Time Travel

My six-year-old grandson seriously asked me one morning, “Grandma Linda, have you ever time-traveled?”

I don’t believe anyone had ever asked me that question before, but it really got me to thinking about time travel. I remember the first time I read H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine and saw the original movie. The Time Traveler observes that time travel is a fourth dimension and “only another way of looking at Time.”

Then, of course, time travel was common on Star Trek. I remember one episode when Captain Kirk and the crew from the Enterprise went back in time to find themselves in a gunfight against the Earp brothers at the O.K. Corral. They survived when Mr. Spock realized that the time travel was an illusion in their minds.

We travel to the past in our dreams and in sudden flashes of remembrance. Travel to the future can be through daydreams, plans, goals, or intuition. Some claim to see the future in a crystal ball, but I’ve never had that advantage. Jim’s grandma used to see the future in coffee grounds...guess that’s a version of reading tea leaves. That her coffee had grounds in the bottom is an indication of how strong it was. I was always afraid to have her read my coffee grounds because she once told a neighbor that her daughter would “come home in a box.” And she did after a car wreck.

Anniversaries are a time that make people time travel. Whether it is a personal anniversary or historical anniversary, dates can trigger realistic memory travel. With the fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, I’ve about overloaded on specials about the shooting in Dallas and the mysteries that linger. Today as a nation, many will collectively time travel to November 22, 1963. We will think about where we were and what we were doing when we heard about the assassination. I heard the news in the hallway at school. We sat on the floor listening to the radio as the tragedy unfolded. I was telling my granddaughter a few weeks ago that we were out of school and at home watching TV when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald.

Before dementia, Jim was a much more effective time traveler than I will ever be. He remembered people, places, and dates from his childhood with more clarity than I could remember the previous week.

One of the cruelties of dementia is how it erases memories. In the earlier stages, long-term memory isn’t affected as much as short-term memory, and it seems the person with dementia has effectively time traveled and, in fact, seems to be living in a different time. Once an elderly lady who was in the nursing home with Jim told me that she had to get home because her dad would be really mad that she was out after dark.

Alzheimer’s is like entering a time machine that zooms into the past, wiping out the present and future. Eventually, plaques and tangles jam up the moving parts and the fabulous time machine malfunctions leaving the traveler stranded.

So, the answer is “yes.” I do time travel. I don’t need a machine with whirling dials that I have to enter to travel back and forth in time. Any little nanosecond will do. All I have to do is rev up the fabulous time machine located between my ears to retrieve another place and time. As far as the future, those travels are flashes of “coming attractions” found in the realm of imagination. Yes, I still look forward to the future and would rather travel forward than backward any day.

The mind is the real time machine, and it really is just another way of looking at time.

Copyright (c) November 2013 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan declared November Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. This year as we mark the 30^th anniversary of this event, we have seen both hope and despair on the road to finding effective treatment for a disease that affects over five million Americans.

When President Reagan launched the national campaign to bring an end to a debilitating, fatal disease, he most likely never imagined that he would personally become a victim of Alzheimer’s. I know that Jim and I never suspected that this disease would cast its ugly net over our lives.

To be aware of Alzheimer’s, you need to take more than a casual glance at the disease. It is not a joke about forgetfulness that afflicts the elderly creating humorous moments of cute memory lapses. Memory is only part of the disease and often the first symptom that others notice.

Alzheimer’s is a brain disease. Beta amyloid plaques build up between nerve cells creating sticky clumps that damage the brain’s cells ability to communicate with each other. As if this wasn’t enough problems, tau tangles interfere with the movement of nutrients from food molecules and other key materials in the brain. Without these essential nutrients, brain cells die.

All this brain chaos, follows a predictable pattern in a brain diseased with Alzheimer’s. This progression can take up to twenty years!

At first, the disease doesn’t seem too bad. During the early stages the person with dementia has memory problems and issues with thinking and planning. When Jim was in the early stages, many people could not see the differences in him that I could. These changes were subtle.

One weekend we went to Manhattan, Kansas, to visit my son. We were going to drive downtown to get a pizza. As we drove down the street, I spotted Pizza Hut. “Turn left,” I told him.

“Which way?” he asked. That’s when I realized that he couldn’t tell left from right—at least not when it was spoken. I learned to point to the right or left.

