it Alzheimer's, sometimes call it dementia. Not really understanding exactly what it was. The same as having care partners and caregivers as well in the congregation, and at times trying to figure out how best I could support them in these trials that they were having. So, doing a internet search, the Miami Valley Alzheimer's Association was the first item to come up on my screen. I looked into it. I saw that they were offering workshops on such as understanding aging, Dementia and Alzheimer's, as well as ten warning signs. And I decided I needed to attend some of these workshops. After attending those workshops and gaining a better understanding, I thought it would be quite interesting, or I thought this would be something that I am able to do and give give back. As I move into retirement, as being someone who likes to get up in front of people and speak, I could share my story. Talk about the importance of early detection. No denial, overcoming the stigma, as well as living healthily with, having, quote, this particular disease. So I became a community educator. Well, Scott, I want to thank you so much for being here today and sharing your story with our listeners. And today we're actually going to talk about brain health and some tips that our listeners can implement in their own lives to help keep their brains healthy. So I think that's going to be a big help today for all of our listeners. So let's discuss the ten healthy habits that we can implement to keep our brains healthy. The first one is challenging your brain. So what can our listeners do to challenge their brains? And why is that important? I think it's important to continually work on challenging your brain in different ways. Now, I know that with my diagnosis, my morning routines are the best for me. So I use that time to both challenge myself in reading. And I try to read things that would help me, that have questions with them and answer questions so that I can continually think and and and write. I know when I received my diagnosis, one of my daughters gave me this journal called Grandpa’s Story, and it was 365 days of questions just to help trigger your memory and how to trigger your past and give some suggestions. Now, out of out of all of the grand parents, I was the only one that completed that task, but it was very helpful in allowing me to write each morning. It allowed me to think and recall in various ways. Now I will also add, sometimes we get in trouble playing too many games on our telephone. Guilty. You know, I think that helped. So that's very important as well. I do read. Reading is difficult for me. I don't recall what I read, so when I do read, I take notes that enable me to have a conversation with folks. If I'm in a in a book study or a Bible study or some sort of group, or just have a conversation with my wife about something that I've read. Well, I think those are some great tips. Thank you for sharing those with us. The next thing that we are going to talk about is staying in school. And I imagine that this probably looks a little bit different for everyone. But do you have some examples of things that our listeners can implement for this to share with us? Well, it was interesting. I do believe in lifelong learning. We are always in the process of learning. And one of the unique things that I was able to do was to take a 16 week program following my diagnosis. It was called Next Steps. And you can find that online and it's done through Eden Seminary. But what that enabled me to do with the Next Steps, it's for people who are seeking retirement maybe, and in retirement, or looking for the next steps in life. And that gave me the opportunity to learn and plan as I and my family go through the next stages of this particular disease. What it helped me to realize is this just isn't my particular story. This story, my story, belongs to my family. It belongs to my wife. Those are the people that are going to deal with Scott Griswold in the later stages of this disease. And I also know by staying educated, being involved in studies in groups is just going to help you stay in the earlier stages of this disease. So really help to slow the progression of it. I imagine doing things like that also probably keeps you still socialized, and. They talk about the fact that some, the medication that was available when I received my diagnosis, was just to help to assist with the symptoms. But I believe a healthy mind and body can slow down the progress of it. Now, I don't have any statistics to prove that in any way. But now, with the good news through the Alzheimer's Association, we're in the era of treatment, and there are medications available if people will just seek an early diagnosis. And those are fusion based type treatments for helping some people and maybe work towards a cure. So I think this is probably a great segway into our next tip, which is that we know that activity is good for our bodies and our physical health, but it's good for our brains as well. So what are some activities that you take part in or that you would recommend for older adults to keep their bodies and brain in good shape? One month before I received a diagnosis, we were sitting with some friends in our backyard and they were telling us about their son who had three children and this labradoodle dog. And with another child on the way. Well, they knew that they couldn't get rid of one of the children, so they were looking for a home for this dog. Personally, I have never been much of an animal lover. I mean, our family has had dogs. They've taken care of them. I've accepted them into our life, but I've never really been attached to a dog. I asked to see a picture of this dog, and she just touched my heart in a very big way. And the good news about this dog is she was leashed trained. So she's at my bedside

every morning at 6: 9:33

30 or so or at the crack of dawn. And she likes to go out for walks and takes me with her. And it's easy for me to get to 10,000 to 12,000 steps in a day. That's exactly what everybody about my age in aging needs to do, or find the best thing that they can do in walking or gardening, I enjoy that. Or riding the bicycle. Doing those kind of things just to stay active and find out what works best for you. Absolutely. And I totally understand the dog situation. I myself have a Labrador who has an endless amount of energy, and it is not unlikely for us to be hitting those 12,000 steps every day. I know another thing that I've seen some of our communities do is they have walking groups, which I think is another great opportunity for older adults to get out there to walk with friends, talk, socialize, and get that activity. And I don't think it has to be, you know, necessarily a strenuous workout or a class. There are, I think, things we can incorporate into our everyday lives to help with that. And it provides the social and community. And getting out there when you don't really feel like you want to be socially engaged. So it's a good thing to have that. Absolutely. So the next tip is protect your head. So what are some common injuries that we kind of see in older adults that we should be mindful of or, or what can we do to help prevent some of these injuries that may be dangerous for like falls, for example. Well, you know, one of the warning signs is poor judgment. And that happens when you're walking and especially walking at dusk or dark. And you can easily stumble and fall. So it doesn't hurt to have a walking stick or cane when you're out walking, just to help you keep your balance. Because as you age, your balance changes as well. And, I know that I also ride a bicycle and I would not ride my bicycle without my helmet. I think those are