Essential Question? Essential Decision

Things are actully seeming to get easier for me as far as my grad project is concerned. Despite the fact that I accidentally dropped my lap top during the second to last week of school (AT ALL TIMES TO BE WITH OUT IT!) everything is coming together. Two days ago I made my table timeline and I have a very good idea as to what I want to get out of this project and the time I have to complete it. I altered my essential question:

("How do families cope with the struggles inherited after a loved one has fallen victim to Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia?")

I thought that it would be a more clear way to express how familes are also affected by Alzheimer's disease/Dementia. Im sure I said in a recent post that I am extremely excited to participate in the Memory Walk that will take place here in Pittsburgh. I have a hundred different ideas for fundraising money to donate and different ways to get my fellow school mates involved in alzheimer's awareness.

I still have tons of work ahead of me, but with school coming to a very close end I think I'll be a little more excited to research my topic. Sooner or later I'll become a master mind in Alzheimer's disease reseach and I plan to make my panel very proud of me(whomever they maybe ;) )

Nothing Done!!!! (blame DeAnna....haha)

I didnt really accomplish anything I would have liked to accomplished. Mainly because I keep finding it hard to focus. I did however attempt to find events that were dedicated to Alzheimer awarness, but I had no luck of any of them being near pittsburgh.
One day ill re-write my foundation questions, that way ill be able to focus more on what it is im trying to figure out. Theres alot to focus on with thise disease and im worried ill keep getting set of track. Hopefully that wont occur, ill figure all out soon enough.

MAJOR Platue

I believe last week I had my internship meeting with Mrs. Kretchman, Jordan ( a fellow classmate of mine who will be interning at the Canterberry facitly with me), and Bobbi-Jo my mentor.
Everything went well at the meeting and I am excited to get started with it. While we toured the facility I learned that there was a Dementia Care unit located in the building next to where I would be interning. Mrs. Kretchman and Bobbi-Jo also made it clear that there would be opportunities to complete some of my hours within the unit. I was Fasinated with the idea, seeing how I am hoping to put together a documentory on what life is like inside a facility like that for patients suffering from Dementia. Within the documentry i hope to inteview those who are responsible for treatment, and those who run the unit.
Today I am trying to put together the interview questions for my "documentry/interview." However, im having a little trouble getting started because of my lack of knowlegde. Im not sure who I will be interviewing, nor am I sure whether or not they will be able to coroporate with my project.
This project started off great, but now im starting to hit some kind of platue and I hope it blows over soon because im really starting to loose all patients.

Tired/Sleepy/Lazy...But Still Moving On

This weeks going kind of slow for me, probably because I got off to a slow start this week. It seems as though my core classes and honors classes are beginning to run a muck and interfering with my rest. However, today I was capable of getting over my fatigue and getting some work done on my Webliography.
Sometime last week I recieved a packet of paper work from Mrs.Peck for my intership at Canterbery Place. I was excited to get that filled out and back in her hands. On the packet it said I would have an interview with im guessing my mentor, on February 17th. Im a little worried, not for my interview but mainly because ill be missing PSSA testing that day and I think that week is the week of the Reading and Math tests.
Im sure i'll be okay. Grad-Projects going great, along with everything else. I believe this trimester is the first trimester in my whole three year career in highschool that I have managed to recieve all A's on my assignments and in classes. I just hope I can keep up with this hectic schedule of mine. Reading three different books, two of those books have a tendency to get less interesting at times, its hard. but some how, I think ill manange.
:) :) :) :) :) :) <:<: <><:<: :):) :) :) :) :) :)

Did You Know?......

