By VICKIE JAMBON

Staff Reporter

RESERVE – Mary Hampton is an enchanting woman with a sparkling personality. Full of life, her eyes light up as she speaks pleasantly of her 87-year-old mother, Ruth James. A smile spreads effortlessly across Mary’s face and suddenly turns to jovial laughter as she recalls affectionate moments she shared with her mother. To look at Mary Hampton and to listen to her speak, no one would guess that Mary’s mother is an Alzheimer’s patient and that Mary is her caregiver.

Mary began to notice a change in her mother five years ago. Ruth lived in her own home, along with Mary’s sister when all of a sudden, without notice, she began acting strangely. “I

thought she was getting mean. She started saying ugly things. I didn’t know at that time what was happening to her,” said Mary. “I didn’t know anything about Alzheimer’s. It wasn’t until I read about the disease that I began to understand what was happening to my mother.”

In the next two years, Ruth became almost impossible to manage. She would act out violently, striking and hitting anything within arm’s reach. She became afraid of water and refused to take baths. Ruth often wandered off and she would forget where she put things. Hiding objects in strange places, Ruth once placed a dinner plate underneath her bed pillow and occasionally set Mary’s wallet on the living room window sill. Refusing to place her mother in a nursing home, Mary packed Ruth’s belongings and moved the elderly woman into her spacious two-story home on East 24th Street. That was three years ago.

“Mom often behaved like a child. If I was alone with her, I couldn’t cook or go to the bathroom. I had to have someone with her at all times. Mom would run away and she wouldn’t eat. I pureed her food and put a little sugar in it. That seemed to help. My mother would forget where she was at times. At other times she knew she was at my house and she would tell me she was going home to her house. She would fight me to go home. Flailing her arms through the air, she would beat and scratch me,” said Mary. “Those were the violent years. I had to place a monitor on her bed, on her leg and over the door leading into her bedroom. I constantly listened for monitors. I only got two to three hours of sleep per night.”

Overwhelmed with stress, Ruth had a stroke in August 2002. Mary suffered a stroke four months later in December 2002. Reaching a pinnacle in her life – desperate for help – Mary came to learn about two state programs, which provided care for Alzheimer patients. Mary filled out the necessary paperwork and Medicaid approved Ruth for the Elderly & Disabled Waiver (EDA Waiver). Later on the government implemented Long Term Personal Care Services (PCS) as an alternative to nursing home long-term care. Ruth immediately qualified for the program and received additional assistance.

“Help came at the right time. They say God won’t give you more than you can handle,” said Mary. “I was right at my limit.”

An aide provided by a LaPlace organization named “An Angel’s Touch of the River Region Inc.” arrives at Mary’s home at 8 a.m. and stays with Ruth until 10 p.m. The helper prepares breakfast for Ruth. She gets Ruth up out of her bed and places her in a wheelchair. She bathes her, feeds her and changes the linen on the elderly woman’s bed.

“All day long, she rotates my mother from the chair to the bed. She changes my mother’s diapers and prepares her lunch. She feeds mama snacks and juices during the day. However, I administer my mother’s medication,” said Mary.

Ruth is now given medication, which contains a sedative. This allows Mary to care for her mother during the night. Ruth can no longer care for herself, and Mary has moved to a downstairs bedroom so she can take better care of her mother.

“If my mother had been in a nursing home, I believe she would have been dead a long time ago. She needs 24 hours of constant care. She needs one-on-one care,” said Mary. “Before I received help, I would sit and cry. I could not have made it without these services. I was at my wit’s end.”

Mary explained that she often felt anger over her mother’s illness. She would get angry with her mother and would then become upset with herself for being angry with Ruth. She cared for her mother endlessly, which resulted in solitude and depression.

Now that Ruth has an aide to assist her, Mary can leave the home and enjoy a few hours away. At one time, Mary felt guilty for leaving her mother with an aide. However, she began to realize the necessity of extracurricular activities to maintain a healthy mental attitude.

Mary said she now goes shopping during the week and on the weekend she attends church.