The Beginning

Let’s start with a little back ground…

My Mother was born in Marshall, Texas in 1930. She was active and engaged in High School and went on to achieve a degree in Journalism from Texas Christian Women’s University. She married my father the day he graduated from West Point and they set out together to build a life and multiple careers in a variety of challenging fields and times. She was a brilliant business woman, an educator and a strong and loving wife and mother.

When her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she and all of her siblings realized that they too had a chance of developing the disease. When her memory starting giving her problems, my mother joined a study program for a new drug designed to treat Alzheimer’s. She went through many intricate, and sometimes painful, procedures in order to participate. I asked her once why she was willing to go through such things as a spinal tap just to help them study a drug that might or might not help her. She told me that if she went through all of that, then maybe it would mean that her kids or grandkids never had to face the burdens Alzheimer’s.

That’s my mom.

Every year, faithfully, since she finished the study program and the drug was released for public use, she has gone back to the VA Hospital in Seattle to do the follow on question and answer sessions, the comprehension tests and the memory analysis. This year, for the first time, I think she will simply not be able to make the run up to Seattle for the tests.

As I move through this blog I will be trying to make regular posts on day to day changes, the ups and downs. I’ll also try to fill you in on the background story. Who my mother was, who she is now and the steps, large and small, that have brought us to this point on the Alzheimer’s Path.