A man and a woman are posing for a picture and smiling

Faith and Alzheimer's

(Janna on Flute, Larry on Guitar playing “Clouds” by Larry)


Janna: Hi, I'm Janna, an Alzheimer's ThriverTM. 


Larry: And this is her husband Larry, joining you as well.


Janna: And you're hearing this from the horse’s mouth. Today I'd like to talk about faith ...the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. 


Larry: One of the things I've noticed is that you decided long ago after this quote from Sarah Young, “Make friends with the problems in your life,” that somehow you did that. How did you do that?


Janna: I decided that I would call my Alzheimer's “my buddy Al.” 


Larry: It seems counterintuitive with such a diagnosis. What did that do to change your narrative there?


Janna: Well, I just said, “I'm gonna kick your behind, and you're gonna be my buddy, and we're gonna work together and thrive. I'm in charge.” 


Larry: Okay! You mentioned that this episode is about faith and so what about the people who say, you know, how would a good God allow this to happen to me? I mean what good can come out of something like this?


Janna: I'm not sure I was ever given reassurance by anybody that we would always understand everything. But we have to figure out the best ...to the best of our abilities, how we can work through the problem and what we can accept and what's we can't. And so, I think it's accepting, and then put your foot down and go, “I’ve got it ...we're gonna get this done, let's go.”


Larry: You do have a strong faith and you know, you've kind of led our family Through a lot in our lifetimes not to mention that you raised quadruplets ...and we did mention that before, and that was a big faith step. That was not easy for us early in our life. And you've really directed this family in a way that shows a standard of faith. I'm wondering if I can read a little something from our devotional today and if that might be okay with you.

It said, “Don't break, but bounce back.” And it just says “Here's one of the keys to bouncing back,” and in the face of Alzheimer's, that’s basically what you're doing, and it's an amazing thing that you're doing. “Instead of complaining about what you can't change, change what you can.” 


Now that reminds me of that prayer called the serenity prayer, which goes, “God grant me the serenity to change the things I can, to accept the things I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I guess when you can't change a situation, you can change your attitude toward it.


Janna: You're trajectory.


Larry: Your trajectory, yeah. 


Janna: You see it in a different light. Mm-hmm. It's all about choices, isn't it?


Larry: I notice that you're a lot more empathetic toward other people. How does your faith help with that? First of all, how was it that you can believe in a God that would? Would allow this to happen to you. I mean you said acceptance Somehow, you've embraced that this world Is full of these kinds of things So this trust in God that you have how can you still have that? How can you still be positive in the midst of what's happening?


Janna: It's I believe that it's the choice and I can choose to be miserable, and you know for sure from my experiences I've had days where I was miserable and that's what I chose. I didn't help any of it at all. Or I can decide to put my mind towards being positive and thinking okay here we are, what are we gonna do about this? What can we do? What things are out of out of our control, what things can we control. And one of the first things that we can control of course is... wake up, smile, decide that God is on your side and go forward. And look for the messages and prompts along the way to thrive.


Larry: So, it seems like a big part of changing what you can is changing, you know, your attitude toward it ...this acceptance that you're talking about. And there are certain things that are acceptable. Is there anything that's not acceptable that, you know, that you're going to continue working to try to alleviate 


Janna: Okay, so it was said early on that, “Janna, people never get better with Alzheimer’s. They just get worse and worse and worse. 


Larry: That sounds like somebody without any faith


Janna: Well, yeah, and you know to a great extent you could say, well, that's true. Look at this, look at what happened to her or him, and so forth. But you know what? Just because it happens to someone doesn't mean it's gonna go down the toilet with my situation. My God has told me in my heart that I'm going to thrive.


Larry: So, we've heard it said that cursing the darkness is not something to do. What else has come out of your faith that has allowed you to change this attitude because cursing the darkness is certainly where a lot of people go?


Janna: Well, cursing the darkness is not going to do me any good, but I've done it, and that just kind of says to me, “Okay, listen.


I'm not going to put up with this.” Well, so turn it around. What can I do? Gee, I have faith that I'm on this earth, God the Father is aware of who I am, and if I call out to him, He can lead me, and encourage me, and I believe that he hears me when I talk.


I have a favorite saying that I use to encourage myself, and have for years, and that is, “In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and he will direct your path.” It says that in the Bible, The God of the Bible, and I've found it to be true so far. Even before I had any problem with Alzheimer's “...In all thy ways, acknowledge him and he'll direct your path.”


Larry: Okay. Well, in that case, what insights has he given you to direct your paths in this fight?


Janna: I deduce that here I am I've accepted finally that yes, I do have Alzheimer's. And then I go well, what am I going to do? Am I going to be a victim? Am I going to thrive? What's going to happen? What's in my control? What's in control is that I can continue going forward ...walking, thinking, doing the best I can with my exercises and my tennis and all that jazz. Lift my corners of my cheeks and smile and think happy thoughts. That's powerful to my psyche.


Larry: Yeah, instead of grumbling about your pain you kind of try to grow through it. 


At the Peak of her career when photographer Linda Joy Montgomery learned she was going blind, an inner her voice said this isn't the end, it's the beginning and she began writing poetry discovered her calling as a motivational speaker And this gal created the true vision institute which teaches kids to tap into their inner resources, you know, finding purpose In pain isn't a new idea survivors of life-threatening illness natural disasters in the holocaust and parents of chronically ill children continually demonstrate how overcomers find proverbial silver linings by reinventing themselves. And so I think that's what you're doing as I watch you doing the mind games that you do each day the routines that you establish whether it's walking, or trying to hit the tennis ball, or Playing your flute. 


