My name is Julie. I'm a graphic design student from Ontario, and I thought I'd just make a request... send it out there to see if anyone would be interested in helping me. O
ne of the projects that I am working on for school is to create a book, poster or other form of communication to raise awareness about an issue that is important to me. I lost my grandmother to AD in 2006. She was the strongest and most beautiful woman I have ever known and I miss her a great deal, so when I got this assignment I instantly knew I wanted to do something related to AD. I would like to create a book that explains what AD is really like. I find that whenever I ask someone about it, all they seem to know is that it is a disease that causes you to lose your memory. I know it is far more than that. The later years I spent with my grandmother are proof.
I would like to put together a collection of stories, or definitions I guess, about what AD really is. If you had the opportunity to explain it to someone in simple terms, what it means to live with it, or to experience it. What people don't understand about it. Or the one thing you wish people just knew about AD. I would really appreciate it if you could just write a sentence or two in response. Answers are annonymous, unless you would like to include a first name. Please contribute. It would mean a lot to me to be able to put some faces to this terrible disease. I want people to know that it isn't just something out of a textbook. Any answers are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading this.

Julie, what a beautiful thing you are trying to do. I wish you the best, because Alzheimer's is such a weird disease I think you will get a lot of different responce's, I guess because Dh's diagnosis was less than 4 months ago, I don't have many answers for you at this point. Though I suspect we have been living with it, a lot longer than even I thought. Life has been very different for many years, I just didn't know why, He's only 53 and because of other health issues (Post Polio Syndrome) he was not diagnosed with Alzheimer's (severe) until now, so I feel we are behind on treatment. But we will try and make the best of it. I guess the only thing I can say that describes what Alzheimer's is for us is , Broken Dreams or should I say Changed Dreams. I Thank God that we did a lot of things together all along, we were both pretty adventuresome (not so much about climbing mountains and jumping out of airplanes)LOL but more about not worrying about changing our life's, where we lived (states) job's/career etc. But because of our ages we planned to do more.............. Now, it will be about just trying to do the most with what time he has left and scaling it down to meet his needs. I wish you the best with your project. Rkg

Julie,
Try posting this same request on the caregivers' forum. Everyone there is really kind and also has lot of different perspectives on this disease.
Daisy

Julie,
Yes, DO post this on the Caregivers Forum;
I was thinking the same thing. You'll get lots
of replies; there are some great people who
I'm sure would love to help you.