By Kayla Bruch

Alzheimer’s walk brings tears of hope and sadness

Jan 19, 2015 | 2:05 PM

Alzheimer’s is the most common and well-known form of dementia, and it affects around 18,000 people in Saskatchewan.

“Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative brain disorder. It affects the brain in many ways and it is fatal … and as I said it’s only one type of dementia. It’s the most common form of dementia though,” said Candace Uhlik, who works out of the Prince Albert Parkland Resource Centre, as the First Link co-ordinator with the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan.

During Prince Albert’s first Alzheimer’s Walk on Jan. 18, several people showed up to walk the Alfred Jenkins Field House track and to pledge money to the society.

About 30 participants laced up their shoes and walked the track, which was lined with candles saying who each person was walking for.

Uhlik said the walk was a success thanks to community members who are looking for Alzheimer’s related events; she hopes the walk will become an annual event. Already this year, she said First Link has seen an increase in their numbers.

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“The more people that hear about dementia the … more people call in and are diagnosed or are just asking questions about it. We’ve seen a 30 per cent increase in people we serve in Prince Albert since this time last year,” she said.

Michelle Thall participated in the walk as a part of the Family Ties team. Thall said her family originally came together and formed the team when they learned she had multiple sclerosis.

“We joined the MS walks and now my mom has Alzheimer’s so were getting together to support my mom and we kept the name Family Ties because we’re a family supporting each other,” she said.

A year ago, Thall said her and her family members were shocked to learn about their mother’s disease and the walk over the weekend was their first time participating in an Alzheimer’s event. 

“[I was in] disbelief, hoped it wasn’t right and but now I see that it is true and … it’s hard,” Thall said. “We’re just hoping with this to meet other people who are in the same situation as we are, to find avenues to help us … find where we need to go when we hit certain parts of this disease because it’s a scary disease and you don’t want to do it alone,” she said.

The disease affects each person differently, according to Uhlik, with side effects such as mood swings, memory loss and language. Thall said already she has seen a change in her mom.

“She’ll seem like she’s really good and then all of [a] sudden no. So, she still knows who we all are so we’re enjoying every day while she still remembers,” she said.

The society was happy to see such a great turnout for the walk and said Ted Sayer was the perfect person to chair the walk. He his wife Pat  died after a battle with the disease.

“I lost my wife three years ago through Alzheimer’s, and I’ve been doing what volunteering I can for the society in that time and prior to,” he said.

kbruch@panow.com

On Twitter: @KaylaBruch1