The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is a cause very dear to my heart! I am very passionate about it and I really would love to help do my part to help fund research to end this HORRIBLE disease.
In 2015, our families world took a turn for the worst. Our dear mother & loving wife was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's, a diagnosis that we knew one day would take her from us. What we didn't realize was how quickly it would take her. Within months to a year, she started to decline & we could notice the "subtle" changes and throughout the years, it just continued to gradually get worse and worse. How I like to explain Alzheimer's to people who haven't experienced it before is like riding a horrible blindfolded roller coaster. The track is the disease; never knowing what twists and turns you will get. Our loved ones are the passengers, and well the cart that our loved one is sitting in, that is us, the caregivers. We are the one thing that is to keep them safe during the bumpy, crazy, up, down, twisting all around rollercoaster ride that their life has become.
For all that who knew my mom, she was a beautiful soul inside & out. She cared more about everybody else then herself. She loved to sing & dance, be outside cutting the grass, having friends/neighbors over, but most importantly Mom LOVED being a wife & mother most. She truly believed in "tough love" & man, do I love her for that! Mom was the type of person that never missed sending a card for a birthday or anniversary or even a gift for Christmas (down to the mailperson). She was overly OCD when it came to cleaning & well just about everything else, ha. She was a very meticulous person. She even kept notebooks for each season of American Idol, Survivor, & Big Brother with each contestant & how many times she voted for her favorites. She was very organized person. She found joy in doing things for others especially baking different treats for neighbors, friends, & delivery drivers during the holiday season. She turned into Mama Bear when anything/anyone hurt her children. She always made sure to show us kids & others that she would go to the ends of the earth to protect us.
As we continued on the Alzheimer's rollercoaster, we had many twists, flips & curves thrown our way. As the years continued on, Mom progressed then one day it was like someone flipped a switch & just it was different. Towards the end of 2021, she didn't know really who anyone was but Dad, her loving husband & full time caregiver. October 14, 2021 will be a day I never forget. It was the day that Mom no longer knew who I was. I would tell her that I am Sami her daughter and she would look at me with a blank stare & say "no you aren't. You aren't Sami." or she would say, "no you aren't. I don't have a daughter." Fast forward to January 2022, it was finally time to put Mom in an assisted living home because her level of care was becoming too hard for Dad to take care of her by himself. This was the best decision he could have made for her & honestly, himself. March of 2022, Mom was put on hospice. The hospice nurses & aides helped get a new bed, a new wheelchair etc for her. From March on, Mom continued to quickly decline. Tuesday, July 19, 2022, we got the dreaded call from Hospice... Mom was in her final days. We called in her family & mom got to visit with her Mother, 2 sisters & brother. Her best friend came up to see her & she was surrounded by my dad, brother, sister in law, myself & my boyfriend. Tuesday, July 26th we went back to Dad's condo to have dinner & stay with dad for the night. At 6:52 am on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, I received the worst phone call I could have ever received, my Momma passed away peacefully in her sleep. I will forever remember how I felt in that moment. Instant numbness, instant depression, but instant "peace" knowing that she is no longer suffering from this horrible disease.
This is why we need a cure. This is why I will continue to fight for future families... THIS IS WHY I HATE ALZHEIMER'S!
#endalz #FUALZHEIMERS #metzlerstrong
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