Also, in the early stages, Jim developed aphasia. He was a voracious reader, but began to buy multiple copies of the same book because he couldn’t follow the story line and didn’t remember reading it a few weeks earlier.

Eventually, Jim progressed to a moderate or middle stage of the disease where his symptoms became more pronounced. His appearance changed a little as he moved into what I considered to be a more eccentric stage. He wore his denim jacket year round and decorated it with pins and the Veterans Week name tag from Branson. He wore dark sunglasses and used a cane. He just looked different and began to act more childlike. Jim was docile and agreeable—neither of which were normal traits for him. He became more silent, his speech hesitant. Jim had been a talented musician and could play any instrument with strings, and knew hundreds of songs. Eventually, he could barely play and could  remember only a few songs and often repeated the same line many times.

Reality set in for me during the middle stage. Caregiving became a real challenge and I worried about Jim’s safety. He began to wander and managed to get away from me, other family and hired caregivers. We were fortunate and found him each time, but only after heart-stopping moments.

In severe dementia, most of the brain is seriously damaged and begins to shrink. Eventually, we placed Jim in long-term care. At first he paced constantly, and seemed unaware of most people around him. He stopped talking except for a few words. He had to have assistance with the most basic functions of life. Over time, he began to lose his balance and had to use a Merry Walker, and later a wheelchair, in order to remain mobile. He went through “failures to thrive” when he became gaunt and hollow-eyed.

Jim had dementia for ten years and from the beginning to the end, we did what we could to keep him physically healthy and happy. Some days, it felt like a losing battle, but it was always worth it.

So, during this Alzheimer’s Awareness month, I hope that awareness is as close as you get to the disease. I don’t believe anyone who hasn’t seen Alzheimer’s in a loved one can truly understand the all consuming nature of the disease. I know that I never had a clue about the reality of a disease that erodes lives and steals a loved one away one memory, one skill at a time. It is because of Jim that I understand the need to find effective treatment and a cure for this incurable life-stealing disease.

Congress passed on a unanimous basis the National Alzheimer’s Project Act which created the first National Alzheimer’s Plan. The plan is a strategy to fight Alzheimer’s and it is crucial that the proposed additional $100 million funding is included in fiscal year 2014 through the appropriations process.

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is one of twenty-nine members of Congress appointed to a bipartisan budget committee to report budgets by December 13. I urge my fellow Missourians to ask Senator Blunt to remember Alzheimer’s and support the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease.

Copyright (c) November 2013 by L.S. Fisher

earlyonset.blogspot.com     

An Autumn Weekend

You always know it is autumn at my house when the ground is littered with walnuts. Even with a handy-dandy walnut picker-upper, they seem to carpet the yard and overflow onto the walkway. Colorful trees and flying leaves leave no doubt as to the season. I left up Halloween decorations while I readied my house for company.

My sister-in-law Sissy and brother-in-law Jim had sold out and were headed to Oregon to live near their children. My nieces, Brenda and Sherry, have spent the past weeks helping and they were all flying back together. The plan was for them to spend the night and I would take them to the airport hotel Sunday.

Saturday, they arrived from two different places. Not sure how many were going to be here, I cooked a scary big pot of chili and had deli meats for sandwiches. As people began to arrive, I made pot after pot of coffee. Soon my house was wall-to-wall people. Just like the old days.

The house filled with laughter as we visited. “You know who would have really loved this?” I asked as family gathered in the kitchen. “Jim. He loved spending time with family. Sometimes he would come home and say, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re having a jam session—and I invited everyone to dinner.’ Of course, he’d have no idea just how many were coming.”

My niece, Sherry, had her video camera going, just like Jim used to. It reminded me of the two of them talking about their multitude of family tapes. “We’ll have the history, Uncle Jimmy. Everyone else will forget, but we can watch our videos and remember.” She was correct. So many slices of life would be forgotten without video.

Sherry and I walked out into the yard to reminisce. “We want to reminisce too,” chimed in my granddaughter and great-niece.

“You’re not old enough to reminisce,” I said.

“I’m half of sixteen,” my great-niece said.

The two girls seemed to be joined at the hip. They entertained with dance routines and songs, advertised with posters announcing various show times. They stood on the porch steps, facing the flag, hand over hearts and sang the National Anthem. My six-year-old grandson stood at attention and saluted the flag. The scene was amazing and touching, especially considering the flag they used was my autumn “Welcome” flag, with pumpkins on it. In their eyes, it was as valid as the stars and stripes as they sang the song without missing a word.

