Category: Still Alice

Still Alice and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 Life is a precious gift. It is not about the gifts we are given in our lives, but how we use those gifts. Do we take for granted our lives and just how precious they are or does it take a tragedy to really find out? Still Alice is a moving novel describing the inevitable downward spiral Alzheimer’s disease causes and how we must appreciate all we have because at any age, our lives could change drastically.
It is unimaginable how Alzheimer’s disease changes a person’s entire life, but with the support of family, friends, and colleagues, it is possible for Alice to stay true to herself, live with the disease, and remember she is not the disease, but rather still Alice (Genova). Dr. Alice Howland, a fifty-one year old woman, is a fantastic mother, wife, and professor at Harvard University. After struggling with simple everyday tasks involving her memory, Alice decided to see a doctor to get evaluated to see if there was anything to be concerned about.
Ruling out it was not menopausal symptoms or the stress of everyday life, she was sent home and told to continue to evaluate herself at home. About a month later, she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease (Genova). This diagnosis changed her life forever. John, Alice’s husband, was closest to her and they had an incredible relationship and marriage. Unfortunately for Alice, John never fully understood what she was going through. When Alice first breaks the news to him, he went into immediate denial. He took her to another doctor and had more tests run.

It was somehow impossible to believe the love of his life, the perfect, intelligent woman he married would have to struggle and lose herself for the rest of their lives. After awhile of denial, he became aware of how much she really needed him to be there for her. He set aside his true feelings and began doing more things to help her feel happy and not trudge on through life. The best thing he did for her was go running every single night with her. Not only was it great alone time for them, but he Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 as helping her feel youthful and like herself again each time they took a jog. Sometimes his undying love for his wife would take over and he would be there for her, especially the night she got lost in their own home and she broke down. He held her while she sobbed (Genova 150). Overtime it was if the disease became too hard for John to handle and he missed who is wife used to be rather than loving her unconditionally. He lost his patience quickly which showed one night when Alice went to change, but could not figure out how to get her bra on, but she did not realize she was holding underwear instead.
She quickly laughed it off while John yelled at her telling her how it was not funny she was losing her mind (Genova 199). In the end, Alzheimer’s was overtaking John’s life and rather than living with it, he pretended as if Alice would just tag along with him to a new job promotion in New York. Alice and her children knew this would make her memory and mindset go downhill quickly, but John did not seem to care. Leaving her behind with a caretaker and their children in Cambridge, John went on to New York (Genova). Alice’s colleagues were a different story.
Alice finished the semester and was hoping to teach another year at Harvard, but her student evaluations made her decision for her. It was evident she was not the same great professor she used to be and her ability to conduct class was declining fast to the point where she would repeat the same lecture or show up on some days for a few minutes then just leave (Genova 180). She told her boss about her disease and together they decided it would be best for her to take the year off and then take a sabbatical. Her boss felt horrible, but Alice knew it was best and she never wanted to be known has a bad professor so this was best.
Besides having to end her professional career, Alice’s role as a mother and wife were deeply impacted. At times she would not know who her children were, especially Lydia, “the actress”. She tried her best to be loving and caring for all three of her children and her husband, Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 but sometimes it became overwhelming and she just needed alone time. One night Lydia, her daughter, was there to stay the night while John was out of town and Alice did her best to force her out and claim she didn’t need her help. Lydia knew better and out of the love for her mother, she stayed with her all night.
Alice continued loving John unconditionally even when it was hard and she felt a little depressed. With all of her heart, she never wanted to let her husband go. She constantly reminded her family she loved them even when eventually she wouldn’t remember them (Genova). Alzheimer’s is never good, but it can give secret blessing. The biggest blessing she received as a result of her disease was the relationship with her daughter Lydia. All along Alice had a hard time supporting Lydia because she wanted her to go to college instead of aspiring to be an actress.
Realizing it is more important to be a supportive mother, Alice went to Lydia’s performances and discussed acting with her daughter. They became closer than they ever and Alice was so proud at the end of the book hen Lydia was accepted and planned to attended Brandeis University in their hometown (Genova 258). After reading this novel, I thought very carefully on whether or not I would want to know if I will have Alzheimer’s or not like Alice’s children found out in the novel. I came to the conclusion; I would not want to know. Living life to its absolute fullest is what I am all about.
Knowing down the road in my later life I will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s would scare me. I think I would stray away from the carefree, fun-loving person I am and just become stressed for my own future and what was to come. I love living in the moment, and if the moment arrives where I am diagnosed with this disease, I will face the challenge, but until then, I am going to enjoy every minute of my life. Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 I admire Alice for the person she was throughout the entire book and her daughter Lydia’s attitude.
There is little time for being sad right when someone is diagnosed, but after that you have to be supportive and caring. It’s not the disease caretakers live with, but the person and I feel that is very crucial to remember. As the presenter said in class, “There are rules of engagement we must recognize. They live in their own reality, have their own logic, and cannot reason, therefore we need to enter their reality” (Ms. Byergo). Accepting them for who they are and who they will become with the disease is the best thing I can think I would do.
It would be an honor to work with elderly and individuals with Alzheimer’s or a form of dementia. With the typical person being older than I am now, they would have so much wisdom and things to teach me. I think telling stories and sharing memories is a great way to relive the great days before the disease really takes over. I am a great listener and love hearing stories from older, wiser people because they have more fully experienced life and shared in the beauty of it. They can relive their youth through me and I could learn how to become a fantastic adult through them.
It would be a great experience. Still Alice surprised me by how well written and real life it was. I felt like I was part of the Howland family and as if I was going through everything with them. It captured my attention and stole my heart. I can’t imagine going through such an experience, but if I ever do, I will be glad I read this novel. Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 Works Cited Byergo, Ms. “Aging and Alzheimer’s. ” University of Missouri. Arts & Science Building, Columbia, MO. 9 October 2012. Lecture. Genova, Lisa. Still Alice: A Novel. New York: Gallery, 2009. Print.

