Georgia State Plan

I have written in the past about the state of Georgia working on a state plan to address Alzheimer's.  I am happy to say that the legislature passed the plan in this last session and we should see the results of the work of the committees soon.  Thanks to all that worked on that plan and I know it will be a valuable tool moving forward.

I also wrote a few weeks ago about the "Chicken Soup for the Soul, Living with Alzheimer's and Other Dementias" a few weeks ago.  Today I received an advance copy of the book and if you are dealing with Alzheimer's in your family, I highly recommend the book.  I haven't been able to read all the 101 stories but they all deal with caregiving, coping and compassion.  You will definitely learn something from these stories.  Thanks to all who put this together. It hits book stores mid-April. You may even recognize a few of the authors of some of the articles.

Lots of new Facts and Figures

Last week, the Alzheimer's Association released their new "Facts and Figures" regarding Alzheimer's.  It is an interesting read and re-defines what Alzheimer's means to women -- here is an article from USA Today that gives a good recap of what was in the report --http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/19/alzheimers-disease-caregiving/6566179/

For the whole report, you can log onto www.alz.org.

If a few short weeks I'll be heading to Washington DC for the Annual Advocacy Forum -- talking with Senators and Representatives and their staff -- hoping to not only increase awareness for Alzheimer's but increase funding for a cure for this disease. The numbers in the report are staggering and we have to fight harder than ever to get the help we need.

We Back Pat

Over the last couple of days, I have been at the SEC women's basketball tournament.  Today, players were wearing "We Back Pat" thirsts over their jerseys in honor of Pat Summitt and her foundation to fight Alzheimer's.  I was not having a particularly good day, but several people told me they wanted We Back Kris shirts. how sweet is that. it didn't make my day go much better, but I felt loved.....thank you!

Too tell or not to tell ....... Part 2

A while back I posted about the internal debate I have in my head lots of times about whether to share with people that I have Alzheimer's. It isn't something that usually comes up in conversation obviously.  Many times I fear saying something because I am afraid that people will treat me differently -- which if you have been reading my blog for awhile, you will know that is usually the case.  So, more times than not, I don't say anything.

About five months ago I started playing Pickleball a few times a week.  At times, the noise got to be a little too much, so I resorted to putting my earplugs in.  Then the distraction from other people when they were not playing bothered me, so I realized that if I stay on a certain side of the court I do better -- one without as many distractions.  Is this fair? I don't know if it is or not, but because of these things I have told a few people about my disease, partly in hopes they would then realize I was not trying to cheat by being on a certain side of the net.  I have been so pleased with the people that I play with -- they only don't treat me any differently, but now watch out for me on the court and never ask me to play on the other side of the net.  I love these people -- I feel like I am really "normal" around them!