Note: The August 2009 issue of the U.S. Catholic magazine contained a short article that was erroneous and needed a reply. Below is my reponse to this article. I feel that the misconceptions demonstrated in this article needed correction. I suspect that these misconceptions may be widespread and certainly not confined to the Catholic faith.


"10 August 2009

 U.S. Catholic:

I read with a feeling of incredibility, unbelief and finally anger, the one page article in the August 2009 issue of the US Catholic entitled: "Not Even Alzheimer's Can erase God". Both my mother and my wife died from the complications of this terrible disease. 200 people die every day from Alzheimer's. My remaining life is devoted to honoring my mother Ellen and my wife June's memory and acting as an advocate for Alzheimer's research, funding and proper care practices. I spent almost 11 years caring for my wife. Over 7 years in our home and over three years in an Alzheimer's facility where I spent 30+ hours weekly assisting with her care. I observed many other victims of this disease in early, middle and late or final stages. I have attended many religious services for the residents.

The article is grossly misleading, raises false hopes and to that extent, it is very cruel. The idea that Alzheimer's cannot erase God in the Alzheimer's victim mind is simply not true. The general overall theme of the statement is both true and false. To the extent that God will never forget them, it is true - however to the extent that the Alzheimer's victim will never forget God, it is simply not reality and false. It is a product of an overly active imagination and wishful thinking.

Romans 8: 38-39 tells us: "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ..Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus our Lord."

This tells us in effect that God will remember us even when we no longer remember him. This assurance is very important for the soul of the Alzheimer's victim in late stages because they will no longer remember God.

The author of the article, Mr. Feuerherd obviously has only a superficial knowledge of the subject of Alzheimer's. His hypotheses is wishful thinking and his evidence is at best anecdotal - the least reliable of all evidence. I suggest he review the only significant in depth work in this field: "Forgetting Whose We Are - Alzheimer's Disease and the Love of God" by David Keck - (Abingdon Press, 255 pages.)

Alzheimer's disease is a slow death of the brain. The brain cells (Neurons) are dying and by the time the victim has progressed deeply into the late stages, the brain is only 2/3rds of its normal size. As the brain cells and the brain dies, the brain being the body's control center, begins to shut down the various body functions. The late stage victim of Alzheimer's, in most cases - cannot speak or understand language, cannot read or write, cannot recognize anyone including themselves in the mirror, cannot repeat words or actions, they may be  unable to feed themselves, chew or swallow, they may have seizures, usually can no longer walk, may be incontinent, they demonstrate a complete withdrawal or apathy, they have an inability to survive without total care.

I can picture vividly the day early in June's Alzheimer's journey as we sat in the offices of the Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's Research Center. June and I were shown a scan of June's brain that already revealed that the portion of her brain responsible for her short term memory had disappeared. The long term memory portion would be the next to go. I also remember during June's last two years, she did not talk and sat with her eyes closed most of the day, shutting out an alien world she did not know or understand. One of our daughters in a period of her grief said she almost wished her Mom had cancer so we could at least talk with her and tell her how much we loved her.

While the article may be said to be of help in bringing attention to this dread disease, it also tends to be a minimalism of the horror of this disease. To that end it does a disservice by suggesting that the disease is really not as bad as most people think. While much of the article has application to the Alzheimer's victims that are in the early and middle stages, it misses the mark completely when it comes to the late and final stages. Some Alzheimer's victims die of complications before they have reached the final stages of the disease progression, thereby giving the false impression that late stage victims can still have an appreciation and some understanding of their Religion and their God. Overall, It gives the reader an almost total misconception.

Comments found in the article like: "patients will sometimes break out in a spontaneous recitation of the Rosary", or "A patient responded quickly" or "She found herself more willing to listen to her mother's stories" or  "Response to  religious stories was as on target as it would be from people without Alzheimer's". Such comments indicate  that none of these individuals have or had  reached the late stages of the disease...These are all normal experiences of the Alzheimer's victims' who are  in the early and middle stages of this disease. It is never an example of the late stages.

The article leaves the reader with the impression that Alzheimer's is just a memory malfunction and if the caregivers are patient,  helpful and understanding, all will fade happily into the sunset.

The article ends with the statements: "their religious sense remains alive...The spiritual life is growing." This I am sorry to say, is pure fiction. Nothing is further from the truth. The article leaves me with a feeling of frustration, sadness and great anger over the ignorance and rampant nonsense  displayed in the article.

No one who has ever traveled into the shadows of Alzheimer's has ever returned. No medical or miracle cures have ever been recorded.

 Stanton O. Berg"
                                

(Candid Photo of June and Stan by Jim Gehrz at the Benedictine on 10/31/2007)

This little cross was June's for the year's 2007-2008.  June was deep in the shadows of Alzheimer's and rarely opened her eyes or ever responded. The little wooden cross was hand made and was obtained for June by Chaplain Fran O'Connor. (Fran is the Chaplain at the Benedictine "Holy Spirit" Chapel.) June held the cross tightly through out the day as she would all or any objects placed in her hand, giving it up only when put to bed for the night. It was a replacement for the gold cross pendant and necklace (stolen) that June wore for most of her life. June was always proud of being a Christian. I know that June would have been proud to know that she was holding God's cross. The little wooden cross remains with June at Lakewood along with a replacement for the stolen gold cross pendant and necklace.

      Update: The October 2009 issue of the U.S. Catholic Magazine contained a very condensed version of the above letter in their letters to the editor section called: "You May Be Right." The caption above the letter has the title "False Hope". While I would thank the U.S. Catholic editors for printing what they did of my letter, I am disappointed at the brevity and am not sure the message I wanted to send came through very clearly. Below is the total printed version of my letter -

"False hope

I read with a feeling of incredibility, unbelief, and finally anger "Not even Alzheimer's can erase God" (August).

Both my mother and my wife died from the complications of this terrible disease. The idea that Alzheimer's cannot erase God in the Alzheimer's victim mind is simply not true, though God will never forget them, of course.

Comments like "Patients will sometimes break out in a spontaneous recitation of the rosary" or "A patient responded quickly" or "She found herself more iwlling to listen to her mother's stories" indicate that none of these individuals had reached the late stages of the disease. These are all normal experiences of the Alzheimer's victims who are in the early and middle stages.

The article leaves the reader with the impression that Alzheimer's is just a memory malfunction, and if the caregivers are patient, helpful and understranding, all will fade happily into the sunset.

The article ends with the statement: "Their religious sense remains alive. The spiritual life is growing." This, I am sorry to say is pure fiction."

Stanton O. Berg
Fridley, Minn."



June's obituary as printed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune following her death in October 2008 can be found on the top blue navigation strip under the label "In Memoriam" and on the drop down menu as item:

"June K. (Rolstad) Berg - In Memoriam"