Grandpa Wayne

Once in awhile, we'll feature the personal story of someone who has a firsthand experience with Alzheimer's, or who simply wants to find a cure for this unforgiving disease. This is Amanda's story. If you want to share your own story, CLICK HERE. I lost my best friend when my grandpa got Alzheimer's. My grandpa passed away from Alzheimer's Disease in 2005; he was 68. I was 12 when he started showing signs; my grandpa was 58 years old when diagnosed with the disease. My great grandma, my great aunt, and my dad have all been tested for Alzheimer's in

Who Do You Trust?

Two weeks ago, I was sitting here combing through the newspapers and I was ecstatic that the lockout is over: the football season, not the government. The players and owners can get together. Maybe they should coach the government on negotiating and coming together. Oh, wait, they already offered to do that. I listened to the point, counterpoint the week prior night between President Obama and Speaker Boehner and wondered who was telling the truth. Well, I mean, they can't both be right, can they? But I guess they can both believe their own narrative. So while one believes that

Not Just Talk: Behind the Scenes at an Alzheimer’s Congressional Hearing

I have been to some Congressional hearings and might I sum most of them up right now: yawn. Except for the hearing two weeks ago on Alzheimer’s. So maybe you have to be interested – okay, passionately involved – in the subject for a hearing to be interesting. You say Alzheimer’s and I’m there. I think the headline of this hearing should have been “Alzheimer’s Threatens Global Fiscal Stability.” In other words, Congress, if you don’t fix Alzheimer’s with a cure or way to prevent it, we’re all going under. Already the worldwide number of victims with this as-yet incurable

The End Game

I read this article today, which relates: "Beloved science fiction and fantasy writer Terry Pratchett has terminal early-onset Alzheimer's. He's determined to have the option of choosing the time and place of his death, rather than enduring the potentially horrific drawn-out death that Alzheimer's sometimes brings. But Britain bans assisted suicide, and Pratchett is campaigning to have the law changed." I have seen the ravages of Alzheimer's. Because we have lacked sufficient funds for research, we still appear to be years (hopefully not decades) away from a magic cure or way to avert this hideous killer. And make no mistake

Responding to “Our Irrational Fear of Forgetting”

On Sunday, May 22, Margaret Morganroth Gullette wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, titled, Our Irrational Fear of Forgetting. And I responded to her, in my letter to the editor. But I didn’t quite get everything off my chest. There is so much wrong with her editorial. This woman is in denial. We are happy she had such a good experience with her mother and Alzheimer's. Sadly, that is certainly not the case with the majority who suffer and the families that cares for them. Mrs. Gullette had the luxury of visiting her mother in an assisted living