I am sorry to hear about your Dad’s passing in April.
Thank you for your support and kindness in sending your blog link to me and my readers. It is amazing how many people/families are affected by Alzheimer’s and related dementias–I agree the numbers are rising significantly.
When I started writing a month ago, I had no idea it would open up my world to so many other people going through similar challenges. My goal, like yours, is to raise awareness for a better understanding, and increased support for this debilitating disease.
Congratulations on being brave enough to go for genetic testing and a huge congratulations for testing negative!

Thanks for sharing your story with me.

Warmly,
Holly

ps.I went through your website and I can see the day (hopefully soon) when I am going to contact you about a VA. Things happen for a reason!

I am Lauren McMullen and I am part of the Overcomers, Inc team. (I did the Social Media Marketing Training). While working on posting articles to the Blog this morning I came to yours and I had to click over to your Blog because your story is so close to my heart. I lost my Dad in April from complications to Alzheimer’s, so I can feel your pain deep in my heart.

This is such a terrible disease and it tears many families apart. But like your family, mine decided right from the beginning that through the good and the bad we would all remember our goal and not let the disease tear us apart. We each had our moments of despair and anger and loss of faith but in the end we were all there for my Dad so he could maintain his dignity and live out his life as comfortably as possible considering his limitations.

There were some terrible times but there were also some wonderful moments that I will cherish until I am reunited with my Dad in heaven. Then we will be able to laugh together as we remember his “great escapes”. He holds the record for the most escapes off the locked floor where he stayed the last
1 1/2 years of his life. They were never funny at the time but looking back our whole family loves to see who can remember the most of them.

I wrote a tribute to Dad on my Blog right after his passing. If you would like to read it you can go to http://www.timefinder4you.com/index.php?s=alzheimer. If you don’t want to read it I can also understand that but I include it for your other readers.

I agree that we need to talk more about this disease and we definitely need to find a way to fund more research because as our population ages there will be more and more families stricken.

Like your son, I had the same worry about the disease in myself so I chose to have the test done for the gene and thankfully it was negative. For me it was the right choice, I certainly can’t advise anyone else on what to do but I thought that if I was positive I might enter some of the clinical trials for drugs to delay the onset.

The main reason I have posted is I hope to let others know that there are still some wonderful moments to life even after the terrible diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. To remain sane they need to stop and cherish them whenever they appear.

Thank you for your comment and your observation.

Holly

Thanks for putting into written word the frustration some of us can’t even utter outloud.

Also, if it is any consolation, I believe men tend to be in more denial and for longer, than women in these situations.

Leesa