Rock climb raises awareness for Alzheimer’s caregivers

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Leeza’s Place climbers en route to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The climb was to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. In August, a group will do trail climbing at Starved Rock State Park in Utica. | Submit

Updated: November 16, 2011 1:38AM

Leeza Care advocate Kathy A. Miller learned firsthand the frightening aloneness caregivers experience every day.

Miller was climbing 6,288 feet to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s disease when the terrain turned steep and rocky and Miller lost sight of her team.

“I had no one to show me the way and no one behind me supporting me and encouraging me to go on,” Miller said. “At that moment, I understood the power and importance each of us has to provide assistance on the path, although difficult at times, for someone else. That’s what Leeza’s Place means to caregivers.”

On Aug. 6, Leeza’s Place at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet will re-create this Climb to Remember by hosting one close to home so other advocates and caregivers can participate, too.

Last year, Miller and Leeza Care advocate Kim Jackson joined 200 other climbers as part of the Army of Change project (www.thearmyofchange.com). Army of Change raises money for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases through fundraising in conjunction with mountain climbing.

This year, the Joliet-based event will be a day of trail climbing at Starved Rock State Park in Utica. The climb will be a symbolic walk of how one continues the journey of life, even after loved ones have passed.

The day will also include the distribution of small river rocks discreetly along the trails. Inscribed on them will be personal messages to loved ones. Western Landscape Supply in Plainfield donated the rocks.

During the climb, Miller will carry the Faces of Caring flag Leeza’s Place caregivers made last year, in honor of the caregivers who scale mountains every day and of Leeza’s Place, which supports their efforts.

“The journey we start out on may seem easy, but it gets more difficult,” Miller said. “And as it gets difficult, we need to let go of doing it alone and ask for help along the way.”

Jackson felt the same analogies during her climb. During the preparation and planning, Jackson considered the obstacles ahead, just as caregivers do before plunging into duty. The weight of Jackson’s backpack was the weight of caregivers’ responsibilities. To Jackson’s dismay, fellow climbers were more concerned about their journey than Jackson’s discomfort.

For six hours, the conveniences of life vanished: water, chairs and bathrooms. Jackson couldn’t even find a landing to catch her breath. Jackson had no choice but to wearily trudge to the top. She felt no sense of accomplishment. Was that what caregivers wondered when their loved ones were dying, Jackson thought.

“As I stumbled to the top and people cheered, a feeling of compassion for all caregivers came over me,” Jackson said. “I had made it through the obstacles, past the journey and on to a different life, which is now influenced by the experience I just encountered. From this day on, I will always move forward.”