Our family lost our beloved Helen (Mom/Grammy) to Alzheimer's. She was still working at a part time job at 75 years of age when she was beginning to forget things, unable to find her way from work to home, or even find where she parked her car in a parking lot. All of these and many other incidents were things that we thought she was doing because she was tired. However when she did officially retire from the family business, it seemed to be the beginning of the end for her.
The night the police found Mom, looking for her mother, at 1:00 am in the Jack in the Box parking lot, 50 miles from her home, was the night we realized how sick she really was. We took her to UC Davis where she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. From that point on it went from Mom living by herself, taking her car away, to having home care, to a board and care, to a locked facility, and finally to a convalescent hospital. It took 15 years for Mom to pass away, a very long time.
She went from a beautiful, healthy, loving, giving person to a person who could do nothing for herself. The disease not only devastates the person that has the illness, but it also greatly affects the family. Our family is grateful for the Alzheimer's Association and UCD Alzheimer's research, and we are glad to be able to participate in the upcoming walk.
Thank you for joining our movement! The end of Alzheimer's disease starts here.
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