Still Alice and Alzheimer’s Disease

Essay-Still Alice by Lisa Genova.
Alice grew and evolved while everybody else changed Before reading Still Alice, I did not know this is what Alzheimer’s patients went through. I had no clue. I thought they were bed ridden and depressed, secluded in a dark room. But, for Alice this was life and while she grew and developed, others around her changed. Her relationships with her family and colleagues changed. Lisa Genova could not have picked a better disease. I think it was a blessing in disguise for Alice. Of course not to say that she should have gotten it.
But, if she had cancer or ALS like what Morrie had in Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, Alice would have been a “hero. ” On the contrary, she was repulsed and repelled by her society and her husband failed to understand her. This made her a stronger woman. She grew because she had dementia. Throughout the book, Genova reiterates that we think of success in terms of career and credentials. I am not impervious to that either. A person who is apparently really advanced in his or her career is deemed successful and the people, who work behind the scenes for example, being a mother, are not.
Of course, Alice had a very successful career at Harvard. But, when she no longer wore “the imaginary blue ribbon”, she was no longer worth the respect and attention she used to get. Almost everybody’s attitude changed towards her. Alice had recalled them as people who “supported each other through slumps of negative data and grant rejection, through waves of crippling self-doubt, through illness and divorce. ” Only this illness was any other but Alzheimer’s. Not only do some people have this attitude towards the disease, I realized that Alzheimer’s patients do not have many resources to begin with.

