ALZHEIMER'S: Don's Faithful Journey. Kyle Talbott

overdrive trying to learn all she could about this disease. She was ready for the fight, and this time it was for me. She is no stranger to giving up or giving into a diagnosis, as I explained earlier. Indeed, I say, “WE” had to fight because when we are faced with any roadblock, it requires a 100% team effort. This is all part of becoming one. We are a unit, and always in each other’s corner. It was not long before Christy was hot on the trail of medications or therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. We found out very quickly there were no medications to alter the disease’s progression, or any therapy. It was also true that I was going to die, which the doctor had alluded to when he mentioned the life expectancy for a person my age receiving an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Despite this information, Christy pressed on with determination to find a way. If there was not a way, by golly, we were going to make one.

      My doctor at UVA moved. He told me the best chance for us would be to go either to Duke University in North Carolina or Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. We chose Duke, simply because of the easier commute. My doctor made the arrangements for the move, and we were off to Duke. Once we arrived, my new doctor told me he respected the diagnosis from UVA; however, he wanted to redo the testing. He wanted to verify the diagnosis on his own. Once again, I felt that euphoria of hope. Could it be that my first doctor could be wrong? Have Christy and I gone through all of these horrible emotions for nothing? Could it be something so simple that I get cured with a shot or a pill?

      A month went by and all of the tests came back. The doctor wants to meet with us right away. When we met the doctor, he tells us I have good news and bad news. The good news is your genetic profile does not show any sign of this disease to be familial or passed down genetically. The bad news is you do, indeed, have Alzheimer’s disease. This time my heart dropped. By now, Christy and I absolutely knew what Alzheimer’s was and knew exactly what the outcome would be. I expected my doctor to give me some great words of wisdom or some magical utterance that would make everything okay, even though we knew it was not going to be okay.

      We stayed with this doctor for a while, until he retired. Then we searched again to find a doctor to take on my case. By this time, Christy was well versed in her search for a solution and discovered Trial Match® through the Alzheimer’s Association, on their website. Trial Match® is a place we could enter our information, and find clinical trials around the country that matched our needs. Trial Match® led us to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD.

      My expectations, by this time, were not very high for the medical world. They could figure out what was wrong with me, but they did not know how to fix it. This does not make any sense! How could a disease be around for many years and the world of medicine not know how to combat or at least slow the progression? For those of you a little more seasoned than others, terms like hardening of the arteries might be familiar, or he is just getting senile. Maybe you said it yourself, “he or she is just getting old,” as if this disease is something expected, like a rite of passage once you have reached a certain age. I am here to tell you it is NOT part of the aging process. It should certainly NOT be expected. Perhaps, this is the attitude that the medical field held for too long, and that is why we do not have a cure yet. Do I sound angry? If I do, then good, because I am! Any other major disease that has hit this country has been met head on by the medical world with seemingly great results. Since this disease tends to show signs later in life, people tend to push it aside with the disclaimer, “I’m sorry, but at least they lived a long life.” What does “lived a long life” mean? Who has the right to say what is long enough? If the doctors were correct with their calculations of my untimely departure, I should have already been gone. I certainly would not deem that a “long life.”