My Nonprofit Reviews

My Hero, once told me I could be anything that I wanted to be. I spent several trips fishing or hunting with my father and he let me ramble on and on. I wanted to be the first woman President!! In 2015, we still have yet to experience a woman president but the possibility looms. I no longer have my Hero! My Dad died on July 15, 2010 from a disease I had never heard of PSP - Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

My Dad was proceeding along in life just fine as he had just retired and was looking forward to retired life. He and my mother had just bought a new home in 2006 in a quiet area away from the city in which they had resided for several years. Dad had gotten himself a little step-side Ford PU - bright red and he seemed very content. A short time later family members began to notice odd behaviors we had not witnessed before. Dad would leave a room and then return looking as if he was lost and scared but then upon recognizing a familiar face would proceed right on into the gathering. He also began to cough and struggle while eating and became very particular what he would ingest. He also began to take a tumble every now and then.

Dad went to his primary care physician and they did the same 'Parkinson's' tests twice!! His doctor was sure he had Parkinson's but could not validate that diagnosis. Everyone was concerned but no one knew where to turn next. During this time of testing it was discovered my Dad needed to have a spinal surgery near the base of his head as his bone was very fragile and there was a space that needed to be repaired before Dad took a fall that could render him paralyzed. Dad was not a very good patient. This behavior was not typical of my happy go lucky Dad. He was irritating nurses and pulling out his IV's. The downward trend in behaviors and falls continued.

My sister was a nurse and felt an appointment with a neurologist was in order. Within fifteen minutes of my Dad walking in the door he gave us a PSP diagnosis. The Dr. said he knew the moment he saw my Dad's fixed, gazing, dull eyes. He also said Dad was at risk for choking to death and needed a feeding tube. In 2009, my Dad was admitted to a nursing home. He fell in the middle of the night one night and hit his head on the bathtub and tried to not let anyone know. The hospital said home was no longer safe for him. Dad fell again in the nursing home on July 4, 2010...he died July 15, 2010.

I give to CurePSP and we made CurePSP a memorial for my Dad because I want more people to be educated and to know about CurePSP and how they can help people with this deteriorating disease. I learned more about this disease after my Dad had died and wished we would have known about this foundation and the information we could have gained while he was still living.

I will continue to give to CurePSP as I am able and to pray for the many families affected to learn early on what can be done to make end of life easier on the patient and their families. My Dad is still my Hero! I continue to pass on to his grandchildren that they are capable of being anything their heart desires, and I know my father smiles every time he hears me say it.