JOAN’S BLOG – MAY 10-12, 2010 – GUEST BLOG BY TRACY MOBLEY-LEMONS OR LEMONDADE

It is my honor to present Tracy Mobley’s Guest Blog for May – Lemons or Lemonade. For those of you who are not familiar with Tracy, she was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease/Frontal Lobe Dementia at the age of 38. Tracy has spent the last 7 years writing, speaking, advocating, and educating people on not only how it feels to have dementia, but how others’ actions toward the person with dementia impact their emotions. She has written a book – Young Hope/The Broken Road, and started a respite camp for children of dementia patients to be able to enjoy some fun and peer support – Camp Building Bridges. Today, Tracy speaks about her determination to turn her diagnosis into a positive instead of a negative – lemonade instead of lemons.

Lemons or Lemonade

It wasn't easy being diagnosed with dementia at only 38 years old, but then again it wasn't a choice, it was a given. Working in the medical field for 18 years, I kind of knew before the diagnosis was made. The sad thing about it is, I used to joke about having Alzheimer's Disease when I would make so many mistakes. Those mistakes are no longer funny, nor is it when I hear someone else joke about. Now, when I hear someone joke about having Alzheimer's my head jerks around like an ole hoot owl, however “Who!” is not what I am wanting to say. I want to give them a piece of my mind and tell them it isn't a joke and shouldn't be teased as such.

I decided early on that I had two choices, I could let the disease win over me or I could win over the disease, and I chose to win over the disease. I know truly in my heart the disease is taking me day by day, but I still hold out hope. Hope for a better medication and maybe just maybe someday someone that was lucky to be diagnosed in the early stages just as I was, will be able to stand up and declare they are the first person to beat Alzheimer's or Frontal Temporal Lobe Dementia. As I am in the mid stages of the disease, I know that I won’t be that person.

I have taken every day that I have had and tried to do something positive with it except for my cloudy days of course, that can't be helped. I have written two books, the first being my journey with disease and how I struggled and survived. It is titled, Young Hope The Broken Road and can be found on Amazon. The second is a children's book that was co-authored by my son when he was only about ten years old. It is titled, I Remember When and is not on the market but can be bought from me personally. I created a memory quilt known as The Dementia Memory Quilt-A Reason To Remember. It was a quilt with square donations from around the world with names and faces, that was pieced by hand into a king sized quilt and donated to the National Alzheimer's Association. That was most prized gift to lobbying for a cause as it was displayed in Washington D.C. in the Capitol in 2006. But my biggest and very cherished feat has been Austin's Camp Building Bridges, a respite camp for young teens that have a parent/grandparent in the home with dementia. After all of this I think I can easily say that I have made lemonade from the lemon that was my diagnosis.

© Tracy Mobley 2010

Tracy is truly an example of one person who has made a difference. There are still spots open for this summer's session of Camp Building Bridges. It is totally scholarship funded. If anyone is interested in sending a child or grandchild who lives in the home with a parent or grandparent with demenita, please e-mail me at joan@thealzheimerspouse.com.

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