Gordon, Ina & Dick, Edward: Living in the Moment: With Alzheimer’s

What this episode covers

Click here to begin listening (http://www.radio4all.net/files/[email protected]/1197-1-17.6.26_Gordon_Published.mp3) When a lapse in memory becomes several lapses, and then many, it becomes scary. It could possibly be the onset of Alzheimer's disease, a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and worsens over time. It's reportedly the cause of two-thirds of the cases of dementia, and is the topic of this edition of Radio Curious. Our guests are Ina Gordon and her husband Edward Dick, residents of Redwood Valley, California. Ina, formerly a Mendocino County librarian, has Alzheimer's. Ed is her caregiver. About five years ago, Ina realized she could not remember where she had put commonly used items. Now she no longer drives for fear of getting lost or safely controlling the car. She claims to be able to have a conversation, but says she wouldn't remember it the following day. Ina Gordon offered to share her experience, how she is now, and what her life was like before Alzheimer's began to narrow her world. When she and Ed Dick visited the Radio Curious studios on June 24, 2017, we began what turned out to be a very sweet and poignant story, when I asked to recall what her life was like before her memory began to fade. The readings that Ed Dick recommends are the articles in the Plough Quarterly.

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