As a society we have not paid attention to inventing some neat gadgets for patients that will allow them to recall important information for example, the directions to their house or the bathroom they could not find. Plus, she could not even find a support group for herself. Strangely, they had a support group for caregivers but, not for patients. So, she met Mary, Cathy and Dan. They too complained that their reputations had suffered at work. People associate the change in behavior of Alzheimer patients with substance abuse or a result of domestic problems.
Eric Wellman thought like that. Dan, Alice’s research student was the only person in her academic circle, who respected her and demonstrated her big finish in career. After all, she was able to inspire him to carry on her work. The changes in her society did not stop at her career. Interestingly, as Alice’s disease evolved, her personal relationships did too. John, with whom she had spent her entire life, grew further from her. His fiddling with the wedding ring in the doctor’s office showed his weakness of faith in their marriage after Alice was diagnosed.
The fact that he could not see her change when she had learned to be less stubborn about what she gets from Jerri’s was a sign that he wanted to live with and missed the old Alice. I think he had cried more times than anybody else in her family. It was hardest for him to cope with her illness. Perhaps because he was too dependent on her—the moment when he could not find his glasses, he needed Alice as Genova beautifully elaborated in the first paragraph. But, if Alice, the master of recalling things, were to lose that quality, how was he to function in that marriage? This was ironic.
As John grew apart from her, I think the void was filled by Lydia—the child Alice knew the least. Where John reckoned with her mental capabilities and loved her for that, Lydia connected with her mother’s renewed emotional intelligence. That’s why I think she decided to join college after Alice had brought up the subject again. After all, she could trust her mother now. But, I was surprised when Lydia refused to get tested for the disease. I think there are pros and cons of knowing. I would want to know. So, that I can get my act together and accomplish what I need to before I am no longer able to.
It is like what Morrie said: everybody knows they are going to die but, nobody believes it. I would want to at least know that I may get Alzheimer’s and get used to the fact before it is too late. Even though Alice knew her other children more, they played a little role in her life after her diagnosis. I think since Anna was diagnosed with the mutated gene, she was more careful and empathetic towards her mother but I did not like her attitude. She was more concerned about herself than Alice. Tom sparingly showed up. I wonder why Genova kept him out of the picture most of the time. May be because he was busy studying and because he was a guy.
And Alice’s progression was mainly emotional. So, knowing myself and a little bit about both genders, I think that emotions are mainly a female department. Alice’s role had metamorphosed from a scholar to a mother. And the fastest growth of motherhood was shown through communication via emotions between a mother and a daughter. For example, in the last paragraph Lydia asked her mother to relay her feelings after witnessing Lydia’s acting and Alice successfully communicated in just a few words. Alice connected beautifully with the language of emotions at a time when language, which made up her whole career, began to part with her.
She frequently remembered her mother and sister. I wonder if it was Alzheimer’s or she needed comfort in remembering her family more. Similarly, the butterfly necklace became more important to her. It was a memory of her mother but, also signified a butterfly’s short but, beautiful life. I think Alice related to the story and so did I. But, it was intriguing when she had called on to God whom she had never called on to. In times of need I also feel the urge to be more spiritual. This reminded me of Morrie, who admitted that he talked to God for the first time during the later stages of his illness.
Also, Alice felt the need to visit her family’s graves. Reminds me of a time when I went to visit a cemetery with my friend. I had a hard time trying to think about mortality like Alice. She was not concentrating on death in the cemetery. She was thinking about John and their relationship. All in all, Genova did a great job of giving us a picture of what an Alzheimer’s patient may go through. She pointed out Alice’s inner thoughts and feelings and how she had matured in so many ways while keeping her personality intact. Like before, she used cognitive exercises to remember items.
She was smart about the use of her blackberry and coming up with ideas to test her memory. She kept herself in an excellent physical condition. Which makes me want to get up and exercise every morning before I become senile. She also had a brilliant career and a family. Therefore, her initial decision to commit suicide came as a surprise. I think her family would not have approved of it. But overall, I think Alice grew in the process and others reacted accordingly. For instance, Lydia saw past the disease while John and Alice’s colleagues only saw what was shown to them.
Therefore, I do not think Genova did justice to what other people might be feeling and thinking. Especially, I would have liked to read about John’s perspective. Ironically, even when Dr. Davis had initially said that Alice’s accounts may not be too reliable, Genova kept the story going from Alice’s point of view. This made me biased towards Alice while not having a clear idea of what John and other people may have been going through. But at least, now I have a better understanding of Alzheimer’s and its manifestations.

Essay-Still Alice by Lisa Genova