Archive for January 6th, 2009

Chatty Crone asked if Wayne “understood or was scared” when diagnosed with Alzheimer’s – also, was I “scared and overwhelmed”.

Sadly, he should have had help several years earlier – all the time we (I) floundered around wondering what in Heaven’s name was happening, the disease was progressing. In fairness, I have to say, it did appear to be stress. He was controller of a huge company, overworked under the best of circumstances.

Over the years, he did things that were not “Wayne” such as climbing 32 stories to our hotel room, getting lost in our town and many others. One day he phoned me at work and said he realized he had a medical appointment but didn’t know why.

I called the receptionist and said I wanted a work up and referral to a specialist. Surprisingly, all the scans, blood work and Mri’s were done very promptly. Within 2 months, we sat listening to the “news”.

The shock of it all was he was not upset – “he didn’t have a problem” which is what he told the specialist – didn’t know our wedding date or how long but said “she is nice”. Knew he had 2 sons “who were nice to us and loved us”.

I had always told anyone who asked that it felt as if I were kicked in the stomach – if I had been alone at the appointment, I’d have gone to the washroom and cried til I was dried out – but he was with me so we held hands and walked to the car. Life had changed forever.