Steve, Alzheimer's Disease
Steve: I traveled a tremendous amount on my job. I'm a chemical engineer and I traveled all over the world. But after a while, I was starting to struggle. I was very good in math. And I started feeling sometimes that I wasn't doing as well as I was. I noticed there were gaps or things that were unusual for me. I was just so confused. So I went to my local doctor.
I asked him is there any way of knowing if you're prone to get Alzheimer's? He said, “What do you mean?”
I said, “Well, I think I have a problem.” I told him I wanted to go see a neurologist. And then he assisted me on it.
They said I had dementia. I don't like the word dementia. I didn't mind if they said I had a problem, but dementia sounds nasty.
Shanan (Steve’s Son): I didn't know anything about Alzheimer's, really at all. It was absolutely a big learning process for everyone and everyone in my family.
Steve: Well, I felt inferior, too. I sort of was a little embarrassed in front of my children, which I shouldn't have been.
Shanan: The tough part is we just don't know how the disease progresses and every case is very different. I think that's tough, because they don't know how quickly the changes are going to occur. We do know that there is no cure right now. Nothing can really reverse the symptoms. So it was great that he was able to get into a clinical trial.
I also like that the trial, regardless of whether it does work for him, I think it's giving him hope and giving him some sense of fulfillment.
Steve: There's always a risk, but you're doing something that is very good. It'll help other people; people in the future.
Shanan: I hope he continues to enjoy everyday. I know it's important to him that he continues to be able to walk around and go out hiking and if he wants to go on his own.
We've seen some activities that we used to do as a family, certain things like games and cards and stuff like that, we don't do nearly as much, if at all anymore. But even when we can't, we are still together as a family and can still have fun and he stays happy.