Sissy and I sat at the table watching the commotion going on outside with four-wheelers, interactions between cousins, older and younger.

“You can sit right here and be entertained,” she said.

“It’s like watching a reality show, isn’t it?” I agreed.

Saturday evening, Sherry and Brenda went to a Halloween party with my son, Rob, and daughter-in-law, Stacey. They came in laughing and joking at midnight. One of the highlights was Brenda winning the costume contest, without a costume. Of course, it helped that Rob was the judge. He said she was dressed exactly like his cousin Brenda from Oregon.

Sunday morning the time change helped us all get up earlier than we thought possible. After coffee, we fixed a big breakfast—biscuits, gravy, sausage, eggs—and then Rob and Stacey tackled how to fit all the Oregon bound family’s luggage into the trunk of my car. Amazingly enough, it all fit except a small overnight case.

Early afternoon, we loaded into the car for the drive to the Airport Hilton. We stopped by North Kansas City Hospital so Sissy could visit her sister who had been admitted a few days earlier. Then I took them to the hotel.

Sherry checked them in and Sissy sat in one of the big comfy couches in the lobby. Jim and Brenda were loading luggage onto a cart. When they opened the trunk, I was impressed by the neat arrangement of luggage. There was not an inch of wasted space!

I hugged everyone, determined to keep it light and happy. “I’ll be seeing you,” I said.

I jumped in my car and drove across the parking lot and stopped to have Onstar plug in the directions home. As I sat there, I thought of Scotts Mills, Silver Falls, Crooked Finger, the scent of pine on a breezy mountain. Thought of Jim and how he loved Oregon and visiting his childhood places. But I didn’t cry. I just smiled and whispered a prayer for happy trails until we meet again.

Copyright (c) by L.S. Fisher November 2013

www.earlyonset.blogspot.com

Sleep to Ward Off Alzheimer’s

We’ve all heard how important sleep is to our health. Now, a new study published in JAMA Neurology indicates that a lack of sleep might increase our chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Or, is it the other way around? Does Alzheimer’s lead to a lack of sleep?

Jim always considered sleep “a waste of time.” He was an early riser his entire life. I, on the other hand, could barely function without eight hours sleep.

Once Jim developed dementia, he seemed to require only about four hours sleep. Over time, I too shortened my sleeping hours. Between Jim and being at work by seven o’clock, I just flat didn’t have time to sleep much. My eight hours dwindled to six or less. I knew it wasn’t good for my health, but chronic lack of sleep became the norm.

A common New Year’s resolution for me was to get more sleep. I’ve struggled with health problems that may have gone away completely with enough shut-eye. One of the side effects of sleep deprivation is weight gain. In some ways that seems counter-intuitive. At one time I figured the longer I was awake, the more calories I would burn and that would make it easier to lose weight. Wrong. It takes sleep to regulate the hormones that tell us when we are hungry. When ghrelin and leptin are not balanced, we think we are hungry which leads to overeating.

Instead of sleep being a waste of time, we are at our most productive while we are catching our ZZZ’s. When we move into the deepest stage of sleep, our bodies move into restorative overdrive. While we sleep, we are recharging our energy levels. Our muscles relax and our blood pressure drops. Hormones essential for tissue growth and repair are released. During sleep, we consolidate everything we’ve learned which improves our memory.

On the flip side of the sleep coin, lack of sleep quality or quantity may lead to serious health disorders—heart disease, stroke, diabetes—to name a few. A couple of other distressing side effects are depression and premature aging.

Researchers have known for years that people who don’t get enough sleep are forgetful. This new study takes that concern to an entirely different level. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore used scans to measure the buildup of beta-amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Even healthy people can have some plaques in their brains, but they do not have as many as people with Alzheimer’s. The people who did not get enough sleep had more buildup of plaques in their brains than those who reported that they slept well at night.

Why would sleep have anything to do with beta-amyloid plaques? It seems that while we sleep our brain is in self-cleaning mode. During sleep our brain cells shrink which allows cerebrospinal fluid to wash away the toxins in our brain.

