Legalities
Life, Politics and the Law From ABC News Correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg
Jan Crawford Greenburg is a correspondent for ABC News' bureau in Washington DC. She covers politics, the Supreme Court and provides legal analysis for ABC News. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago's law school and is a member of the New York bar.
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O'Connor: The Pain of Alzheimer's
May 14, 2008 10:20 AM
Sandra Day O'Connor, the trailblazing first woman Justice, sat down with me yesterday for a moving conversation about Alzheimer's Disease and how it has affected her life. It was the first time she's discussed the horrific disease from her perspective -- that of a caregiver to her husband, John, who has battled the disease 18 years. You can watch the segment from Good Morning America HERE.
O'Connor has joined a national task force charged with creating a plan to, as she says, "overcome the mounting Alzheimer's crisis." She is calling on Congress to step in and make Alzheimer's funding a top priority -- pointing that the disease now affects 5.2 million people in our country and is expected to dramatically rise in the years to come.
"That's why I think it's important as a nation that we focus on it," she said in an interview at the Court. "I hope the Congress will focus on it and see what we can do, at the national level, to speed up some resolution of how we can provide better medications, better health care for people who suffer from it -- and some kind of economic help for those who need it to provide care for those who are suffering."
O'Connor spoke openly about her family's struggle over the last 18 years, after her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She had met John O'Connor when the two were students at Stanford Law School, and she was charmed by his Irish wit and storytelling. The couple married in 1952. Over the years, John O'Connor was his wife's biggest advocate and supporter, cheering her on as she demolished barriers previously erected in front of women to become an historic first -- lawyer, politician, Supreme Court justice.
O'Connor said she first had a sense something was wrong when John O'Connor, known for his humor, suffered problems with his short-term memory.
He "couldn't remember punch lines to his jokes, and he loves to tell jokes," O'Connor said.
"It's so painful for someone you care about to see them disappear, in effect, before your eyes in every way, both mentally and physically. Very depressing," she said.
As her husband began to decline, O'Connor started taking him with her to work and on her travels. He often sat and read quietly in her chambers while she worked.
"That was at a time when he could still read. Of course, that fades, too," she said. "Reading was a great gift for many years for my husband. As long as he could do that, he could manage to get through the days rather well. But it’s no longer possible for him to read or understand, and so it makes the caregiving much more difficult."
O'Connor had always assumed she and John would retire and travel the world, playing golf and spending time with their grandchildren. But Alzheimer's changed that. She left the Court in 2005 to care for her husband. He now is in a facility in Arizona, and he is "not well," she said.
"Like all victims of the disease, it's very progressive," she said. "And it's progressed a long way with my dear husband."
I asked this woman -- a role model for millions of women for so many years, a person who overcame enormous sexism and the hurdles of her generation by refusing to give up -- if she had ever felt defeated by Alzheimer's.
"Well, we're not at the end of the road. There just aren't any medications at present that can help my husband," she said. "He can't have his brain restored.
"And that's what some of the researchers are experimenting with today, ways to... make it possible for people to live longer and more successfully although afflicted with the disease.
"We don't know what that's going to produce. But we can only hope and pray that the researchers have found something that will help and that drug companies will able to -- be enabled to market these eventually to people and that they'll get the relief," she said. "Right now, it isn't there."
May 14, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (35)
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We were impressed with Sandra Day O'Connor's warm, heartfelt and motivating discussion of her personal experiences with her beloved husband. Her influence and leadership in the cause of Alzheimer's disease research is infectious in its best definition. We pledge to focus on Alzheimer's campaigns and walks.
Posted by: Harold | May 14, 2008 7:49:23 PM
I hate to have to say this but somebody has to: personal circumstances have nothing to do with her professional role (and responsibility) as a Justice of the Supreme Court and defender of the Constitution, and her performance was (in my respectful, admittedly subjective, admittedly personal opinion) woeful in that capacity. She was vague, inconsistent, and frustratingly oblique in nearly all her rulings. As Justice Scalia said, scornfully: She could not be taken seriously.
