Taking Alzheimers seriously

My whole life I have been told I bear an uncanny resemblance to my mom. We share the same hair and eye colors, and share the same personality and interests almost to a tee.

Unfortunately, though, we both share something that isn’t as fun as matching blonde hair.

My mom, brother, two uncles, five cousins and I are all potential carriers of the Alzheimer’s disease gene.

My grandfather is one of six children.

Five ended up struggling with Alzheimer’s, Papaw included. He is now in the midst of a rough battle with the terrible disease.

It’s a daily struggle that makes holidays rough, daily schedules radically different and good days a novelty, but I know that every member of my family is committed to making life easier and more normal for my grandpa.

Seth Rogen feels the same way about his mother-in-law. Last week, he went before Congress to push for financing care for Alzheimer’s victims.

The hearing was poorly attended, and those who were there left before Rogen had even finished his plea.

By the time Rogan was through, there were only two senators left.

To top it all off, one of the senators who tweeted his admiration for Rogen’s plea, even
asking his followers to “Retweet if you know someone affected by #Alzheimers,” didn’t even show up for the speech.

I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in my government.
Alzheimer’s disease affects more than five million Americans either directly or by association.

There are people currently affected by Alzheimer’s who voted for the senators who didn’t show up or left.

That’s inexcusable.

I understand the issue, for some reason, isn’t at the forefront of immediate action.
But a small fraction of the day devoted to listening to a plea about a disease that effects a large percentage of the American population isn’t too much to ask.
I wouldn’t wish Alzheimer’s on anyone.

But I guarantee if one of these senators watched a relative struggle with the simplest tasks such as shaving or remembering their family members’ names, they would have cancelled their lunch plans to hear Rogen speak.

It has recently been predicted that by the year 2050, 16 million Americans will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s.

This isn’t an insignificant topic. Rogen’s speech was worth the senators’ time.
Another American develops Alzheimer’s every 68 seconds. Since you’ve been reading, at least one person has been diagnosed and multiple people affected.

Tweet about that, Senator Kirk.

I won’t wait to raise awareness until some or all of my previously stated family members are diagnosed.

I’m not going to wait so someday my children try to sit before a basically empty Congress begging for financial support and funding for a cure for me.

Government support of this issue is past due, and retweets aren’t going to cut it.
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cnmcelwa@indiana.edu