an introduction and explanation
There’s millions of blogs out there. So why should you read mine? Why did I even start one?
I think I have to start with a background. I’m 25 years old and my father is 61. When he was 54, he was given the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Like most people in the world, we thought that it couldn’t happen to people so young, that it was a mistake. So far it doesn’t seem like it was a mistake. He’s progressed steadily over the last six years. Despite two medications (Excelon & Namenda) there doesn’t seem to be any stopping the inevitable.
One of the hardest parts of the disease for me is not finding too many people to talk about it with. There’s plenty of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease-millions in fact. It’s becoming more and more rare that you meet someone who hasn’t been touched in some way by the disease. But most of its victims are older. They have different needs than an 18 year old, terrified about their parent. I went through college feeling very alone. So I’d like to help anyone that I can to have a resource aimed directly at them.
I’m not an expert in any way. I’m still learning. I’d like for this blog to be a learning experience, personal reflections, and a place for those people dealing with the things that I am to have a place to connect.
I’ll try to update often because there’s no end in sight to the advances they’re making.
