The social isolation and inability to do our favorite activities were hard for everyone during the past year, but it was especially difficult for people suffering from Alzheimer's, and experts still don't know what the long-term effects will be.
Over the course of the last year, Bill Cianfichi has noticed some of the Alzheimer's symptoms his wife Mary has getting worse. He says she became more withdrawn, more suspicious during the pandemic.
"It's hard for normal people. Can you imagine when you have this, which like, you know something's wrong, but you don't know what it is that's wrong? Now all of a sudden, there's people walking around with suits on, masks, this is closed, you can't do this, you can't do that. That makes them even more confused. And takes away more of their identity," Cianfichi said.
She moved into Creekside Health and Rehabilitation Center in Carbondale last month. Bill says thanks to the specialized care she's received, she's getting better.
Although he can go inside to visit her, they have to stay 18 feet apart.
"It's really hard when she goes like this and says, 'Take me home.' And I can't do it. I can't do it," he said through tears.
In a few weeks, Mary will be fully vaccinated, and they can hold hands again.
"That'll be two months," Bill said, noting that it feels like a long time.
For Joseph Martines from Shavertown, it was over a year before he could be with his mother in person, who also suffers from Alzheimer's. He paid many visits to his mom outside her window at the same nursing home where Bill Cianfichi's wife lives.
"It was difficult for her. She was wondering why we couldn't come in to visit her, and she's like, 'Well, why can't you come in?'" Martines said. "We'd say, 'Well, because of COVID. We can't, you know, they're not having visits.'"
Chuck Sulpy takes care of his mother Jean full-time with the help of his wife at their home in Swoyersville. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2017.
"There's good days, and there's bad days," Sulpy said.
One of Jean's favorite things to do is go to the grocery store, but when COVID-19 hit, she couldn't go anymore.
"And that was OK. She understood it. The problem was she forgot. So she would ask again. And we just explained to her again, you know, there's a virus going around, people are getting sick, very sick, and some of them are dying, and we don't want that to happen here. And she was OK with it. But, you know, 10 or 15 minutes later, somebody mentioned going out, then she would ask again."
Chuck watched as his mother's memory slowly got worse over the last year.
"Not being able to remember in a shorter time. Before, it was like 15 minutes, 10 minutes. Now, it could be seconds."
While it's too early to tell the long-term impact of the pandemic on Alzheimer's patients, experts say the potential is significant.
The biggest factors that may have caused patients to decline more rapidly are most likely social isolation and disruption of routines.
Clay Jacobs, the executive director of the Alzheimer's Association Greater Pennsylvania Chapter, says there is good news. The pandemic brought to light things that need to be improved, things like updates to nursing home regulations and better access to support and services.
"Some of those things I don't think would be moving without the lessons learned from COVID. And that's a bitter lesson to have, but the potential to benefit people and to fix some of the gaps in our systems to better support all people is one of the things that's most encouraging," Jacobs said.
And what's most encouraging for the three gentlemen we spoke to is the promise of some sense of normalcy being restored to the lives of their loved ones.