my story revisited #130-they were about the same age

 MY STORY REVISITED #130-THEY WERE ABOUT THE SAME AGE

jim died at 52years old
he had early onset alzheimers 
he left a young wife and 2 kids at home

joe died at 63 years old
he had probably late onset alzheimers disease
he left his wife and two daughters and 3 grandkids

both are still sorely missed by their friends and families

joes birthday is april 8th

thats when i pause on his birthday and think a lot about him
since
we are a year apart in age
growing up we were like twins
we got into a lot of mischief together

i always say
when he was alive and i looked at him after his diagnosis
i was looking in the mirror
knowing
that whatever he was going through at the time that my family and i would be facing the same situation

why him
why not me so young

i think of that a lot
i think i found out early real early that i had it
i got on aricept or donepezil to slow down symptoms
i aggressively once i was diagnosed started taking good care of my health both physically and mentally
it was a wake up call for me
little did i know that just a few years after his diagnosis that i would get the same diagnosis

ill think of him on his birthday on friday
he would have been 71 years old


i still use a small blue wrench that belonged to him as i work in the garden
every time i pick up that blue wrench i always have to pause and think about his final journey
i smile thinking of the things we did when we younger
i cry some thinking of how unfair it was that he is gone and im still here


aduhelm or aducanumab clinical trial study update

last week i got my 15th infusion of the real drug
next week i will get another mri to make sure i am having no microbleeds
so far i am having no symptoms that that is happening
then
two weeks after that i get my next infusion
i am now on the high dose of aduhelm or aducanumab that seems to be effective
then
two weeks after that i get a tau protein pet scan to see if the aduhelm or aducananub is also removing some of the tau tangles

oh what i wouldnt give to see my amyloid pet scans and my tau pet scans which shows if this drug is doing its job removing this nasty stuff from my brain
__________
04-08-2014
IT WAS HIS DAY


on the right side of this blog is a blog written by a wife
whose husband was diagnosed with alzheimers disease
at 47
i
she and he have two young kids still to raise
im afraid she will finish up their teenage years all by herself
she works and over time has now also become a caretaker
of her husband who has gradually lost the ability to safely drive

this is his birthday today
he and his wife are in washington dc today
he agreed thats what he wanted to do on his birthday
they are advocating for alzheimers disease
he being a prime example of why we need more money for
research so we can find a cure and treatment for this disease

it will not happen without more federal funding much like what
happened with cancer research when the feds declared war on cancer
lets call this one the purple war
a war on alzheimers disease

ill call this blog today
missing joe

the similarities between the two are similar
although my younger brother joes kids were already married
and had kids themselves when he was diagnosed with
alzheimers disease

he like jim was robust and healthy
well liked
a professional fireman and later a policeman
struck like jim in the prime of his life
heck my early 50s was my prime its when all the work we had
done came to a point so we could say we were successful
we were able to enjoy my 50s as this peak occurred
jim and joe did not
nor did their families

joes wife like jims wife worked full time while trying to take
care of him the finances the house and all it entails
jims wife in her blog writes down what its like
it disturbs me at times to read it as
i know thats what his wife and his family went through
its just not all written down for everyone to see

i also know that one day i will probably be a jim or a joe
im just hoping that it goes smoother than theirs did
you after all really cant prepare for this emotionally

so today
its jims day in washington advocating for us all
his birthday
happy birthday jim
and
its joes day
as we remember him
his fight with alzheimers disease
what a good guy he was
what his wife did and did so well and caring for him

we miss you joe
you wont ever be forgotten
happy birthday

thanks jim for helping us
__________
jim died at 52
joe died at 63
both are missed by their families and friends

the organicgreen doctor