Sue Yudysky sensed that there was more to her husband's forgetfulness when it took him an hour one day to tie his tie.
"I thought, he is serious," Yudysky, 79, said of her husband, Walter "Waddy" Yudysky, 84. "He can't tie his tie," she said.
For Waddy Yudysky, who was diagnosed with dementia nearly two years ago, it started with him wondering what he had done with his keys, Sue Yudysky said of her husband of nearly 60 years.
"People think it's an all-of-a-sudden boom, but it's not," Sue Yudysky said, tears running down her face. "It's hard when you're married so many years. He's all of my life. You do what you can do and take one day at a time."
After learning of her husband's diagnosis, which Yudysky said could develop into Alzheimer's, she joined a support group held at Summit Place of North Myrtle Beach in Little River -- an assisted living center where Waddy Yudysky has been staying since June. Yudysky said it is a blessing to have such services in the area but wishes there were more along the Grand Strand for people with Alzheimer's or dementia.
"I would like to see more volunteers willing to sit with them," Yudysky said. "You don't know how much help that would be."
Officials hope that money raised from an upcoming gala will help promote and increase services for those with Alzheimer's and their family members.
Those numbers are growing across the country and the Carolinas, officials said.
"More and more people are choosing areas such as coastal South Carolina as their retirement destination," said Fran Emerson, area program director at the Alzheimer's Association South Carolina Chapter.
"Age being the main risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, local services will be impacted and resources stretched." In Horry County, there were 2,617 people living with Alzheimer's and related dementia on Jan. 1, 2006, based on the most recent data from the S.C. Alzheimer's Disease Registry. That's an increase from Jan. 1, 2004, when the number was 2,071. The figure grew from 894 in Georgetown County in 2004 to 990 in 2006.
In North Carolina, the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's also is going up.
In 2000, 130,000 people were diagnosed with Alzheimer's. That number is projected to climb 31 percent and increase to 170,000 by 2010, said Alice Watkins, executive director of the Alzheimer's Association Eastern North Carolina Chapter.
That's why Alzheimer's agency officials there have been working to increase services. They hope to provide respite for people with Alzheimer's and on April 30 will host a conference to teach caregivers and professionals how to care for someone in the home, Watkins said.
"Alzheimer's disease is not a normal part of aging," Emerson said. "Early diagnosis and treatment can be hugely beneficial to the person with the disease and the family members."
Raising money for research and to get the word out is critical, officials said.
The S.C. Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association will hold its first Forget-Me-Not Ball Saturday at the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes. Money raised at the charity event will remain local and will provide a help-line staffed 24/7, as well as respite assistance for families, educational programs, literature, newsletters, support groups and other services free of charge, according to Elyssia Lowe, chairwoman of the ball committee. A portion of the money will also support research into the cause of and potential cures for Alzheimer's.
When Ronald Lief's wife, Kathryn Lief, 81, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about four years ago, he found it beneficial to let her stay and get help at Summit Place.
He also started attending the support group at Summit Place.
"I think some of them get a lot out of just talking and getting [their] feelings out," said Lief, 76, of those at the support meetings.
"You don't realize how it can get progressively devastating that someone can walk around and not know what's happening," Lief said.
Lief said he also saw a need for more publicity about services in the area and for more awareness of physicians whose expertise is Alzheimer's.
"There is no doubt that services and accessibility to services remains a challenge for families touched by this illness," Emerson said. "While there are an array of elder services in South Carolina, not all provide Alzheimer's-specific components.
"We must remember the impact of Alzheimer's disease affects the whole family, not solely the diagnosed person. Caregiver stress, the financial burden of long-term care services, lost jobs, the list is endless," Emerson said.
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If you go
The S.C. Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association will hold its first Forget-Me-Not Ball Saturday at the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes. Tickets are $100 per person. For information or tickets, call 800-860-1444 or Elyssia Lowe, chairwoman of the ball committee, at 347-2550, ext.6.
The Alzheimer's Association of Eastern North Carolina Chapter's sixth annual Caregiver Education Conference will be 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. April 30 at Scotts Hill Baptist Church, 185 Scotts Hill Loop Road, Wilmington, N.C. Registration fees: no charge for family caregivers, $25 for professionals and an additional $10 for professionals for continuing education credits. Information: contact Holly Henderson at 910-395-4553, ext. 204, or hhenderson@capefearcog.org.
What -- Alzheimer's disease is an incurable, degenerative, ultimately fatal, neurological disease that affects 1 in 8 people 65 and older, and nearly half of people with Alzheimer's disease are 85 years old or older, according to the national Alzheimer's Association Web site.
Who -- Nationwide, a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease every 70 seconds.
How many -- By the year 2010, there will be an estimated 80,000 people living with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia in South Carolina
Source: National Alzheimer's Association
Contact JANELLE FROST at 443-2404. To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.