Source:http://www.alz.org/index.asp

• Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder named after a physician, Alos Alzheimer who first described it in 1906.
• The first case was discovered in 1901 by Dr. Alzheimer in 51 year old woman named Auguste D.
• Alzheimer’s is fatal and the most common form of Dementia.
• Alzheimer’s is a mixture of dementias, it includes a certain type of dementia that · reduces the amount of blood flowing to certain parts of the brain.
• The most amount of knowledge has been developed in the past 15 years.
• The year 2007 entered the history books as the period of tremendous advancements in Alzheimer‘s research.
• Alzheimer’s is divided into two major symptoms:
  
  -“Cognitive”: symptoms that affect memory language, judgment, planning, ability to pay attention and other thought process.
  -“Behavioral & Psychiatric”: affect the way the patients mental abilities and their actions.

Source: http://alzheimers.about.com/od/whatisalzheimer1/a/causes.htm

• Alzheimer’s is thought to be characterized by a buildup of proteins (Plaques & Tangles).
• They block the cells’ ability to communicate with each other, making it difficult for the cell to survive.
• Aging is the number one risk for developing Alzheimer’s.
• One out of eight people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s and one out of every two people over the age of 85 has Alzheimer’s.
• The probability of developing and being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s nearly doubles every 5 years after the age of 65.
• People who have a parent or sibling that developed Alzheimer’s disease are two to three times more likely to develop the disease than those that have no history of it in their family.

Source: http://www.alzheimerscombocare.com/?s_cid=1000

• Approximately 5 million American have Alzheimer’s
• Unless a cure or prevention is found, that number will increase to 14 million by 2050.
• People as young as 30 and 40 have developed the disease.

Source: http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_symptoms_of_alzheimers_disease_000002_5.htm

• alzheimers is often aver looked and diagnosed as natural aging
• alzheimers is often confused with MCI (mild cognitive impairment)

Quotes:

“Scientists are still studying how plaques and tangles are related to Alzheimer’s disease. One theory is that they block nerve cells’ ability to communicate with each other, making it difficult for the cells to survive.”

“Autopsies have shown that most people develop some plaques and tangles as they age, but people with Alzheimer’s develop far more than those who do not develop the disease. Scientists still don’t know why some people develop so many compared to others. However, several risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease have been uncovered.”

Source: http://alzheimers.about.com/od/whatisalzheimer1/a/causes.htm

I only had a maximum of 4 sites because a lot of my sites were supplying me with the same information, so I picked out the four that supplied me with the best and most reliable information.

Foundation Questions...

Foundation Questions based off of my essential question:
"What are the treatment available to help the person and their family that has fallen victim to Alzheimer’s?"

1. How much of the treatment is available? Are nursing homes a better type of treatment for the disease?

2. Where is the treatment distributed, does location affect the amount of treatment one may receive?

3. What treatment is the best, does it depend on the severity of the case?

4. Is there treatment available for the families that would include something like support groups?


What are the possibilities towards finding a cure for Alzheimer’s?

1. What causes Alzheimer’s, what is used to treat it?

2. What are steps being taken to prevent and possibly cure it?

3. Why are the majority of Alzheimer’s victims elderly, what is the youngest age capable of getting it?

4. What are the scientific factors that make the disease incurable?

5. Is Alzheimer’s disease hereditary?

6. Are there ways to prevent the disease?

( I hope to have more foundation questions for the rest of my key terms)

The Best Intern EVER!!!

Sometime last week during the final elective of the day Mrs.Savito pulled me from class and I finally met with Mrs.Peck about my internship!

I was happy to learn that my requests for completing my intern at a nursing home was granted and I would be interning at Cranberry Place.
I believe Mrs.Peck said it was located near Oakland, I am very excited about this because I will get the opportunity to work with elders and I can possibly use that information towards my graduation project.

She noted that there were two other students in my class that were currently completing there interns at Craberry Place, and that if I had any overall questions I was encouraged to ask them. Mrs.Peck also noted that I was going to be focusing more with the elders, unlike my classmates who are on a roatating schdule and move to various sections of the building.

I am very anxious to get started, I just emailed Mrs.Peck my resume like she asked and I am looking forward to meeting my mentor and become the BEST intern they have ever had.

:) :) :) (: (: (: