By MARY BETH MAASSEN
Los Alamos

June is Alzheimer’s Disease and Brain Health Awareness Month.

My mother died of complications of Alzheimer’s Disease when she was 74 years old. My mother-in-law also died of complications of Alzheimer’s Disease when she was 73 years old. My father was in early stage dementia when he died from a stroke.

My daughter survived a brain tumor when she was 15 years old. Although remarkably successful and vibrant, 20 years later she still deals daily with residual complications.

I have my own challenges with brain health, and so I take brain health quite seriously. As far as the health awareness calendar goes, June is an important month for me.

Nearly everyone I know has been touched by Alzheimer’s. And by touched, I mean knocked off their feet and left sprawled, dazed and confused in the dirt. And you never get your feet back underneath you the whole time you are dealing with a loved one with the disease.

My mother had a great sense of humor that she clung to even as the Alzheimer’s stole more and more of her personality. One day as she was being evaluated for a day care program she answered the director’s questions quickly, confidently, and incorrectly – mostly.

Q: Mrs. Woodall, do you have any children?
A: Yes, I have a son. (Two of her four daughters were standing behind her).
Q: Mrs. Woodall, can you tell me who is president of the United States?                                                                                                   

A: I could tell you, but it wouldn’t change anything. (Oh mama, if you only knew.)

Q: Mrs. Woodall, can you tell me the name of the man sitting next to you? (The director points to my father and her husband of more than 50 (years).                                                                                                                                

A: Oh, yes, I have lots of names for him alright, but people who like him call him Joe. (Yep, she got that one right!)

According to AARP, in the political competition for federal dollars, other diseases come out far ahead of Alzheimer’s. In 2016, Washington committed $5.4 billion to cancer research, about $1.2 billion to heart disease and $3 billion to research on HIV/AIDS.

Research funding for Alzheimer’s? Only about $566 million. Alzheimer’s currently costs the United States some $214 billion annually according to federal government estimates. The annual cost of cancer is about half of that. Real people and real lives aside, I would love to hear someone explain how those numbers make sense.

In just a few days many of us are coming together to do our bit for Alzheimer’s, and we would love for you to join us. The Los Alamos Sheriff’s Posse Lodge is hosting a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association 7-11 a.m. Sunday. If we are lucky we will raise a few thousand more dollars to contribute to the cause. But even more importantly we will let those who are in the throes of managing the illness and all the complications that it entails, know that there is hope and they are not alone.

As an Alzheimer’s event volunteer I will honor my parents and my mother-in-law. I also will work to honor my sister and her family – Laurie and Bruce Hochhalter and their now grown children – Ashley, Kaila and Christian, as well as my daughter Carly Sirota, who were the primary caregivers of my mother after she became dependent on others.

Of course, showing up to serve pancakes pales in comparison to the unending love, patience and care they provided to mom during a difficult and complicated time. But sometimes to make a difference all you have to do is show up when you are needed.

Please consider this your invitation to join me and many others to enjoy pancakes on Sunday morning at the Posse Lodge.

Just show up.