New Report Highlights Deficiencies In Alzheimer's Care In Oklahoma

A new report from the Alzheimer's Association highlights major deficiencies in how the disease is recognized and treated. The numbers of people with Alzheimer's or dementia is going up - but the number of caregivers and qualified doctors remains low. The Alzheimer's Association described Oklahoma as one of 20 states it calls a 'dementia neurology desert.'

Executive Director of the Alzheimer's Association Oklahoma Chapter Sandi Pellow said the number of trained experts isn't keeping up with the growth of patients.

“70,000 Oklahomans live with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia which is pretty heartbreaking. In Oklahoma, we expect a 13.5-percent increase just in the next few years,” she said. “So we have a lot of people caring for their loved one that aren’t in the medical profession."

That means people like Herb Magley have to take the lead in taking care of loved ones.

“You can’t imagine how brutal this disease is until you go through it," he said.

Herb lost his wife, Gail, to the disease in 2015. He was forced to quickly become an expert after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

“Then it’s the tears. The tears take over and you cry an ocean of tears with each other," he said.

He said the only thing that kept his head above water was a strong support group pulling him up.

“A lot of people try to handle this disease by themselves. And you can’t do that," he said. "Another thing that I would highly recommend is humor."

Even through the worst storms - Herb made Gail smile. He said years of laughter would help daylight shine again through the clouds of lost memory.

"She was in a fetal position - just skin and bone - and she would roll over every once and a while and she'd look at me and she'd just start laughing. And I could never figure it out and I finally thought well, maybe she does recognize me as the guy that made her laugh all those times," he said.

Magley's number one tip besides laughter is to reach out to the Alzheimer's Association and join a support network.