Of course, this all comes with a disclaimer that sleep might not stop Alzheimer’s, but anything that will reduce the formation of cell-choking plaques can be seen as therapeutic. In addition to sleep itself, the researchers believe that drugs should be explored to force the cleansing process that can occur naturally during deep sleep. This study just reinforces the need to explore different avenues of treatment for Alzheimer’s.

Could our way of life contribute to an unprecedented increase of Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and heart disease? Research shows that healthy eating, exercise, and a good night’s sleep work together to prevent a myriad of diseases.

As if daytime isn’t enough time to ruin our health, we use evenings to cram in TV, Facebook, volunteer work, meetings, social activities, or heaven forbid we take work home. So much to do, so little time. Then when we fall into bed, our brains are still going full tilt to remind us of what we still have to do, or what we’ve forgotten to do. Sweet dreams are a long time coming just to be interrupted by the alarm clock letting us know it’s time to get up and do it all over again.

Maybe it’s time to take a deep breath, spend some quality time relaxing and catch some extra ZZZ’s. Sweet dreams may be the answer to some of life’s most perplexing health issues.

Copyright (c) October 2013 by Linda Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com   

Take a Whiff of Jif to Test for Alzheimer’s

After hearing about the expensive tests for Alzheimer’s, researchers came up with a cheap screening test. The really amazing thing about this test is you may already have the necessary item in your pantry—a jar of peanut butter.

Known as the brief olfactory test, taking a whiff of Jif, or any peanut butter for that matter, can help a researcher determine if you have Alzheimer’s. Anyway, that was the news out of the University of Florida.

It’s commonly known that Alzheimer’s affects the sense of smell. Other studies have been done on the olfactory system and Alzheimer’s disease. This is not the first! According to a 1989 study published in the International Journal of Neuroscience, researchers believed that the changes occurring in Alzheimer’s starts in the cortical region of the brain, the region that controls our sense of smell. In 2010, the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institutes of health funded a study that showed that Alzheimer’s mice could not distinguish odors as well as other mice. At that time, the researchers noted that an olfactory test could be an inexpensive way to diagnose Alzheimer’s.

Fast forward to 2013 and we have the peanut butter whiff test. Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student at the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute, conducted the test on ninety people. Some of the people had Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia and others had mild congnitive impairment (MCI). Although researchers did not know which people had which problem when they conducted the tests, they were surprised to find that the Alzheimer’s patients reacted to the sniff test differently than the other groups.

Here’s how the test was conducted: A tablespoon of peanut butter was put on a metric ruler and one nostril was checked at a time. Eighteen of the study group had early-stage Alzheimer’s, and they all had one thing in common—trouble smelling the peanut butter out of their left nostril. The group with other types of dementia did not have this problem. The results of the twenty-four people with MCI was mixed—ten had trouble with the left nostril but fourteen didn’t. Is this an indication that the ten will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease? Time will tell.

Other researchers urge caution due to the small number of cases included in this study. Others note that head trauma, sinus problems, or congestion can affect the results of an olfactory test. In fact, my friend Donna can’t smell anything after an accident that happened when she was a teenager.

So, are you tempted to grab a jar of peanut butter and sniff away? Being the curious person I am and having seen the devastating effects of dementia, I did exactly that. Right nostril, a-okay! One down, one to go. Second nostril—nothing, nada, zip, zero. Oh, I did not like this test. Not one little bit.

Time to analyze the test results. Let’s see. Left nostril. Come to think of it, I just came off a ten day supply of antibiotics for a left ear infection. So I’m sure that could have affected my sense of smell in my left nostril. Anyway that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. The peanut butter test should come with a disclaimer: Don’t try this at home.

Copyright (c) October 2013 by L.S. Fisher

Earlyonset.blogspot.com  

That’s History

When a day is done, whether good or bad, it immediately becomes history. One of the things about history is that you can’t go back and change it; nor can you go back and relive it.

As far as history goes, we all learn important dates in school. In fact we learn more dates than we can ever remember. Sometimes our teachers help us devise tricks to remember and with a little rhyme, we might always remember a date. “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” How could I ever forget that date?

That’s history class. I always enjoyed history, outside of the date thingy. History is stories...important stories...about events that shape us now, although most school kids think history is boring. The reason it is boring to kids is because the rich stories of the past are reduced to facts and dates, and some of those are presented in a biased and controversial manner. It is interesting to hear that sometimes important events are skipped in the history that children are taught today.

