I have permission from Marsh to submit his article to our local newspaper, but I would love more names..........I thought it would be nice to set it up as the following:
Scott Wildman (63) Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease Ann Wildman (53) Sposal Caregiver Morrisville, Vt
What do you think? I have some of your names, but not all of the information. Please let me know if you would like to add your name and address.
We have just come to the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is a deadly disease and it would be wonderful to see a cure in our lifetime. We are writing, though, to tell you of another disease. It’s Alzheimer’s Disease (a form of dementia). Dementia is distinguished by at least one cognitive dysfunction – language, sensory function, motor skills, or abstract thinking – and a loss of memory. The changes are so severe they interfere with normal life. Dementia is the seventh leading cause of death. November is Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. Breast cancer is curable in many cases; Alzheimer’s (and other dementia) is fatal in ALL cases. There are 261,000 new cases of breast cancer every year; there are 454,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s per year. Also, Alzheimer’s doesn’t discriminate; both men & women are affected. (We know that men can get breast cancer, but it is mostly a women’s disease). We are not saying that one is more important than the other, We are saying that there has to be more attention given to the fact that Alzheimer disease is increasing every year and it will continue to increase as the “Baby Boomers” come of age. There is a mistaken idea of the general public that Alzheimer’s is a disease of the elderly. Although the majority of patients with dementia are over age 65, there are many patients in their 40’s or 50’s. On our support website (TheAlzheimerSpouse.com) there are many loved ones with “Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease”.
Another mistaken idea is that the medications will help cure the disease. Not true, they only help some victims stay cognitively better for a little longer, but when the medicine stops helping they quickly catch up to where they would have been. There is NO really effective treatment and NO prevention. Dementia is 100% fatal. The cost of caring for these patients amounts to $172 Billion per year, with estimates that it will exceed $1 Trillion when the “Baby Boomers” start developing the disease. In addition, unpaid caregivers provide care valued at $144 Billion per year. Most of this cost is not covered by any insurance, so the caregiver spouse runs the very real risk of being destitute at the end of the patient’s life, including losing their home. While these statistics may be boring, the stories told by the caregivers of their daily life are truly frightening. They have to contend with anger, rage, physical abuse, incontinence (both urine and stool), loss of their companion – all due to the effects of dementia. The strain on the caregiver-spouse is often so great that the caregiver dies before the patient. One worker in the field has said that the caregiver is going through “grief on the installment plan” as their loved one loses more and more of what makes us human. Although the “usual” duration of dementia from diagnosis to death is 8 years, the range is from 2 to 20+ years. The longer the duration, the greater the cost and greater the strain on the caregiver. We are writing this letter to ask people to contact their representatives and senators and ask for more funding for research into the cause, prevention, and treatment of dementia, and for some type of help for the caregivers. We, the undersigned, are all spousal caregivers of patients with dementia. In parentheses after our names is the age of our loved one who has the disease.
Elaine Hurley
Marshall Smith, Blue Hills, ME (80) Spousal Caregiver
Art Lloyd (63) Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease Charlotte Lloyd (58) Spousal Caregiver
Kathryn Moore (Bella) (61)
Patricia M. Lazazzaro, Commack, NY (80)
Ann Hoff, (73)
Sheila Anderson (59)
Janet Warfield, Bloomington, IL (71)
Jerry Potter (64)
Scott Wildman (63) Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease
I'd be very careful if your full names and hometowns are printed, they will be out there for the world to see (via the internet). There are so many people who prey on others. Maybe just first name and last initial would be better....
Good point about the names. I will do just the first name. I was also thinking that since my husband was a pharmacist, suddenly there would be lawsuits involved. Not that most people don't know about his DX anyway.
Ruth (68) Caregiver Ron (69) Lewy Body Dementia (Early onset) Cared for at home almost - 8 years Full scale Nursing home - almost 3 years. (Central New York)
Thanks, everyone, for your information. I'm still waiting to see if the article will be in the paper. For some reason, I'm beginning to doubt it. Has anyone else had any luck?