The Angry Side of Alzheimer’s

23 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by Ann Napoletan in Advocacy and Awareness, Early Onset, Face of Alzheimer's, Inspiration, Reblog

Tags

alzheimers, dementia, living with alzheimers, understanding alzheimers

Passionate, insightful, and important piece by friend and Alzheimer’s advocate Brian LeBlanc. Thank you, Brian, for sharing your life and experience with all of us! You’re making such a difference in the world!

A Bit of Brian's Brilliance

One of the things that makes me angry about having Alzheimer’s Disease are people that DO NOT WANT TO UNDERSTAND that I, and people like me, still know what’s going on around them and can still carry on an intelligent conversation. Sure, the words may not flow as evenly and smoothly as they did before, the mind may not allow us to remember the conversation an hour or a day or a week from now, but we still enjoy being in the moment.

Before my diagnosis, I had friends . . . lots of friends, or so I thought. These people who I thought were friends kept in contact with me, returned a phone call whether or not I left a message, would interact me with through Social Media or in person. Where in the hell are these people now? I have no idea. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not…

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New Year’s Un-Resolutions

02 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by Ann Napoletan in Inspiration, Ruminations

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2016 New Year’s resolutions are overrated. More often than not, they set us up to fail. I think a better alternative is to focus on smaller actions and thought patterns that can incrementally change the way you view life, yourself, and the world around you.

Here are some ideas. Most cost nothing and don’t even take a lot of time, but they have the power to vastly improve your outlook. Many of these are on my list for 2016. Will you join me?

Be kind, always.

Spend time on your passion; if you don’t know what it is, work on finding it.

Tell the important people in your life how much you love them.

Take more walks.

Spend time with friends; reconnect with someone you haven’t seen in a long time.

Worry less.

Believe in yourself and your worth.

Embrace creative pursuits.

Slow down.

Assume innocence in others.

Ditch guilt.

Work hard.

Don’t sweat the small stuff; it’s all small stuff.

Take care of your mind, body, and soul.

Breathe deeply.

Count your blessings.

Say no.

Say yes.

If you’ve been thinking about making a major change in your life, plan for it, and remember sometimes you have to take a leap of faith.

Cry when you need to.

Sleep when you need to.

Give freely.

Allow yourself to receive.

Simplify.

Laugh often.

Remember, it’s the little things that are often the greatest blessings.

Practice random acts of kindness.

Be good to yourself.

Every single day, remember that tomorrow is not promised.

Alzheimer’s Hope & Merry Christmas!

24 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by Ann Napoletan in Advocacy and Awareness, Early Onset, Inspiration, Washington

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Tags

2016 election, Alzheimers advocacy, alzheimers awareness, alzheimers funding, alzheimers research, dementia

We-Can-Do-It-Rosie-The-Riveter-Poster As many of you know, last week, Congress passed the omnibus bill which included $350 million in additional funding for Alzheimer’s. This brings our funding to just below $900 million – which, while still woefully under what is spent on the other major diseases – is a vast improvement.

Hillary Clinton has now made Alzheimer’s a campaign issue and is the only candidate who has a solid plan for addressing this disease that WILL bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid if we sit back and do nothing (or don’t move quickly enough).

I just got some news about an upcoming town hall the Clinton campaign is holding next week in Portsmouth, NH, and it sounds like Alzheimer’s will also be spotlighted there. Portsmouth has a population of 21,000 and there are between 15 and 20 Younger Onset caregiver spouses in their local support group. That’s a massive number for such a small community – and those are only YOUNGER onset – age 65 and younger.

I was in the car today thinking about all of this, and it gave me chills. Back in 2004, when we realized Mom’s “symptoms” were more than normal aging, you barely heard the “A” word uttered. In 2015, it’s a Presidential campaign issue. Our voices ARE being heard. If you’re an advocate – keep doing what you’re doing. We’re chipping away at this, and brilliant researchers like Rudy Tanzi (named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2015) and Reisa Sperling are so ready to find the answers we’ve been looking for for such a long time!

Last but not least, thank you for reading The Long and Winding Road. I am truly grateful for each and every visitor to this site and I would like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. I’ll leave you with what was always my mom’s favorite Christmas song…