Each of us has a personal history with dates that stick in our minds to be re-examined annually. We have birth dates, death dates, anniversaries, graduations, and a myriad of other events not only to mark time, but also to remember. Is it any wonder that with all these dates stuck in our heads, buried deep inside our brains, that we sometimes forget an appointment or a loved one’s birthday?

Today’s date takes me back to a day twenty-three years ago when I saw my dad leave this world. It was on the anniversary of his own dad’s death. I called my mom tonight and we talked about a lot of things before she brought up the date. I knew it was on our minds from the first “hello.”

Our brains are so complex that we can’t even comprehend all that goes on between our ears. I can’t visualize how many a billion is whether I’m talking about dollars or nerve cells in my brain. Understanding my brain would be a lot like understanding how I can write words on a keyboard and have this computer take those words and allow me to put them on the Internet where anyone can read them. Perhaps, as perplexing is to comprehend how anyone can totally understands how that process actually works.

Historical facts we learned, and our own personal history, is stored in our brains. We have much more stored in our brains than we can ever retrieve. If you are like me, you know it’s there, but can’t retrieve it at the moment you want it. For instance, if you are playing a game of Trivial Pursuit and you know the answer, but can’t remember what it is until immediately after the time is up. Worse yet, you need to know an important piece of information and instead of remembering it at the crucial time, you remember it in the middle of the night.

Memory and history are two parts of the same thing. When two people share a history, and Alzheimer’s subtracts that connection, it is a loss for both. Our page in history is our life story, and we want that story to be action packed, suspenseful, and with a glorious ending. With personal history, the dates are not nearly as important as the stories. The only test in life, is a test of self.

Copyright (c) September 2013 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

NIH & NIA Fulfill $45 Million Pledge

Earlier this week, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) fulfilled his promise to Alzheimer’s advocates to designate $40 million from his 2013 budget for Alzheimer’s research. I was one of more than 700 advocates at the Alzheimer’s Association Advocacy Forum, where Dr. Collins made the announcement that he was taking this unique step to show the NIH’s commitment to finding a cure for a disease that has baffled scientists for decades.

During his keynote address on April 23 at the forum, Dr. Collins said, “I so wish it could be more, but I hope you hear in this kind of a commitment the way in which we at NIH see this as an opportunity and responsibility. We also hope that moving forward we can put medical research back on the stable track that is needed in order to support the research and the researchers.”

The story in last week’s New York Times and USA Today both report that an additional $5 million has been designated by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to provide support for innovative clinical trials.

Among the trials being supported through these additional funds is the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) trial at Washington University, St. Louis. Dr. Randy Bateman is the team leader. I met Dr. Bateman several years ago when he accompanied Missouri advocates on our visits with our legislators at the Alzheimer’s Forum in Washington, D.C. Hearing firsthand the possibilities of research to find therapies or a cure for early onset Alzheimer’s is encouraging in a way that reading about it cannot touch. Dr. Bateman is passionate about his work, confident, and optimistic that a cure can be found for the hereditary form of Alzheimer’s that can strike during early adulthood.

The APOE4 trials being conducted by Drs. Eric Reiman and Pierre Tariot at the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix will be fully funded in 2013. Several other trials are being funded to move them forward. An Allopregnaolone Regenerative Therapeutic study at the University of Southern California will evaluate the safety and tolerance of a natural brain steroid to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Other studies will analyze data collected from volunteers to identify promising therapies, test existing drugs currently used for other conditions for effective treatment of Alzheimer’s, and treatment based on targeting the immune system.

In a letter I received as an Alzheimer’s Ambassador, Alzheimer’s CEO Harry Johns said that the fulfillment of NIH’s pledge is historic. “In addition to fueling much needed research toward treatment, prevention, and ultimately a cure, it shows the growing recognition that our cause is receiving at the nation’s highest levels.” Johns praises hundreds of Ambassadors and hundreds of thousands of advocates for making the case in Washington, D.C., and in communities nationwide. In the Alzheimer’s Association news release, Johns said, “These studies are examples of the quality research in the pipeline that needs further funding in order to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025 as outlined in the National Alzheimer’s Plan.”

Kudos to NIH and NIA for taking this first step toward prioritizing research for Alzheimer’s. Now, we need to keep pressing our legislators to take a proactive approach to finding a cure for this disease.

