Ed Fitzgerald Speaks to Sunrise Rotary

 

Retired IBMer Ed Fitzgerald last Friday offered Sunrise Rotary an example of innovation, of trial and error — perhaps unplanned — to solve a really personal problem.

 

To keep busy in retirement Fitzgerald started consulting with realtors, showing them how to use social media to maximize their online visibility.

 

Then, about six years ago his life began to change. His wife, Diane, then 63, was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Degeneration, a dementia that produces “gradual, progressive decline in behavior and/or language (with memory usually relatively preserved).”

 

The disease affects 50,000 to 60,000 Americans — 10 to 20 percent of dementia cases. As with most types of dementia, there are as yet no treatments to slow or stop the progression of the disease, though researchers are active.

 

Over time its sufferers have increasing difficulty with their daily affairs, and, ultimately, caring for themselves. Diane slowly deteriorated and is now in an assisted living facility that specializes in caring for people with FTD.

 

So Fitzgerald developed a very simple goal — to find a way to engage her in activities so they could enjoy their time together and keep what he could of their relationship by slowing Diane’s inevitable slipping away, a task he found “very challenging.”

 

Not surprisingly, he turned to technology. Surprisingly, though, he turned to the iPad — “as an IBMer, I never thought I’d use an Apple product.”

 

From the beginning of his one man experiment he has searched for, used — and discarded — a wide range of apps. They include entertainment apps that pull them back in time, like YouTube videos of Carol Burnett shows, some of Diane’s favorite music, podcasts of a favorite NPR show, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, and Audible, so she can listen to books.

 

They use FaceTime to talk with their grandchildren, and they e-mail.

 

Others are interactive — a drawing app with a choice of brushes, crayons and pens, and a pottery app that lets the user form clay on a potter’s wheel into a vase by swiping across the screen, then decorating and firing it.

 

They use a kaleidoscope, and an app that produces soothing rain sounds while the background changes.

 

He told the group “this keeps me occupied, and the iPad keeps engages her with me.”

 

Meanwhile, Diane is also battling aphasia, and slowly losing her ability to talk.

 

Sharing what he’s learned, Fitzgerald has become an FTD activist, running seminars for health care professionals and family members and care givers.

 

As he continues searching out apps to hold onto his relationship, he faces a skeptical medical profession. He related a conversation with a doctor at Columbia University Medical Center. After telling him about his work, the doctor’s question was “Has anyone done a study?”

 

So while medical science pursues a palliative, Ed Fitzgerald and others like him innovate at a more basic level, adapting what’s available to maintain their relationships.

 

W
Submitted by Westport, CT

Become a Local Voice in Your Community!

HamletHub invites you to contribute stories, events, and more to keep your neighbors informed and connected.

Read Next