Argument Hypertext

ARGUMENT HYPERTEXT:

Alzheimer’s disease has become a very dominant factor in my life over the past five years. Within this time, my grandpa has gone from being fully comprehensive and lively to becoming bedridden, unresponsive and forgetful to the point where he can’t remember his own kids…all five of them. He lives in a nursery in Honolulu, HI where he is under extensive care. In this same amount of time, my grandma on the other side of my family, also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, has moved from Torrance, CA to my house in Bellevue, Washington, then to her own house across the street, then later to a Japanese assisted living facility in downtown Seattle, and back to Bellevue now in a retirement home in the “Terrace,” aka, the place where people with Alzheimer’s or Dementia stay. It is because of Alzheimer’s that my grandparents can’t even remember my first name. It is because of this awful disease that they are forced to be put in places against their will because their bodies don’t act the way they want them to anymore. It is because of Alzheimer’s that I am writing this hypertext.

There are many perspectives one could take on the issues that go hand in hand with Alzheimer’s disease: families, tax-payers and doctors all have their own views on how to go about treating a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Let’s start with families. While you would think that all families deal with the disease in the same way, think again. There are many factors involved when trying to help a loved one diagnosed with such a disease. For example, my family along with many others, had to face the fact that we couldn’t dedicate the hours and commitment to taking care of my grandma 24/7 because of work, school, extracurricular activities, etc. So, we landed on the decision of placing her in an assisted living facility and visited her multiple times a week. Other families, on the other hand, may view what we did as harsh and unsympathetic, which is why some families choose to have their loved one live with them. Regardless of the choice a family makes, we all still eventually have to place the diagnosed in a hospital or nursing home because we do not have the skills or experience needed to know what’s best for them.

Other views on the disease come from doctors. Each doctor has his or her own standpoint on ways of dealing with Alzheimer’s. Some argue that once they are at the point of being hospitalized, families should let them live out their lives in their beds as long as possible until they peacefully pass on. Others advice families to pull the plug right then and there to either A) put them out of their misery or B) stop the troubles of having to deal with a patient that is going to pass on regardless. It is ultimately up to the family responsible for the patient but either way, doctors definitely have their views and aren’t afraid of expressing them.

So what about taxpayers? Because of the new health care plan, taxpayers are legally forced to pay a certain percentage for others’ health needs. So, why would any taxpayer want to spend extra money to prolong a life that is going to be terminated eventually anyway? They wouldn’t. Taxpayers like to think that their money is being put to good use and some think that extensive care for those with Alzheimer’s is not a good investment. In this sense, taxpayers and some doctors share the same view in that pulling the plug is easier on everyone else. While this may be true, there are many views on how to deal with those with Alzheimer’s, or any disease for that matter, and it all depends on the individual situation at hand.