A Sad Day In Athens

Many of you may have heard that today, there was a shooting at a community theatre here in Athens. Three people were killed. Here is a link to the story from the Atlanta Journal Constitution http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/04/25/uga_professor_shooting.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

It is so sad. I knew two of the three victims. They had been involved in community theatre for quite awhile and both great people. Athens will miss them.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the whole Town and Gown Theatre family.

This week I was volunteering at a charity golf event. One of the ladies working the registration area with me was talking about her book club and mentioned that they had just finished discussing "Still Alice". If you have been following my blog you know how much I like this book and that "Alice" is so like me (although in the book she is fictional). The other lady was talking about how sad the book was and that is was so awful what she and her family were going through. I hesitated for awhile before I said anything -- I'm never quite sure what to say -- I don't like to point out my Alzheimer's but sometimes I think I should. I mentioned I had read the book and actually knew the author. I was hoping that that would start someone asking me more questions -- like how do you know the author? How many authors do you know? But no one did. I thought that strange and let it go. We were busy doing our assigned jobs at registration and didn't feel like that was the time to go into it. But afterwards, I wished I did say something. I'm not sure what I would have said, but I would have said something. Sometimes I never know when to keep my mouth shut -- sometimes I don't know when to open it!

A week or so ago I wrote about the tv show Friday Night Lights and the character on the show that has Alzheimer's -- or Alzheimer's related symptoms, because I'm never sure on the show whether they have acknowledged that she has Alzheimer's -- she appears to. Anyway, in last week's show her family is taking her to an assisted living facility and she is going through things to take. There is a photo of her grandson when he was seven years old (he is now a senior in high school) that she wants to take. He keeps telling her not to take that photo. She then says "when I have one of my spells and can't remember I want to look at this photo so I can remember you" -- or something close to that affect. Last summer, I went through a similar experience so having her say the words really caught me off guard and I realized what I probably sounded like. But, last summer I insisted on getting a new photo done of my husband, me and my son for the explicit purpose so "when I get into a home this a photo I want to have in my room -- so I can remember you". Kind of scary when you hear someone else say it. It's kind of like when you say something and you sound like your mother.

Photos from Trip

I got to meet my friends Pody and Rick from Champaign while I was in Illinois. I had to be sure that the Illinois logo on Rick's shirt showed so people didn't think I was hanging around a Tennessee fan. And, my great nephew Oliver is the handsome young man on my lap. Oliver was born in November.

Back Again

I'm back from another trip to Illinois where I was visiting my ailing brother Bill. He just can't seem to catch a break. We received some more disheartening news of his condition while I was there.

My other brother, Tom, and I went to dinner with Bill's children, Elizabeth and Jonathan. They are in their late 20's early 30's and have families of their own. As I am, we are all struggling with the problems Bill is facing. They want answers and so do I. Unfortunately the answers are somewhat elusive. I feel bad in that Tom and I are the "adults" if you will in this situation and we are not able to help Elizabeth and Jonathan with the answers they need. I feel so helpless. I feel like I should be able to provide the support they need and I can't. I've never really felt like the "grown up" giving out advice. But, they were looking for it and I couldn't help. No one can -- and that is the difficult part.

As I look at the situation, I realize that in my own life people feel helpless because they can't help me either. But, I'm not looking for help in terms of what people can do for me. I just need people to be around me for friendship and companionship -- not to forget about me because I'm sick. There will be days when my family needs help and I hope my firends are there to help them when the time comes. I feel bad that I am going to be a burden on people and hope that it isn't too bad. I feel as inadequate about that as I do about not being able to help my neice and nephew find the answers they need.

This and that

This goose along with another goose made it to our house today. We have had so much rain in the last week or so that in the background you can see the water standing in our front yard. I don't know if these geese made a detour on their trip up north or what but they were certainly looking for food. We feed the crows, the squirrels, other cats and whatever comes our way in the back of our house. We usually feed them cat food -- I know it sounds weird but they eat it. The geese didn't seem to care that much for it. But they were lovely to watch before they flew away.

Today I went to a funeral. The father of a man I used to work for passed away. The service was lovely. He was loved my many and it showed. Life is just too short.

Friday Night Lights is a show that airs on Friday nights about high school football in Texas. Last week while I was speaking at the Alzheimer's Conference there I had the pleasure of meeting one of the character's grandfather. His grandson, Jesse Plemmons, is a Champion for the Alzheimer's Association. Jesse's grandmother had Alzheiemer's. Coincidentally, in the show there is a story line that involves another character on the show with his grandmother who has Alzheimer's. Although it is not clearly stated that that is her condition, it is understood to be -- at least by me. Anyway, the show has been dealing with this story line in a very dignified manner. But last week it struck a chord with me. I could see myself in the character and it is scary. Just as I saw myself in the Still Alice book. You can talk about this disease a lot, but when you see yourself, it is scary and becomes even more real. It's hard to explain, but it is also hard to watch.

