Great meeting and bad news

We returned late last night from Chicago where we had our first meeting of the Early Stage Advocacy Group for the Alzheimer's Association. Fourteen people with Early Stage Alzheimer's had been selected to serve on this committee. We have had a conference call to get to know each other a little better, but this weekend was the first time that all of us actually got to meet each other (except one who had another committment). I was not sure what to expect. Let's say that I was overwhelmed at the other people on this committment. What top notch people to be serving on an advisory board such as this.

The committee is composed of three women and eleven men. We have retired architects, doctors, IT specialists, banking and finance executives, artists, musicians -- you name it. I'm not sure that I quite measure up to everyone but I'm certainly going to do my best. I was so impressed by this group and I am certainly honored to be among them.

One of the members of our committee is still working and he is a police chief in a small town in Central Illinois -- not far from where I am originally from. He is very articulate. He has gotten a lot of national press because there is curiosity out there about him having Alzheimer's and carrying a weapon. I would be more than happy to rely on him for my defense if I ever needed it!

And, he said, after one of our meetings, that he felt that he has found a whole new community and lifelong friends after meeting for just a few hours. I whole heartedly agree with that and am certainly looking forward to working on the tasks put before us.

Those tasks will be many as there are things to be looked at like advocacy work, programming and awareness. I appreciate the Alzheimer's Association so much for asking us to do this and getting our feedback.

Now as to the bad news -- A new drug called Alzhamed has been in clinical trials for some time and many of us have been hoping that this drug would be a big breakthrough in treatment. The optimistic side of this drug was that it had the potential to help slow the progession of Alzheimer's. Well, the trials have not shown these results and basically the drug is not an option. There are some other drugs in the pipeline, but much further down the pipeline -- we were all hoping for such great things. It's very sad news.

Here is a link to a news story about it http://www.reuters.com/article/health-SP/idUSN2638111620070827

The heat is still here -- and it looks like it will be for a few more weeks. It can't leave too soon as far as I 'm concerned!

This weekend we had a house full for dinner. Alan and his fiancee and her parents along with three other couples came for dinner. We got a little more information about what Jennifer was thinking about their wedding. Which, I was glad to hear, fit into the same lines as I was thinking. But the date still remains unset. The reason for that is that my son is waiting to hear if he is going to get a federal clerkship when he graduates from Law School next May. That determines a lot of things for them and he will know by the end of September. So we don't have much longer to wait. The law firm he was working for in Washington DC has offered him a job when he gets out and we are hoping the firm in Atlanta will do the same. At least he has some options.

At the end of this week we venture to Chicago for my first meeting with the Early Advocacy committee. I'm looking forward to it and getting away even if it is only for a few days.

I'm tired after the busy weekend so I need to rest up before this weekend.

The Same

The heat is still here. It's hard to do a lot when it stays in the 100 degree mark every day. Hopefully, next week we will get some relief.

I am getting ready for my trip to Chicago next week for the Early On Set Advisory group meeting. I'm really anxious to be able to meet everyone. All of my other colleagues sound so ambitious, I hope I can keep up!

Memory Walk work is starting to heat up as well. Although our walk isn't until October, it is amazing how quick it will be here. I hope you have been seeing all the advertising the national office has been doing on the Memory Walk. It certainly has generated some interest.

My son and his fiancee and her parents are visiting this weekend. We haven't all been together since last December, when my husband fell and broke his elbow while we were ice skating. It will be nice to see everyone again. My son finishes his internship up next week in Atlanta and will be heading back to California for his remaining year in law school. The summer has certainly gone quick.

The heat

is awful. I know it is hot in many places. Today it reached 105 degrees in Athens, GA -- a new record. I think it is suppose to be just as hot tomorrow. The heat is getting the best of me. We went out and played golf a few days ago. We walk the course because we like the exercise. We finished up around 12:30 and it was close to 100 degrees at that point. I don't know what we were thinking -- I guess we weren't thinking if truth be told. The heat never used to bother me much -- but I certainly feel it now.

I guess the "lazy days of summer" will continue for awhile.

This and That

My "word" problems are really annoying me. I have posted before that I am having problems finding the right words, understanding things I read and using the wrong words. I've noticed lately that I have a real problem with words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things -- I can't remember the name for these words -- for example, meat and meet, right and write -- you get the idea. I know the word I mean when I write it (I had to think about that) but I'm not sure which is correct after I put it down on paper -- see how I avoided that? I will use the tools on the computer sometimes to check myself, and the last few times I was wrong. It's so frustrating when communications has meant so much in my life. So, chalk it up to this disease if you read something silly I've written.

On another note, the Alzheimer's Association is hosting some "Town Hall Meetings" about Alzheimer's. The first one was last week in Oakland California. I will be part of one in Chicago at the end of the month and there will also be one in Spartanburg, SC and Washington DC. If you are close to any of these areas I would encourage you to attend. Here is a link to the Alzheimer's website that tells you more about it. -- it's important for us to keep the dialogue open about Alzheimer's. http://www.alz.org/news_and_events_townhall.asp