Can't forget about Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's runs in my family. It is the health risk I worry about most. My most personal experience is with my grandfather. I watched him deteriorate and I watched how my grandmother went above and beyond to care for him personally for as long as she could and to be intimately involved in his care at a nursing home after she could no longer manage to care for him herself.

I remember the nights I would get a call from my grandmother that my grandfather had fallen, or was giving her a difficult time, or some other illness, combined with the Alzheimer's was of concern. I remember the night we loaded my grandfather, took him to his doctor, drove him to the hospital, argued with the admissions and ER staff, spent the night, etc.

My grandfather's Alzheimer's was studied, he was part of a NYU research project. Unfortunately, there is no cure, the disease is progressive, and in addition to the toll it takes on the patient, the impact on the family and caregivers is extreme.

I'm horrified that I might develop Alzheimer's and my family would have to deal with me with it.

In addition to my grandfather, his sister, my great aunt had it, as well as my grandmother's brother and sister-in-law. While they didn't know it at that time, they just called it "senility", apparently my grandfather's father had it as well.

I support and encourage support of Alzheimer's research, and the ribbon below is in honor and memory of my grandfather, Louis Lurie, the other members of my extended family who suffered from it and provided care. Thankfully, my mother doesn't seem to have it, nor her brother, so who knows? Odds are that it will catch me, unless we can find a cure or treatment.

Death stinks, but Alzheimer's appears to be a particularly horrid way to go. Join me in supporting Alzheimer's research. Click on the ribbon for an easy way to do that.

In honor of My grandfather, Louis Lurie

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