great, great tips and great pieces of advice for that. So one thing that's been shown actually, is that smoking can increase someone's risk of developing dementia. So can you share a little bit more about why that is? Or, you know, why it might be important for somebody, to quit that habit if they have been diagnosed or even if they haven't been diagnosed yet. Yeah. Well, I've never had that habit for for myself. Well that's good. Good. Good for you. That that is a good thing. But, you know, it's really taking a look at the things in life that present a risk for you. We know that there are risks associated with Alzheimer's. You know, they talk about aging, family genetics, those kind of things are risks, but also the things that you do that you already know that are harmful for your body. Smoking, alcohol, anything like that, that your doctor always talks to you about. If you're doing the annual Medicare examination, which I just recently did with my doctor, they go through, they want to know how much you're you're, if you're smoking, what are you, what are you taking each day in terms of smokes? How much alcohol do you have per day or per month, per week or per month? And all of that we know already really plays a part on on your health. And my doctor is very good at keeping me steady and knowing what to do within moderation. So I think another couple of things in this list that follow along with the health side of things would be high blood pressure, diabetes. These have both been shown as conditions that can lead to the development of Alzheimer's. So would you recommend like making sure that you're keeping up with your doctor's visits, getting your tests done, talking with them about healthy habits that you can implement into your life to try to, you know, avoid these from progressing to Alzheimer's or dementia? I have a very progressive doctor and I've had this doctor for 28 years. Met him when he got out of his hospital residency, and I've stayed with him ever since. And, part of our quarterly routine is having blood tests done and having that looked at and maintaining good levels with that. And also, taking my blood pressure on almost on a daily basis. And the type of blood pressure machine that he gave me automatically reads it into his office, as well as some other organization who calls me on a monthly basis just to ask me how I'm doing and things that I am doing. And I'm able to get my blood pressure down in the range of 120 to 130, with his help and with healthy living. I was at a conference where the president of the Alzheimer's Association was speaking, and the one question that was raised is, what is the best level of blood pressure for anybody, especially those with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, for good brain health? And she mentioned it needs to be in the 120 range. So that was the goal that my doctor and I, as we talked about it, decided we needed to get me there through medication and through exercise and through diet, those kind of things. So on the same track of keeping healthy, what we eat also has a huge impact on our brains. So what foods have you may be implemented into your diet since your diagnosis that you've made changes with, or what would you recommend our listeners do to try to just keep a healthy diet and in turn keep their brains healthy? Have somebody else that cares for you take care of that. My wife, she keeps that level going for my mind diet. My job is not to do things in between, you know, the snacking and the candy, you know, those things. But, we kind of try to adapt to what is called the mind diet. And you can find it's about eating natural foods and non processed foods as best as you can. Someone even, I was out doing a workshop this week and somebody shared with me that they received this suggestion, your best bet is to walk around the perimeter of the grocery store and stay out of the aisles. And I really like... I like that advice. that particular idea. If you could do, you know, the fruits, the vegetables, therein those kind of things. So and again, you know, ice cream is a processed food and we all love ice cream. And it's just about stepping back and thinking, how much do I really need? Have a taste and do things in moderation. Exactly. And I think that also too kind of plays into the maintaining a healthy weight, because that's one of our other tips for keeping our brains healthy. And I think if you have a good diet, you're doing things in moderation. You're mindful of what you're eating. That can also help with maintaining that weight as well. You know, speaking of mindful, mindfulness is very important. You know, part of that for me is keeping mindful in in four areas, you know, and we've already talked about it, mindfulness in relationships, mindfulness in physical activities, mindfulness in spirituality, whatever that might be for you. Whatever you find, whatever might be sacred. And, there's one more, mind...keeping your mind healthy. Yeah. So on that subject, we also have sleep. Sleep's really important for keeping our brains healthy. So how much sleep should we be getting each night? And, you know, what are some of the effects that it can have if we're not getting enough sleep? Well, I find, I have found with my diagnosis, and as I'm progressing that I'm sleeping a little bit longer at night, and also knowing my limits and finding an afternoon time of maybe an hour of just relaxation or stepping out of my environment just to just to relax. But usually I'm good for about 7 or 8 hours per night. Doesn’t mean it's a standard all the way sound sleep for that amount of time. But, you know, my dog will wake me up and inform me that she would like to go out for a few minutes and we can do that and come right back in and go back to sleep. But I think healthy sleeping is important and find out what's best for you. Absolutely. So, Scott, I just want to thank you for sharing your story with us today. And I was just curious as to if you have any other, you know, advice for listeners, either who received a diagnosis or maybe even their family members of those who have received a diagnosis and and just if you have any tips for them. I think it's important to know your story. Don't live with the just the stigma of the disease. I tell people I have overcome the idea or have overcome the quote “dis ease” of Alzheimer's and keeping that in mind. It's living in the present moment. Just just the things my my doctor told me and told my wife. Live in the present moment, reduce the stress, find out what your passion is, and live that passion every day as best as you can. Know your limits. Know what parts of the day works best for you, and don't be hesitant when you need to step out or step away and regain your energy. Just do it. It's important for yourself. Well, Scott, it was such a pleasure having you with us today. Thank you again for sharing your story with our listeners. I think it's so important for us to be sharing these stories and reducing the stigma around this disease. It does affect so many people. And I think the more we share, you know, tips for preventative measures or even things to do once you have a diagnosis. It's just very important. So I really want to thank you again for being with me today. It was my pleasure. Any time. Thank you for having me. And inviting me. Absolutely. So for all of our listeners, I want to make sure that you tune into our next podcast in two weeks, where we'll be discussing how to have the conversation with your parent about moving to a senior living community. As always, be sure to like and subscribe to the Senior Living Today podcast so you never miss a new episode. And we will be back again in two weeks.(music)