Stories
Read the stories we have collected from our Movement supporters:
Rose,"Please I urge everyone to support research to rid this great country of this family thief."
My Aunt died in a home after 15 years having no memory of her life and family at the age of 79. It was very hard on all the family my aunt was the life of the party a great friend to us kids she took us fishing and swimming on summer vacations at her family cottage at Gilford lake. Those are so really great times I was one of the younger group5 thru 14 years of age. Gradually day by day she drifted away; Years latter while in a care center she passed on mentally alone since she did not know who anyone was we were all members of a family lost. Please I urge everyone to support research to rid this great country of this family thief.
Patricia, "So many lives are ruined because of this disease"
My grandmother lived with my mom and dad when she was in the last stages of Alzheimer's. She passed away because she had forgot that she had to chew her food and swallow. My mom has been diagnosed with this dreadful disease and I know I am losing her little more each day. I am 43 years old and have went myself to a neurologist because my memory has gotten so bad over the last 2 or 3 years that I was afraid I had this disease too. Thank God my brain scan at this time shows no signs but is always a possible chance. Please help stop Alzheimer's. So many lives are ruined because of this disease. I don't want my mom or myself or my children or grandchildren to pass from this. Thank you for listening to my story. God Bless!
Megan,"I miss my grandpa everyday"
My Grandfather Loren E. Denton passed away from this horrible disease on January 2nd 2009. He was not sick and he was in about his 2nd stage they said he had a heart attack and passed away in his sleep. I had to watch him forget things he knew how to do for years and it was like one day everything he had ever known was no longer there except from when he was a younger teenager he was remember things from years and years ago but had forgotten he ate dinner 20 minutes ago. He got to the point he started running away and falling all the time so we had to put in a rest home it was not the easiest thing to do to leave someone we love so much there and not take them home with us at night. He had these big blue eyes and a great big smile everytime he seen me. I helped feed him everytime i was there because he lost alot of weight while being in that nursing home and i didn't feel he was getting the proper care and even heard stories about abuse. the nurses got word that we suspected that and then a month later he mysteriously passed away. I try not to think about what could have possibly been done to him because it was hard enough seeing him in that state of mind. I miss my Grandpa everyday and I pray to god I never have to go through something like that again with a loved one. In memory of him is a tattoo on my leg so whenever i miss him he is going to be there! I wish there was a cure for this disease.
Maureen, "We need to find a cure or a way to stop this horrible disease that is taking all of our loved ones from us."
My beautiful mother who worked her whole life, was diagnosed at the age of 68 with Alzheimer's. She had just buried my Dad a year prior and her sister in 2003. She watched both of them suffer and was there at their side every day in the hospital praying and caring for them. I don't know if loosing both of them a year apart was too much for her but she started showing signs right after her sister died. Not able to handle the paperwork and financial burden that comes from loosing a family member. She had loved to travel and was able to take a couple more trips with my Dad's sister who was her travel companion for years. Then it got to be too much and we had to take her car away from her. As the disease progressed my oldest brother had lost his job and volunteered to take care of Mom. She's been able to stay in her own home which is her safe haven and Tom takes great care of her. We all know the time will come when it will be too hard to keep her home but we hope to do it as long as possible. Mom is the grandmother of 14 grandchildren. My two oldest girls who are now 20 and 18 miss the old grandma who used to babysit them and take the out. They had a great relationship with her. My youngest was born in 2003 the year Mom was diagnosed and she doesn't know the real grandma. The grandma she knows forgots how to talk and wears a diaper and can hardly walk sometimes. It is so sad to see Mom this way. She was a beautiful kind woman who would do anything for anyone. Although we know she is only going to get worse so we treasure every moment that she is with us. I don't want my girls to have to take care of me like that and I don't want this to happen to them either. We need to find a cure or a way to stop this horrible disease that is taking all of our loved ones from us.
S., "She was my best friend and I miss her"
My mom is 84 and she has had alzheimer's disease for the last 10 years. It started gradually with forgetting little things and then not knowing her husband of 27 years. Now she has forgotten just about everything. How to walk, how to feed or dress herself and finally this past few months she has forgotten all of her family.
Once in awhile she remembers me but that is rare. She was my best friend and I miss her. She was always very active, always on the go. I am also afraid that I will get the disease and can hardly bear the thought of putting my kids through this.
