Spotlight - Sarah Ferguson

My mom Nancy always lived her life for those around her. She cherished her husband and her children above all else, dedicating herself to their happiness and wellbeing. That has not changed. As she's progressed through several years of living with Semantic Dementia--a form of Frontotemporal Dementia-- almost everything else has.

 

My siblings and I first noticed changes in our mom after our father's death in 2005. He was her world, and so lingering mood changes and memory lapses seemed normal. Over the coming years, she continued to change gradually. She became more settled in her routines and started repeating phrases and words. But minor memory lapses, like her mood changes, were easy to write off as depression, age, or was it maybe imbalanced nutrition? When we finally decided that what was happening would not respond to a quick fix, we made an appointment at the Stanford memory clinic, where the diagnosis, at least, was quick. 

In the three years since her diagnosis, our mom has continued to change. Conversations now are one-sided, names and faces have slipped from her mind, and she is firmly set in her routines. Fortunately for us, as recognition of most of those around her has been lost, she remembers her children as vividly as ever. She greets us with delight, sings us songs, and lights up when we call her. These moments are bittersweet, as we know that it is only a matter of time before that, too, will change.

I'm running with Athletes to End Alzheimers because I believe in what they do. My family has benefited from their services. I've called their 24-hour hotline in moments of crisis, and I have used their caregiver resources as my siblings and I struggled to deal with a challenging diagnosis. Most of all, though, I'm running because I have hope that through the research they help support into the causes of and potential treatments for Alzheimers and other dementias, that other families will not have to suffer the pain of watching the woman who raised them suffer the confusing, frustrating, and heartbreaking process of losing her mind to dementia.