CityView Magazine

34 September 2022 HEALTH Care for the caregivers Grant helps Cape Fear Valley support families of Alzheimer's patients BY JAMI MCL AUGHLIN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY WOOTEN I t all started when Ronnie Luck noticed that his wife, Phyllis, kept repeating herself. "She'd ask the same question over and over again," says Luck, with tears in his eyes, remembering the early days of her progression to a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Luck, a former football coach and physical education teacher, retired as the assistant principal and athletic director at South View High School. He and Phyllis met in 1977, when she was teaching at Massey Hill Junior High School. e two Fayetteville natives both taught school for more than 30 years in Cumberland County. ey have three Phyllis had always been a free spirit and independent, Luck says. He calls her Rock, a nickname that refers to his health scares throughout their marriage. "She held my hand through two rounds of chemotherapy. She's my Rock," says Luck. Aer he and their children heard the Alzheimer's diagnosis, he became Phyllis' caregiver. He began to look for an assisted-living facility when his wife's long walks began to frighten him. She moved into Harmony at Hope Mills last July. "I'd be so scared for her to get hurt, to get lost. She'd walk every day. She'd get sunburned, and I'd try to give her water, put cream on her," Luck says. Even as she can no longer remember her children or her past, Luck says, Phyllis has not lost her loving spirit. "She tells everyone that she loves them. For our 32nd wedding anniversary on July 14, I didn't bring flowers. I brought cupcakes for everyone at Harmony," says Luck. Phyllis is happy to be there, he says. He visits regularly — not just for her, but for himself. children, Keri, Casi and Kevin. His daughters both work for Cape Fear Valley Health. Alzheimer's was a slow progression, and the repetition frustrated Luck. He says his wife began to get up and take walks, going farther and farther each day. She came to not recognize her husband and was even getting scared of him. "One day, she knocked on a friend's door and told my neighbor that there was a strange man in her house and that she was afraid," says Luck. Luck 's neighbor brought her back to their home and tried to comfort her, saying, "Now Phyllis, there is not a strange man in the house. at's Ronnie, your husband." Alzheimer's was a slow progression, and the repetition frustrated Luck. He says his wife began to get up and take walks, going farther and farther each day. She came to not recognize her husband. Nancy Davis is a social worker with Cape Fear Valley Health who is dedicated to assisting the caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. Contributed photo Ronnie Luck says the resources he received through Cape Fear Valley Senior Health Services helped him after his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

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