And if for those of you out there in podcast land that didn't know it All that nice flute playing, you're hearing at the beginning and end of each podcast. That's Janna so Some of it is when she was a senior in college and some of it is Current. 


Janna: And back then I could read very well, very fluently. But I lost my ability to read, and lost my ability to read music as well. All I can do is memorize, but guess what? What's one of the hardest things to do? Memorize. And how do you do that? You have to work really hard, and what does that work in you? Ah, it works and exercises your brain.


Larry: Yeah, complex...


Janna: So, I do this ridiculous practicing for one piece, over and over for hours, and I think, this is ridiculous, but it's not a ridiculous. I'll be able to play it when I've memorized it and guess what? It probably helped me from slipping back further in my (what's it called in your brain?) 

Larry: Dementia?

Janna: Yeah, my dementia.. (Sarcastically) - I don't have dementia... 


Larry: (Laughing) You ain't got that.


Janna: ...I ain't got that. (Laughing)


Larry: Well, you know this is interesting you should say that because you go, “How many times do I have to do something over and over until I create a new, you know, synaptic nerve ending or a pathway? Listen to this: The basketball star Michael Jordan ...he said, “I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career, lost over 300 games,” and 26 times he's been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. So, you know, he failed over and over again in his life, and he admits it. But he says, “...and that's why I succeed.” And you can too. I mean, there is a part of every Alzheimer's patient, there is a part of their brain (Maybe a little part - it depends on how much they've got left), that can be taught. And it just really takes a lot of repetition, doesn't it?


Janna: Yes, it does. And it takes being aware that it's going to take more time, and more repetition for somebody who has Alzheimer's. Like, I'll practice the same thing again and again and then I get mad. The next day I've forgotten some of it, and you know what? If I Keep practicing, it’s exercising my brain. So, I bargain that if I push through, I'm going to be able to at least stay in place. Maybe not thrive, and get better, but not get worse. And you have to fight to keep that. You can't just sit still. You gotta keep moving forward.


Larry: Yeah, and you know, there's some people out there in podcast land who just don't believe What faith can do necessarily, or just don't believe that there is a God because a God would not allow something like this to happen to me. And believe me that thought is not unique. A lot of people have that thought. And even believers, even people who believe that there is a reason for everything, or that good can come out of everything, even they have their doubts at times, especially when these kinds of things hit. When someone's healthy and feeling real good and everything, it’s so easy to have this this cavalier attitude about life and about how the next day is going to be here, and everything's going to be the same. But then when something hits you in the face, um like this, you really need faith. And it's not just a crutch because it's motivating you to enjoy this part of your life, way beyond what it would be if you just sat back and did nothing. Which is what some people have, you know, the desire to do. There's a quote from a very old Christian who says, “We are assured and know that all things work together and are working for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” So, if you believe in God, or if you have any faith at all, that's a gift to have because that is going to motivate and allow for some healing in areas, right?


Janna: Mm-hmm. It's interesting because for long time I have admired people who have empathy. They can feel others people's feelings and have some insights about it. I like that rather than just going over on the top and not paying attention to anybody else, but empathy. Well, what's happening with Alzheimer's You're gonna have to have empathy and other people around you hopefully will learn to have empathy and everybody will benefit If they engage empathy What does that ...there's something empaddock.


Larry: Oh! The old Star Trek show which has Troy, counselor Troy. She's an Empath from some planet ...that's what they do. Yeah, yeah, so you can be an empath.


Janna: There's something to it.


Larry: Yeah, something to it Well, you have certainly integrated faith into this phase of your life, and I've certainly been beneficiary of watching you do that


Janna: Yeah you better!


Larry: I would say that from a care partners point of view, there's a lot of empathy that I've had to you know, experience as well. So, some good has come out of it for you, and some good has come out of it for me. I certainly was feeling like a victim at the beginning like, oh gee, I didn't know I was gonna have to deal with this, but now that I can see through faith that good is coming out of it, it’s no more that feeling of victimhood.


Janna: Don't you feel you're a lot more empathetic to many people, even that you don't know, but you can kind of sense that they need a lift.


Larry: Yeah. and I am the kind of guy that is a fast talker and somebody who just Tries to finish everybody's sentence It's normal for a person if they can't remember a word for someone to just help them out, you know and what not but that's not very helpful for you uh, so I've had to learn to sit back and bite my tongue and now I don't even have to bite my tongue. I just realized that this is just part of it. And it's acceptance on my part as much as yours.



Janna: You say I've learned, I’d say you're beginning to learn. (Laughs) 


Larry: It's gonna be a lifelong process. But you know, I don't want to be morbid, but everybody dies, you know, everybody is going to die. So, we can get that out of the way. What's the worst-case scenario? The worst-case scenario is what's going to happen for everybody. However, that’s another thing faith has given us is the ability to see that there's life separate from the body. And that is who we really are. Directing the body. 


Janna: Well, I think we can wrap up this thing now. And as we go, please be thinking, “How could I be empathetic? How could I see Into other people's feelings and be empathetic and have insights?” I challenge you. It'll make life better for everybody. This is Janna an Alzheimer's Thriver.TM 


Larry: And her husband Larry - I guess I’m thriving too. 


Janna: You better, I need it. Signing off now. And remember, you've heard this from the horse’s mouth.


(Janna on Flute, Larry on Guitar playing “Clouds” by Larry)


Links relating the positive effects of Faith in Alzheimer Patients:


PubMed: 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20088813/


Alzheimer's Journal: 

https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/alz.080462


Science Daily:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050430222301.htm