KPAX

Posted: Jul 16, 2010 10:35 AM
Updated: Jul 16, 2010 11:32 AM

GREAT FALLS - Alzheimer's is a fatal disease in which brain cells are progressively destroyed, and the Alzheimer's Association estimates that every 70 seconds, someone develops the disease.

An estimated 5.3 million Americans have the disease, and it's the nation's seventh-leading cause of death. In part one of "The Long Goodbye," The News Station's Tim McGonigal met with local artist Ron Ukrainetz

Ron Ukrainetz, a local artist known for his magnificent wildlife paintings, is a witness to the heartache of Alzheimer's. For nine years, Ron and his family lived with the reality that their beloved mother, Lois, had Alzheimer's disease.

In addition to being an award-winning artist, Ron also loves to do research, and his mother's diagnosis led him to many hours studying the disease on the internet where he learned about symptoms and medications.

Click here to watch an extended interview with Ron.

But a friend told him about a book called "The 36 Hour Day," and he says that's what helped him learn about the disease on a personal level. Ron said, "That book let me believe that there were other people who are going through this. What to expect, how I can deal with it, not by myself."

Lois Ukrainetz was a kind and loving wife and mother; Ron jokes his mom owned a flyswatter but never used it.

But an Alheimer's diagnosis in 2000 was no laughing matter. Simple tasks became confusing and while living at the family lodge at Lindbergh Lake, the disease progressed, and the symptoms became more noticeable.

Ron recalled, "Trying to figure out how to start the vacuum cleaner that she'd owned for years and couldn't find the switch, didn't know how to turn on the vacuum cleaner."

Her ability to do the things she loved like play bridge and cook began to diminish. One day, a three-minute walk to a friend's house led to a wrong turn to the edge of the wilderness. Thankfully, a neighbor found her.

Ron said, "She had already been diagnosed at the time with a form of dementia, we had no idea that it was full-blown Alzheimer's."

The family sold their lodge on the lake and moved to Great Falls. Symptoms of confusion and anger led to admission to a hospital psychaitric ward, and eventually the difficult decision to send Lois to an independent Alzheimer's unit.

Ron said, "It's so deeply personal to watch a loved one not only forget the dog's name, who she loved...the kid's names which is painful...the husband who was with her for 63 years became 'that guy in the corner'. There is no way to express how hurtful that is."

Through rigorous research, Ron began to understand the disease. Pain was eased by finding others in similar situations.

Ron said, "You have to sit down and be serious with your family. And if you have to cry...cry. It doesn't matter who you think you are. I don't care if you're a Marine. This rips your heart out."

Ron says it was his mother who inspired him to become the artist he is, and the disease has made him more passionate than ever about his craft.

He says "the long goodbye" is a fitting term to describe Alzheimer's; in his family's case, it was a goodbye that lasted nearly a decade.

Ron noted, "We said goodbye to her physical abilities, we said goodbye to her speech, we said goodbye to her memories, and then the last day of April last year we said goodbye."

Ron will speak at an Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk in Great Falls on September 12th; click here to learn more.