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| Alzheimer's is the Same Around the Globe |
Today I reviewed the status of my blog site and noted (with great surprise) that in
addition to its US audience, the blog has been read in nine other countries.
That reminded me that it doesn’t matter where we live, what
religion we are, how much or how little we have, what language we speak or the
color of our skin. Throughout the world, Alzheimer’s is the same monster
and we are all just trying to figure out how to deal with it.
You couldn’t write a script with a more compelling storyline of
love, laughter, sorrow and loss than the stories being lived right now by
Alzheimer’s families around the globe.
I read recently that worldwide, an estimated 44 million people are
believed to be living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias.
Wow, that's huge. If that doesn’t make a person think and want to do something about it, then I don’t know what it takes.
Actually, that’s not true. I do know what it takes. It
takes Alzheimer’s “getting personal”. Until it got
personal, close enough for me to touch, I didn’t think about it either.
It's not that I didn’t know something about Alzheimer's. I had two aunts that suffered with the disease, but they both lived far away in
other states, and back then it just wasn't something we talked about. So in my busy younger life it wasn’t on my radar.
I’ve chosen to write about our family’s experiences with
Alzheimer's (Al) and share them publicly. It’s my therapy, and I’m hoping
that in some small way I can help move the Alzheimer’s conversation forward and make it more personal/relatable to others.
Generally I approach Al with humor and maybe a little
defiance. That’s just what works for me. But I know that
Alzheimer’s is serious business. It destroys families.
I’ve joined the fight and have become a "Wipeout
Alzheimer’s" advocate. I am fortunate to have many talented women in my life (both family and friends) and I’m asking that you join me in the
fight to defeat this beast. Please logon at: www.wipeoutalzheimers.org
Here is an excerpt from the website:
Every 67 seconds a brain develops Alzheimer's
and two thirds of them belong to women. Wipe Out Alzheimer’s is a grassroots,
social action campaign to mobilize a movement of women to get educated, get
engaged, get empowered and wipe out Alzheimer’s. In partnership with A Woman’s
Nation, the Alzheimer’s Association and a global community of empowered women,
the challenge will enlist women to take “The Pledge”, help raise funds to
research women’s brains and challenge other organizations to make women’s brain
research a priority. The challenge was informed and inspired by "The
Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's"
There was a time when Cancer and AIDS were dirty words and not
spoken in public. Not anymore…Let’s do the same thing with Alzheimer’s.
Women have the power to do this. We can’t wait for this to
be someone else’s priority. If Alzheimer’s hasn’t yet touched you, it
will.
I generally tell people to "lighten up" and not take
life too seriously. I still feel that's important. However, for this I will make an exception. Let's kick butt.
With hope,
Jane Gayer