Alzheimer’s is an equal opportunity disease. It affects people without regard to race, religion, financial status, political party, intelligence, education, or any other classification you can think of. No human is immune to Alzheimer’s. It could happen to you or to someone you love if it hasn’t already.

It’s not a question of whether we can afford the research for Alzheimer’s, the real question is—can we afford not to fund research? Does it make sense to spend only $484 million on research that costs this country more than $140 billion annually in Medicare and Medicaid? Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, yet the funding is minuscule when compared to research spent on other diseases which received billions annually to fund research.

Some of us have spent years advocating for Alzheimer’s research dollars. It can be frustrating when funding is stagnant, or worse yet, the years funding was cut. By hanging tough, advocates have fought for treatment equity for those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

This is not the time to rest on our laurels, it is the time to step up our advocacy while the focus is on research. The ultimate goal is a world without Alzheimer’s, and it can be done.

Copyright (c) September 2013 by L.S. Fisher

www.earlyonset.blogspot.com

Resources:

http://www.alz.org/documents_custom/nih_grant_announcment_final.pdf

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/18/alzheimers-disease-research-funding/2832865/

Wandering and Silver Alert Legislation

Jim wandered off many times after he developed Alzheimer’s. The first thing I learned as a caregiverwas immediate action was necessary to find him. I can’t count the number of times he disappeared. It only took a moment of inattention, or the misconception that someone else had eyes on him. Whether he disappeared mid-morning at a mall in Columbia, early afternoon at Silver Dollar City, late afternoon at the airport in Las Vegas, or from our home in the middle of the night, a search began immediately.

Unfortunately, wandering is a common problem for people with Alzheimer’s. Sixty percent of people with dementia will wander causing anxiety for the caregiver and creating a life threatening situation for the wanderer. Beginning the search immediately is key to finding your loved one safely. Statistics are on your side since ninety-four percent of the time they will be found within one and a half miles of where they disappeared.

You can take a few steps to help find your loved one. Alert neighbors of the situation and ask them to call you if they see your loved one walking alone. When searching, look in the direction of your loved one’s dominant hand—that is the direction they will usually go. Use Medic Alert+Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return or Comfort Zone (an electronic device). If you don’t immediately locate your loved one, call 911 and report them missing.

To ensure that when you call 911, the appropriate steps are taken to activate an immediate search, legislation should be in place. Legislation geared toward a Silver Alert should encompass all persons with dementia regardless of age. Jim had early onset dementia and would have been too young for the Silver Alert in states that identify only persons sixty-five or older with dementia. Missouri has an “Endangered Person Advisory” which could include anyone who may be in danger because of age, health, mental or physical disability, environment or weather conditions.

If you have a loved one with dementia, it is important to know the laws in your state and work toward legislation to make sure anyone with Alzheimer’s is included regardless of age. The law should also have provisions to activate the system based on a caregiver statement since many people wander before they have a formal diagnosis.

An important part of legislation is training for all emergency personnel. Proper training can make all the difference in finding the person with Alzheimer’s quickly using search techniques specifically tailored to persons with dementia. The immediate emphasis should be on a search of the local area. Quick and educated response is key to survival.

Silver Alerts are state programs designed specifically for vulnerable adults who have wandered. The search for adults is different than those used for AMBER alerts. AMBER alerts use statewide alerts which are not typically needed when searching for an adult wanderer. Also, since most wandering adults, like Jim, wander repeatedly, alerting everyone statewide each time an adult wanders could cause the public to become desensitized. This could do more harm than good by reducing the statewide response in cases where it is needed.

The goal is to find wanderers within twenty-four hours and reunite them with their families. The longer the person with dementia is gone, the chances of finding them unharmed is correspondingly diminished.

More than 125,000 search and rescue teams are activated each year to search for missing persons with dementia. This does not include the countless times that family members search for and find their loved ones. Kimberly Kelly with Project Far From Home estimates that as many as three million people with dementia wander away from home each year.

We were fortunate and Jim was always found quickly by either family, friends, neighbors, and during the mall disappearance, security guards. I was young enough to go searching for Jim, but not every vulnerable adult has a caregiver who can look for them. A system needs to be put in place, nationwide, that will activate an immediate search for vulnerable adults with a goal to provide safe return to their homes.

