In 2008 I lost my mother, Meg, to Alzheimer's. Technically, that is when her body lost the battle. I lost the person she was years prior as the disease chipped away at her mind.
When my father, Don, died in early 2001, I started talked to my mom every third day (PZ is a fire fighter; calling on shift means not forcing him to deal with potentially very long mother-daughter phone calls). I am not really sure when Alzheimer's started taking over - it's something I've thought a lot about, but it isn't easy to determine. Over the years of calls, they did go through a morphing process. Generally becoming shorter, confusing topics and paranoia, and some misused words. But overall, Meg was really good on the phone, so I was probably missing clues.
I'm making a long story even longer. Let me cut to the chase - ultimately my brother had Meg (and her dog) move in with him and his wife until a spot in a nursing home opened up (thank you Canada for taking care of the elderly!). In what became my last visit to see her in person, October 2007, she didn't know who I was at first. Thankfully, she did recognize me for at least part of that trip. A funny line was when she and I were walking around the floor of the nursing home and she said, "Isn't this lovely, can you imagine living her?". I smiled and said, "That's great Mom, let's see if they can give you a room".
I wish she had been the mother I remembered during that last trip. Heck, as I said, I lost her years prior. Which is what leads me to wanting to share a recent breakthrough.
Researchers have known for years that Alzheimer's is associated with a sticky substance called "beta-amyloid" that accumulates in the brain and creates plaque (its not just for teeth anymore). People with Alzheimer's also have neurofibrillary tangles (twisted proteins in the brain's neurons). However, this has been a chicken or the egg guess of which came first. Thanks to a few researchers at Harvard medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, we now know the amyloid comes first. If we can stop the amyloid, we can stop the tangles that does the damage we call "dementia"!
I envision a world where no one else has to lose a loved one to this horrific disease. I would appreciate it if you donated to my Walk to End Alzheimer's occurring on October 15th.
http://act.alz.org/goto/elindsay
Thank you,
Liz
When my father, Don, died in early 2001, I started talked to my mom every third day (PZ is a fire fighter; calling on shift means not forcing him to deal with potentially very long mother-daughter phone calls). I am not really sure when Alzheimer's started taking over - it's something I've thought a lot about, but it isn't easy to determine. Over the years of calls, they did go through a morphing process. Generally becoming shorter, confusing topics and paranoia, and some misused words. But overall, Meg was really good on the phone, so I was probably missing clues.
I'm making a long story even longer. Let me cut to the chase - ultimately my brother had Meg (and her dog) move in with him and his wife until a spot in a nursing home opened up (thank you Canada for taking care of the elderly!). In what became my last visit to see her in person, October 2007, she didn't know who I was at first. Thankfully, she did recognize me for at least part of that trip. A funny line was when she and I were walking around the floor of the nursing home and she said, "Isn't this lovely, can you imagine living her?". I smiled and said, "That's great Mom, let's see if they can give you a room".
I wish she had been the mother I remembered during that last trip. Heck, as I said, I lost her years prior. Which is what leads me to wanting to share a recent breakthrough.
Researchers have known for years that Alzheimer's is associated with a sticky substance called "beta-amyloid" that accumulates in the brain and creates plaque (its not just for teeth anymore). People with Alzheimer's also have neurofibrillary tangles (twisted proteins in the brain's neurons). However, this has been a chicken or the egg guess of which came first. Thanks to a few researchers at Harvard medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, we now know the amyloid comes first. If we can stop the amyloid, we can stop the tangles that does the damage we call "dementia"!
I envision a world where no one else has to lose a loved one to this horrific disease. I would appreciate it if you donated to my Walk to End Alzheimer's occurring on October 15th.
http://act.alz.org/goto/elindsay
Thank you,
Liz