Everyone goes through suffering. Who hasn't had a close relative die? Hands up those who haven't seen a death in the family?
The title of this blog is "LEGALITIES", not "OPRAH'S SHOCKING PERSONAL CONFESSIONS".
I would have assumed this blog would address O'Conner's (questionable?) judicial legacy.
I suppose a sob story gets more hits.
Posted by: Timothy D. Mak | May 14, 2008 9:07:56 PM
We need to find a cure for Alzheimer's.I saw my dad take care of my mother ever day for eight years. Only God could have given my dad the strength to make it.It was so hard to lose mom that way.We lost dad one year after mom to lung cancer.
Posted by: stan slack | May 14, 2008 10:57:21 PM
Maybe she should have thought before voting Bush into office in 2000 then. He's singlehandedly done more to set back Alzheimer's research than any other person alive.
Posted by: NMK | May 15, 2008 12:16:04 AM
I have been caring for my 92 years young mom for two years who has ALZ. It is so sad to watch the deterioration and there are very limited things that you can do(including medicines) to comfort them. It is extremely hard work to be the sole caregiver 24/7. Caregivers often are caught off guard with the extremely unpredictable behavior---it is sad, scary, depressing, and thought provoking. Yet, you are happy to be there for your loved one and give them the love and care that is needed. Keeping an eye on your own health as a caregiver is essential---just stop in your tracks and take the time that is necessary to relieve anxiety, dispare, and see your health care professional. PRAY OFTEN.
Posted by: LadyOsborne | May 15, 2008 12:22:13 AM
I know exactly what Sandra Day O'Connor means. Through my experience of volunteering at various nursing homes, adult day cares, and hospitals with people who have Alzheimer's and many other different health disorders, Alzheimer's is a serious disease. I have seen many peoples' ability to do things they used to be able to do deteriate due to Alzheimer's. This disease has certainly hurt many family relationships. It's so sad. I am hoping that in the future we can find a cure to stop this horrible disease.
Posted by: Becky | May 15, 2008 12:31:15 AM
THANK YOU Justice Sandra Day O'Connor!! For standing up and talking to Congress about Alzeheimer's Disease. I have a step mom who has gradually turned from her perfect appearance, to one who doesn't bathe daily, comb her hair, or change clothing. She tries to get into our conversations, but only takes a turn into her past, and reliving times she lived in her dad's pub,the Bombing of England, or the Nun's reprimanding her during her school days..To eat a meal out,she orders her usual reuben sandwich,which the waitress already knows she will order.Then she tears a napkin in half, places her silverware from side to side, till she finds a spot she likes. Asks for a to go box and puts her sandwich and fries into the box to bring to me. (Because I needed it ) God love her.....
I pray that God hears our prayers, as my father tries to keep her happy. But with his heart condition, and diabetes, he is not taking proper care of himself. I fear for his health! We have talked of putting things into place of what and where to place her. BUT, he is so worried about if the state will take everything he owns from him, he can't think of anything else.
I hope that Congress will SEE the URGENCY for not only the Victims, but also the Caregivers and their Families !!
Posted by: Vickie Bee | May 15, 2008 1:47:17 AM
Alzheimer's robs a person of their dignity. It is a genetic disorder, but there are things that we can do to reduce our risks. I watch very little t.v. I read, do crosswords, eat smart, exercise, do not smoke or drink alcohol. I suspect that prescribed meds are also a problem for people.
Posted by: Bluedogmoos | May 15, 2008 2:23:37 AM
I saw a study recently that showed eating oily fish like tuna and salmon can help slow down this disease. While this article talks more about prevention, I have been shown a good result even though someone may already be diagnosed. My heart goes out to those struggling as caregivers and to those with the disease.
Posted by: Mel O. | May 15, 2008 3:05:01 AM
Believe in Jesus Christ!
