My Mom was a nurse for 48 years. In 2002, she began working at Inova Fairfax Hospital in the CCU. While she was employed with Inova, the Chest Pain Observation unit was opened and my Mom was one of the first nurses to work there. In 2005, she went to work for Virginia Heart (which at the time was called TCG - The Cardiovascular Group). My Mom loved being a nurse. She loved taking care of others. When she first started out, she worked the night shift back in Worcester, MA. She took care of her patients at night and her 3 children during the day. When she came to Northern Virginia and wasn't working, she was helping me and my husband to raise our three boys. She lived with us and was like a second Mom to them. In 2013 she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease at age 69. She knew what this meant and worried how it would impact me and my family. We entered a drug trial and even though it was obvious she was getting a placebo, she insisted we keep going because it might help somebody, someday. My brother introduced her to the Walk to End Alzheimer's in 2017. She loved that she was doing something about this disease she described as miserable. She walked in both Reston, VA and Queensbury, NY until she couldn't. We moved her into Memory Care in NY in December of 2019. My brother visited her every single day with a cup of coffee and her favorite chocolate chip cookie, until Covid closed NY's nursing homes to visitation for what turned into 336 days. My poor mom was so isolated and all we could do was weekly video calls. No one should ever have to live this way. We lost my Mom to complications of Alzheimer's on March 23, 2022 - this is why I walk to End Alzheimer's. We need to find a treatment, we need to find a screening test and we really need to find a cure! Please join me on September 29th in Reston, VA so we can raise awareness and money to support those who are suffering with this miserable disease!
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Thank you for helping advance Alzheimer's support, care and research.
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