Living With a Mentally Handicapped Grandson
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The picture here is from the internet of a young person before the illness and after..There is juvenile disease which hits someone under twenty and then adult onset which can happen anywhere in adulthood but usually in the 30 to 40 year old range..People with it have psychiatic problems before the chorea hits..The illness is somewhat different in the juvenile from the adult..The younger the person is when it hits the shorter the lifespan..Cody is 28 and has not developed the Chorea but he has been plagued with the depression,mood swings, doing things that are wrong, and needing instant gratification..There is a med that is in its first set of trials that is showing promise but it probably won't be available for 3 to 5 more years..Cody's father came down with early symptoms at around 30 then was disabled by 38..He died at 49..Sara
Woody Gutherie
In the middle of the night a door slams
The awful scent of cigarettes floats upward penetrates my nostrils
Insomnia keeps him up and restless
Lying here I hear, smell and know that the worst is yet to come
Huntington's Disease slowly destroys brain cells
Mutant form of huntingtin aggregrates within the brain
It touches the connectors and interfers with the synaps
Extra dopamine causes his need for instant gratification
I taste the tears as they spill tumbling down
Feel the his fear, his terror of what lies ahead
I can hear his hurtful words as his temper flairs
Thankful for his hugs when he is calm
I am glad that he is able to work for inability lies ahead
Unless some researcher somewhere finds a treatment
If not only downhill slide is inevidible
Destruction of the brain will leave him unable to even swallow
Let my tears spill down, overflow touch upon my face
Taste the salt as they touch my lips
Let me face the daylight hours with courage and strength
Today he might stumble and fall into the horrors of the disease
Contest: In A Relationship With Disabled Person
Sponsor: W. Thomas Markham
One famous person with Huntington's Disease was Woody Gutherie
If you care to you can type in Woody Gutherie on YouTube and hear him..
Copyright © Sara Kendrick | Year Posted 2016
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