My Alzheimer's Journey

Part 80 - Another Infusion Today

I had another Lecanemab infusion this morning. I have to check my calendar, but I think this was my ninth infusion. There was a slight delay while Duke switched my supplemental insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. Since we are going to sell our home in South Carolina, we are establishing residency in North Carolina.

I need to report cat discrimination to Duke. As I was leaving the Duke Cancer Center, I noticed a display with lots of dog photos. The photos are placed on the display by patients. There were some damn cute dogs represented. I looked all over for the cat version. It doesn’t exist. Sounds like a case of cat discrimination. What do think?

Upon leaving Duke, I walked 1.2 miles to Whole Foods to purchase salmon and broccolini for dinner tonight. It was a nice walk (even with a few areas with snow.) The temperature was in the 40s and the sun was out. An Uber picked me up from Whole Foods.

A short nap was first on my agenda at home.

Later, Linda and I had a nice telephone call with a couple in Texas. They are in the midst of making a decision about starting Lecanemab infusions. I am so glad we were able to share our experience to help them make this very important decision.

In closing, I want to share something that has been on my mind all day. Everyone reading my blog is passionate about finding a cure for Alzheimer’s. I personally believe there can be a cure within ten years. The challenge is money. There simply is not enough private money to fund the required research and clinical studies. Of course, the pharmaceutical companies support a certain amount of research. The problem with that money is that it comes with strings attached. What is really needed are government and private research grants. Grants given to research universities. Large grants. Game changing grants. Grants that will enable universities around the world to collaborate and solve the Alzheimer’s mystery.

Trump plans to spend $200 million to renovate or rebuild the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. It has been about twenty years since I was inside the building, but it seemed fine to me. I really doubt the building is about to fall down. Why don’t we leave the Kennedy Center alone for a while (maybe postpone the renovations for ten years) and use the $200 million to find a cure for Alzheimer’s? Trump claims he has private money lined up for the Kennedy Center renovations. I hope so. I can’t imagine tech billionaires and mega corporations would not rather help solve a disease that 7.2 million Americans are suffering from (and will die from) than renovate a building that a tiny fraction of the United States population actually visits.

If you are with me, let me know. Let’s start a grassroots effort to redirect the Kennedy renovation money to Alzheimer’s research.

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