Chere, "We are giving it all for our loved ones, but we need someone to give to and care for us."
My mother was diagnosed with AD in 2007. As her only caregiver, I have had to sacrifice my career, my health, my finances, and my personal life. I have been forced to rely on my lifetime savings--something I had hoped to save for retirement, to survive. My savings is going fast and so is my health. Mom is in a 3rd phase clinical trial for this cruel disease and it has given us hope. The toll it has taken on me and mom has been unbelievable. I recently have undergone a multitude of tests, including a stress test and a heart cath. In July, I took one pill per day for high blood pressure. My doctors now have me taking 12 pills per day. The stress is so demanding and cruel, I feel I could actually die before mom. Now the medical bills for me are adding up into the thousands, and since I no longer work, I am frightened about how I will pay for them. Funds must be made available to find a cure immediately--and funds must be made available to aid caregivers. We are giving it all for our loved ones, but we need someone to give to and care for us.
Pam G.,"I went on my first Alzheimer’s Memory Walk today"
I went on my first Alzheimer’s Memory Walk today in St. Petersburg, Florida. My husband joined me and we soon were accompanied by a friend with his two young children. It was a truly delightful walk with the boys running ahead, then behind, picking up sticks along the way and just truly entertaining not only the three of us, but people around us walking as well. The only cloud was the overshadowing sadness of people affected by this debilitating disease. The walk was not only for the people that are afflicted, but also for the people on the walk that are affected by Alzheimer’s. And I am one in the last category. I went on the walk for two reasons, the first because of two loved ones’ - my Mom and a very close friend and mentor whom I dearly love. The second reason is because of a promising answer to the lonely primary caregiver’s life, Memory Mate®, which I am testing on my Mom and family (more on this later). I care for my Mom and have for over two years. Initially it was very tough for I did not transition well from the child to the parent. And it was doubly hard because my Mom lives with me and my husband. She went from being an extremely vibrant senior where she played cards twice a week with friends, met them for dinner once a week and drove herself to various places, to becoming a very forgetful, hesitant and dependent elderly woman. The other person close to me who has Alzheimer’s became affected by it early in life, for he is only in his 60s. He was one of the brightest, considerate, and devoted businessmen I have ever known. We would talk at least once every few months and had for years. He was my sounding board to the world of business and what right steps I should take, as well as being an extremely close and caring friend. I could call him with any question, and would hear back from him within 24 hours no matter how busy. He ran multi-billion dollar corporations, but always found time for his friends. And now I haven’t talked to him in over a year, and only know how he is doing because I receive updates from his best friend. So my heart breaks, because two people that were both vibrant, giving human beings now are living but are no longer alive. I have a wonderful family that supports me while I care for my Mom. But the responsibility is really on my shoulders, and so I feel alone. And that brings me to the second reason for being on the walk, Memory Mate®. I have titled it “the caregiver’s lifeline”, because it is a very simple web based application that allows me to monitor from any computer to my Mom’s room through a touch screen netbook that sits next to her bed. And more importantly, it lets her interact with family members and friends with a touch to the screen. She now has seen and heard her new great-grandson for the first time live, and talked to the family remotely for the first time. And it wasn’t hard for her, even at 90 with no memory to speak of! So the walk was empowering for me, not only because I was walking for people, but because I know that I can make a difference in other’s lives with this new idea. And so my new journey begins.
Sophia, "I am a sole caregiver"
I am longtime sole caregiver to my mother who is in earky stages of this merciless disease.I hD TO GIVE UP MY CAREER, MY ENTIRE KLIFE TO TAKE CARE OF HER. my HEALTH NOW IS AT RISK. FINANCES ARE DWINDLING AND SHE HAS PHYSICAL complications and aggressive behaviour. Her terror of losing her mind is ongoing.The tragedy of this disease is that it is insidious > i watched mother survive barrets esophagus cancer to be the longest living survivor of that cancer. Alzheimers is insidious TO watch your parents mind crumble slowly before you and watch their terror and shame is a heartbreak thats becomes unendurable. the stress of caregiving is the most deadly Read the Alzheimers Association statistics on this. They compared caregiving of all diseases Alzheimers kills everyone slowly and mercilessly.
