THE HEART OF A NEIGHBORHOOD
Years ago, local coffee shops, post offices and
pharmacies served as informal gathering
places where neighbors of all stripes socialized
and exchanged stories. For one Washington
Heights community, those days are still here.
Perched on a corner of Audubon Avenue in a
primarily Latino neighborhood, the Santa Clara
pharmacy is a place where compassion is given
out in large doses every day. Anna P’s mother
opened the store in 1960, the first Latina to
graduate from St. John’s pharmacy program.
With her husband as her business partner, she
ran the store for over 40 years. Anna now continues
the tradition of dispensing medication
and kindness to neighbors in need.
In 2004, Anna’s parents were living in a 3rd
floor walk-up near the store. Anna was married
and had a good job with a law firm. While her
parents’ health had been declining, she did not
grasp the extent of their problems until she
received an alarming call from a long-time
employee of the pharmacy. Anna needed to
come home.
Her father, Herbert, had been slowly losing his
memory. The family attributed it to “old age.”
When he began hallucinating, no one realized it
was a symptom of his dementia. Anna’s mother,
herself ill with diabetes and epilepsy, became
deeply depressed. Anna quit her job and took
over the pharmacy. She eventually moved in
with her parents while her husband and two
children remained in the Bronx.
When her father was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease in 2005, Anna didn’t know
where to turn. Ironically, Herbert received his
medical care steps away from the Memory
Center at Columbia Presbyterian Medical
Center, but was never referred there. The only
bright spot during this period was VNS nurse
Tina Vargas, who recommended home care.
Anna began to private-pay for a home health
aide, not realizing her father was Medicaid-eligible.
Anna was already providing financial support
to her 93 year-old grandmother. As her finances
dwindled and the separation from her family
began to weigh, there were moments of desperation.
Responding to a TV advertisement for a
Caregiver Hotline, she spoke for three hours
with a counselor who referred her to the
Alzheimer’s Association. Anna feels her life
changed on that day.
Soon after calling the NYC Chapter’s 24-
hour Helpline, Anna and her husband John
came in for a care consultation. No longer able
to afford their $1,500 a month apartment in the
Bronx, the whole family moved in with Anna’s
parents. Nights were especially difficult due to
Herbert’s wakefulness. The only solution they
could imagine was for John to stay up all night
with Herbert and sleep during the day when the
aide came. They felt more hopeful when the
care consultant recommended a diagnostic
workup and medication evaluation.
Stunned to learn her father was Medicaideligible,
Anna began to assemble the documents
for home care. But before she was able to apply,
Herbert was hospitalized. The care consultant
helped facilitate transfer to a geriatric psychiatry
unit, where experienced staff adjusted his medication
and helped Anna accept that nursing
home care was needed. A good placement was
arranged. A few months later Herbert died in
Anna’s arms.
Anna and her husband are slowly putting their
lives back together. She hopes to share the
lessons she’s learned by some day volunteering
for the Chapter. Urging greater understanding
of the pressures of caregiving on Baby Boomers,
Anna explains “people need to know the toll
this takes on our marriages.” She regrets finding
help only toward the end. Anna’s advice for
anyone with a family member diagnosed with
dementia is not to wait. “Call the Chapter right
away!”
— Amanda Leis
Manager, Care Consultation
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