When my husband was 42 years old he passed away from early onset Alzheimer’s. Because he was so young, it would take me almost 2 years to get him diagnosed. He told me when we first met how his mother and 9 of her 10 siblings had passed away from Alzheimer’s in their early 40’s. I always thought that had to be a misdiagnosis. I thought it must be an environmental illness because no one got Alzheimer’s that young.  It all started when he was about 36 years old. Or that is at least when we really started to notice something was not right. He would lose his keys and wallet daily and we would find them in some of the craziest places. He was a very talented carpenter/handyman but now could no longer even cut a piece of tile correctly. He lost his job that he loved and he couldn’t understand why. He was always so proud of his work and he thought he was doing it perfectly fine. He had no idea how confused he was getting.  It got to the point he would be driving and call me in a panic because he was lost in places he should definitely be familiar with. We went to see a doctor and even after I explained to the doctors that his mother and most of her siblings passed away from what was said to be Alzheimer’s, they said it couldn’t be that. I was told it was depression, then he had sleep apnea and on it went for almost a year and he was just getting worse. The doctor eventually gave him a Cognitive Test, which showed sever cognitive impairment. Then they finally sent us to a neurologist. After several more appointments and tests with the neurologist, they diagnosed him with frontotemporal dementia. They told me there is really nothing they can do for it and that it was terminal. I wasn’t ready to accept that so he said our last resort is to take him to the Lou Ruvo Clinic. The Lou Ruvo Clinic was amazing! Within our very first appointment Dr Leger unofficially diagnosed him with Familial Alzheimer’s Disease. Not only did we finally have some answers but he was even able to tell by the way he walked and a few other tests that this originated from Jalisco, Mexico, which is where my husband was from.  Sadly he was too far gone for any trials as he could no longer communicate effectively. We used to dream about an amazing future and now our future had turned into a nightmare. By then we had already sold our house and moved back with parent, so they could help me care for him and our two young daughters.  His sister would keep him during the day while I worked full time as he was no longer able to be home alone. I don’t think I would have been able to make it without all the help we had around us. I can’t imagine having to do that alone. It got to a point he didn’t want to go to his sisters and he didn’t understand why he had to go. Most days it would take me 15-20 minutes to get in thecar and then another 15-20 to get out of the car at his sisters. We had the same routine in the evening after work. It was a long day for sure! He would get so angry about having to leave, one day he opened the car door to get out when I was driving 40mph. My daughters who were 7 and 4 were in the back seat. This is also around the time the seizures started. Julio had a seizure in the middle of the night which my children witnessed. He only suffered a few seizures and the medication they prescribed really helped with that, but mydaughter’s memories of that moment were sealed for life. We all knew that eventually he would have to go back and live with his siblings and dad in Mexico. Julio never wanted the kids to see what he knew would come one day if he ever got sick. He was very adamant that after seeing what his mother went through.  Even though I thought we had much more time his sister explained we had to do this now. He was still a little cognizant of what was going on but if it got any worse it would be too traumatic for him to deal with the confusion and upheaval in his life. It soon got to the point that he no longer recognized the kids and then eventually me. He passed away exactly one year after the last day we visited him in Mexico. Julio was the oldest of 6 siblings. He now has 2 siblings that are sick with the disease. It is heartbreaking watching this horrific disease wreak havoc on our family. Not only that, my two daughters have a 50% chance of having this disease. They are now beginning their teenage years and I can’t help but feel like we have a very short time to find some type of cure to save them from this awful disease.  We need to find a cure now so no more families have to go through the trauma of losing loved ones like we have.  This is not just an old person’s disease. We need to bring more awareness of this so it can save someone else from spending years trying to get a diagnosis.  This is why I walk!