Copyright (c) September 2013 by L.S. Fisher

Http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

sources:

www.alz.org

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/wandering-alzheimers-_n_3653267.html

Walk to End Alzheimer’s 2013

We had a bright sunshiny, warm day for our 2013 Walk to End Alzheimer’s at the Missouri State Fairgrounds Saturday morning. I was there bright and early—6:30 a.m—along with other volunteers and members of the committee. Sheila and I played traffic cops as we directed placement of tables, conferring as to whether that table might work better here or there.

For once we didn’t have to worry about rain, but heat was a concern with temps expected to soar into the upper 90’s. At the last minute, while a volunteer was on his way to get more ice, we asked him to buy more water too. Walkers began to arrive and organized chaos took over as teams began to group together.

My sister-in-law, Ginger, started the cake walk, Kim and Bobby Brown manned the raffle table (which may have helped them rest up for awhile after bringing a trailer load of tables and chairs), Sheila grabbed the microphone and began to make announcements, registration tables were manned, and on my table, I arranged books to sign and give to walkers.

As I signed, I chatted with friends and family who came up to get a copy of Focus on the Positive. I also met new friends who came to the walk for the first time this year. As I was signing, a woman walked up wearing a shirt that said “Hellen’s Heroes.” I knew she was on the team honoring Hellen Cook, the woman with dementia whose body was found after nearly a month long search. Hellen was Darolyn’s mother, and she introduced me to her brother Mike. My heart went out to this family who lived through a caregiver’s worse nightmare. They have taken this tragedy and turned it into a positive by proposing “Hellen’s Law” to tighten up reporting an endangered missing person. I had my picture taken with member’s of Hellen’s Heroes and felt an instant connection with Darolyn.

Later as I was signing books, Linda Newkirk, executive director of the Greater Missouri Chapter, was explaining the significance of the pinwheel flowers and Jim’s Team held our purple flowers high to show that we had lost a loved one. Others held up orange, blue, and yellow flowers as their colors were explained. Shortly after, Sheila came to my table and told me I needed to go up to the front where Linda was speaking.

She finally dragged me away. When I got there, Linda was talking about Hellen Cook’s family and their advocacy. Then,Linda Newkirk, Executive Director of the Greater Missouri Chapter, announced that the chapter is placing a brick in their Garden of Hope in recognition of my volunteer work and advocacy. I am so honored! Even after all these years, I still feel the Chapter did more for me than I can ever do for them. They were my lifeline for ten years while Jim and I traveled the Alzheimer’s journey.

Sheila, my granddaughter, and I dropped our pinwheels into a bucket and took the lead as four hundred walkers began the walk. Instead of finishing the walk, we stopped and cheered others on as they came down the shaded walkway. We headed back to the Highway Gardens. Volunteers were planting the pinwheel flowers in the Promise Garden. The breeze turned the pinwheels and tears pricked my eyes to see the expressions of love.

I walked through the Promise Garden snapping photos and found the flower I had decorated for Jim. The breeze continued to turn the pinwheels nearby, but it was as if Jim’s flower stopped to pose for the photo. I snapped the photo, and the pinwheel resumed spinning.

Copyright (c) September 2013 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

Why I Walk to End Alzheimer's

Jim Fisher

Jim is the reason I walk in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

I think I loved him from the first day we met when his Uncle Orvie introduced us outside the Dew Drop Inn in Stover. It was by chance that Jim was in Missouri since he spent a lot of his growing up years in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, California... Jim loved to travel and we often went to Oregon to visit his relatives and childhood places. Later, we went to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountains annually.

Jim was a talented musician who loved to play his Fender guitar and sing country songs. I remember one time I taped him with our gigantic video camera singing “Colorado” while chipmunks and tourists stopped everything to just soak up the sunshine, clear mountain air and melody. Jim’s life was cut short when he developed dementia at forty-nine. He passed away in 2005 after ten years living with a disease that robbed him of his talents, sense of humor, and thoughtful conversation.

Jim lives in my memory and dreams, and I know that he is not forgotten by his family and friends. We need to stop this disease before more families go through the loss and pain of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia. Walks are held across the country. If you can’t come to the September 7 Sedalia Walk. Join a walk near your hometown. Walk for Jim. Walk for your loved ones. Walk for more than 5 million Americans with this incurable progressive disease.

copyright (c) September 2013 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com