Dear Editor,
Dear Editor,
SoCal PBS’s report last week on the Cypress/ProLogis “33 acre project” reminds us once again just how much West Orange County residents will lose if ProLogis is allowed to move forward with anything short of a continuing care seniors’ community.
Voters approved Measure L’s removal of 33 acres from Measure D’s public/semi-public designation because they support such a facility for West Orange County’s seniors, just down the street from the area’s regional medical center campus.
Sadly, it turns out, even before Measure L’s results were certified Sacramento developer Christo Bardis was already negotiating with ProLogis, seniors be damned!
I’ve been covering this for years for my blog (LetsFixLosAl), and it’s clear that the senior’s deal didn’t “fall apart.” Bardis simply took a higher offer with a shorter escrow.
Meanwhile, I, like several of my West Orange County neighbors must drive to the far eastern border of Stanton to visit my 93-year-old mother at Orange County’s nearest continuing care community, the 50-year-old Quaker Gardens.
Sadly, when Mom moved in there, she had to bid farewell to her long-time Los Alamitos physician, because of the location. Worse, if the staff calls 911, mom is taken to a hospital in Anaheim, not the Los Al Medical Center.
Thousands of seniors in Cypress alone are left with no continuing care community on the horizon anywhere in the West OC area.
For the sake of our community and for the sake of our seniors and their children, local officials need to insist on a continuing care community on the 33-acre parcel, or a return to the original, Measure D public/semi-public zoning and uses!
Anything less is essentially a “one finger salute” to our seniors and residents!
Dave Emerson
Los Alamitos
Alzheimer’s is no joke
Dear Editor,
September is World Alzheimer’s Month, making this a good time to talk about the stigma of Alzheimer’s and all dementias. According to the 2012 World Alzheimer Report, “Dementia is a syndrome that can be caused by a number of progressive illnesses that affect memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. Other types include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia.”
Alzheimer’s is one of the most feared diseases with good reason. There is no cure, you lose who you are, forget people and things you once knew and you worry what people will think about you. Whether you’re young or old, this is something that happens to “older” people and you don’t want to be classified as one of those. (FYI, younger-onset or early-onset Alzheimer’s affects people as young as their 40‘s and 50‘s.) Besides, memory problems are the subject of countless jokes. Did you know Alzheimer’s is the only fatal disease people joke about? Who wants to be the butt of jokes?
Unfortunately the stigma prevents people from seeking a diagnosis and obtaining the help they need to continue to live a good quality of life. Some people are so afraid of Alzheimer’s that they refuse to seek a diagnosis. It is only once you have a diagnosis that you can start taking a medication that is thought to help slow the progression of the disease. Alzheimer’s cannot be cured, but the medications on the market today can help slow the progression from the point they are started. This means that if a diagnosis is put off for a period of time, during which there is a decline, progression will be slowed only from that point. Had a diagnosis occurred sooner, the decline would have been slower.
Many people, after receiving any dementia-related diagnosis, want that information kept secret from friends and family. This does nothing to help them or their family caregiver, generally their spouse or adult child. Caregivers need assistance to avoid stress, depression and burnout. The stress of trying to keep such a large secret is hard on both the caregiver and their loved one.
What can you do if you fear you have Alzheimer’s or another dementia? Get help. See your doctor. Call the Alzheimer’s Association’s 24/7 helpline at 1-800-272-3900. Tell others and reach out for help. You may think you are the only family dealing with this, but I can assure you that you aren’t and in fact, you probably know someone who is dealing with this today.
In honor of World Alzheimer’s Month, let’s erase the stigma.
Gincy Heins
Cypress
