ALZHEIMER’S – A good friend follows faithfully GMA’s “Someone to Watch over Me,” which dramatizes the plight of a young husband (Tom Rodriguez) with Alzheimer’s disease who can’t distinguish between wife (Lovi Poe) and ex-sweetheart (Max Collins). The friend finds the primetime soap at once engrossing and enlightening, saying viewers become more caring and understanding in dealing with people afflicted with the sickness without cure.
The friend recalls two incidents involving family friends.
The first happened in the US during a family dinner. The mother who’s only in her 60s asked that she be excused to get the dessert in the kitchen. After some 30 minutes she hasn’t returned… and nowhere to be found inside the house.
Turned out the mother walked on and on, reaching the village park and couldn’t remember what happened.
The second took place in a ritzy subdivision in Manila, where security guards found a car parked in one corner, the driver looking dazed and lost. Guards recognized him, a prominent doctor in his 70s. He said he could no longer remember where he resided, only a few streets away.
In both instances, Alzheimer’s had set in suddenly, unexpectedly. Loved ones didn’t realize that being very impatient, forgetful were already tell-tale signs.
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‘VICTIMS’ – Rich or poor, old or young (even those in their 30s or 40s) are “victims” of the dreaded disease.
Think of US President Ronald Reagan and Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth.
Nearer home, a character actor is confined in care home in a nearby province. An esteemed actress-singer-producer is being taken care of by children and other loved ones at home.
Megastar Sharon Cuneta and “Star” columnist Barbaran Gonzalez talk about the challenges of visiting their sick mothers, unpredictable and often not recognizing them. No matter, they remained loving daughters to the very end.
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ONE MORE TRY – From contributor Jay P. Delgado:
Fritzie Lexdy Dimailig-Noche, a dentist by profession and socialite-philanthropist from Balayan, Batangas, is one of the front-runners among 17 contestants for the 5th Mrs. Philippines-Globe Pageant to be held at Samsung Hall, SM Aura Premier, Taguig City on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
Doc Fritzie, as she is fondly called, is wife to Geminiano “Butch” P. Noche, Jr., a businessman engaged in aqua drilling and water systems contracting, and mother to a brood of three namely Geminiano III or David, 11, Fritzjohn Feliz or Hiram, 9, and Maria Isis Hera or Isis, 7.
Elected as president of Philippine Dental Association (PDA) – Batangas Chapter in 2007-2008, Fritzie obtained her degree in Dental Medicine at Centro Escolar University-Mendiola and took up her Masters in Orthodontics, Temporomandibular Dysfunction and Orthopedics at the Roman Dental School.
Fritzie is also a civic leader and dabbles in ballroom dancing in her spare time, winning as PDA National Dance Sport Champion in individual rumba, foxtrot, and salsa categories a few years ago.
After a respectable semi-finals finish in Mrs. Philippines Globe in 2014, Doc Fritzie decided to join again and is raring to win the coveted title this time. “My precious experience in this pageant gave me a wonderful opportunity to discover myself and improve my persona as a wife, mother, and friend to all. I joined again for another chance to re-discover myself, and with your prayers and support, I hope to make it this time and be given the chance to represent the Philippines in an international pageant,” she said during a brief interview during the press presentation of the 17 contestants at Patriarch Events Hall in Makati City last Oct. 13.
The nationwide search, open to women of substance (married women as well as single moms), is spearheaded by former beauty queen Carla Cabrera-Quimpo. The winner vies for Mrs. Globe 2016 to be held in China in December.