He is the comforter, and the Divine
Healer. He Healed many people, he can heal you too! Alzheimers's is no match for almighty God. Get down on your knees and cry out to him!
Posted by: Matthew | May 15, 2008 11:13:47 AM
Does statin drugs increase alzheimers? I sure felt like how my mom appears, after taking statins. My mom is a beautiful, loving person who has alheimers. I don't think she remebers that she has it. It has been very trying through the years with this disease. She's been mean, she runs away, she can't complete sentences, and I believe she can't read or tell time anymore, but I love her so. Could there be a link between alzheimers and syphillis? Just wondering because that attacks the brain too.
Posted by: littledogs2cute | May 15, 2008 2:33:42 PM
Reading about Ms. O'Connor's husband I felt a pull at my heart.
It seems everyone you know now has a family member with the horrible sickness that rob's the person of everything that makes them special.
It is a horrible sickness! I remember seeing my Dad on his 70th birthday...I asked him to dance and he recoiled "saying he does not dance with strangers, just his wife!"
I ran out of the room in tears that my own father did not recognize me! He died 3 years ago.
Thinking about it my grandmother's generation out of seven brother's and sisters four had Alzheimer three have passed and the last is not doing well.
I now have two aunts diagnoised with early stages and I have at least 3 girlfriends going thru it with their parents.
Something needs to be done, to find a cure for the this! It is like a living death!
Posted by: Ana | May 15, 2008 2:56:31 PM
I watched as my soon to be mother-in-law cared for her three young children and her 45 year old husband with alzheimers.
By the time we put him in the nursing home there were the bouts of cepsis, and other near death occurrances calling to the nursing home in the middle of the night. My wife and I visited him on our wedding day. He couldn't recognize his daughter. The family made it through those tough times. Somoe of the youngest kids have very little recollection of their father.
We have lost two of his brothers and a sister to early on-set AD. Now it 2008 and it's another generations turn as my 44 year old wife struggle to keep her cognitive abilities. She is the first of her siblings to present sympton and certainly not the last.
I cry for her every day. Although I strive to embrace who she is, and cannot help but yearn for the person she was. Every day is full of uncertainty.
I thank God for the advances made in the past 20 years. An I hope to God that many more are made, so we can spend more presious time together.
It is time that we commit the resources necessary to rid ourselves of this cruel disease that creates so much sufferring for so many people.
Posted by: Glenn Brodin | May 15, 2008 11:38:26 PM
My mother had alzheimers and yes she has passed but it is amazing to me that when people in high place get effected by the disease that is when they feel its a need to call on congress to put more money to work to get a cure for it.its like they dont care unless it happens to them it really makes me sad.just would like to sat Mrs O'Connor that I,am sorry for your husband but where were you 20 years ago do you see what I,am saying why did,nt you want to put more money to work then to find a cure because you planly did,nt care because it did,nt effect you then it really just makes me sad the way people think today if it dont effect them then who cares but now it does and you want congress to do more now in hopes that maybe they will find a cure early for your husband what ashame what ashame just how I feel and I do know what you have gone thru and are going thru... MWR....
Posted by: Michael W.Ruark | Jul 4, 2008 4:56:28 AM
The children with low school level have more of the double of probabilities that those that has studied to be diagnosed with the disease of Alzheimer in their oldness, according to a new study. The Alzheimer is a disease that attacks the brain is progressive and degenerative cause problems of memory, thought and conduct. It affects in the attention, decision making, judgment, language and personality.
A low school level is tie with an increase in the risk of developing the disease of Alzheimer, this due to the first symptoms as they are: the lost one of the memory that affects the abilities in the study; difficulty in the execution of daily tasks, difficulty in the learning of new tasks; lost of the sense of the time and problems with the language, it indicated the main author of the study, Chengxuan Qiu, of the Research center of the Aging of the Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Previous investigations indicated that the school level of a person could be a factor of risk for the development of the disease of Alzheimer that is the most frequent cause of dementia.
Posted by: James Kildare | Nov 3, 2009 9:54:29 AM
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