HBO is coming out with a series beginning in May about Alzheimer's. They have been working on this for about two years. I have been to several conferences where they were shooting. I believe it starts May 10th and it is a four part series. It will be good I'm sure as they have put a lot of time and effort into it. I'm not sure if it is something I can watch either -- I know I'll tape it and watch it over time, but I'm not sure if I can watch it all at once.

Terry Moran, one of the hosts of ABC's Nightline program just did a short series on Alzheimer's. He has Alzheimer's in his family and he goes the through the process in his piece about getting his DNA tested to see what his chances of getting Alzheimer's are. Here is a link to the piece http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7175910. He also interviews Meryl Cromer, a member of Newt Gingrich's Alzheimer's Study Group (ASG). I had the pleasure of working with Meryl on a prelude committee to the ASG about a year and a half ago. She is a true crusader. And, in the piece she also finds out what her chances are for developing Alzheimer's. She now cares for her husband and mother who both suffer from the disease. Please note that the tests that they had only were indicators of developing Alzheimer's not that they would definitely get Alzheimer's. During my diagnosis I had a spinal tap which indicated that I carried one of the genese for Alzheimer's but it didn't necessarily mean that I would get Alzheimer's -- it was just one of many markers in my diagnosis. The story is interesting and I thank ABC and Mr. Moran for doing it.

I'm off to Illinois again on Saturday to visit my ailing brother. I'm hoping to find him in better spirits and in better health. I'll report when I return.

Thanks for reading and sharing your comments with me.

Thank you North Central Texas

I was the guest of the North Central Texas Alzheimer's Assn. chapter last week. I spoke at a conference they were holding and it had a great turnout. Over 400 people were registered and despite bad weather I think they all came. Shelley Bluethmann from the National Office and I were invited to be their keynote speakers. I really enjoyed my time there (although brief) and I appreciate the warm hospitality of all the Texans. Shelly Young did a great job of putting the event together and Theresa Hocker was a great hostess as well. The photo above isn't too good, but I wanted to model the cowboy hat they gave me as an "honorary Texan". Thanks for having me -- I really appreciated meeting everyone and sharing my story.

I arrived back to Athens to rainy dreary days but I was pretty exhausted so I took the opportunity to rest. More next week.

Facts and Figures

Today, news Facts and Figures were released by the Alzheimer's Association. For a link to the study go here: http://www.alz.org/news_and_events_2009_facts_figures.asp

More news will be coming out this week about the Alzheimer's study group so please watch for more on that.

On another note, my friend Josh, who I have written about was recently interviewed by NBC Nightly News. The piece aired last night. Josh is doing so much better and he looks great on the video. I'm posting two links -- one that was the piece that aired and the other was a "web only" piece. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/29843698#29843698 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/29842469#29842469

Check them out.

Busy Week

This weekend our UGA Women's basketball team plays in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The tournament is being held about 50 miles from home in Duluth Georgia. UGA is the actual host of the tournament even though it is not at UGA. Anyway, I am actually working the event this weekend. A friend of mine in the athletic department needed some help so I am working it . Yesterday was the first day of practice and today are the first two games. It hasn't been too bad so far -- I'm anxious for the games to begin.

Next week, I'm off to Texas where I will meet someone with the Alzheimer's Association for a meeting. We are going to be keynote speakers at an event the Texas Alzheimer's Associaton is having. So far, 400 people have signed up for the conference. I'm looking forward to it.

This weekend starts the public policy forum in Washington DC. Please be watching for lots of news out of this conference.

More when I return from Texas.

Public Policy Forum

It's not too late to register for the Public Policy Forum hosted by the Alzheimer's Association at the end of this month in Washington DC. If you register before March 13th there is a discount. Go to http://www.alz.org/publicpolicyforum/09/overview.asp for more information.

At this year's conference the Alzheimer's Study Group (ASG) will be presenting their findings from an almost two year study of the state of Alzheimer's in the United States. The ASG was originated by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who heads the for profit organization Center for Health Transformation. The ASG is a bipartisan study and one of its members is Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Last year she and Speaker Gingrich spoke to a senate subcommittee during the Public Policy Forum on what they were trying to accomplish. This year, the results are in and the findings will be revealed at the Public Policy Forum. I have been fortunate to be involved with a group that gave input to the ASG and I'm anxious to see how some of these ideas and thoughts we had made its way into the study. Hopefully, we will learn a lot and hopefully, some of these ideas can be implemented to not only save the government some money in dealing with Alzheimer's but also to help the families struggling with this disease. If you can't make it to the forum, please watch the news toward the end of the month because it will certainly be making headlines.

Also, at this year's forum there will be an early stage summitt which will feature Still Alice author Lisa Genova who I have written about several times. I learned this week that a friend in Atlanta who has Alzheimer's and his wife will be joining Lisa during a panel discussion.

Alzhiemer's will be in the news --there's lots going on.