Living: the ultimate team sport

Terror for Unsuspecting Prey

Posted on October 30, 2023 Updated on October 29, 2023

The voracious demon has no respect for its unsuspecting prey; I personally met it twice and lost two loved ones to it. Although younger citizens manage to avoid being consumed by this fiend, those older have little defense against its murderous appetite.

“I’m not going!” Amanda is tired of her husband’s persistent attempts to take her on a surprise outing. Giving up is not an option for Seth, however, so he resorts to lying.

“Okay, you don’t have to accompany me, but I thought you’d want to pick out the size of the emerald for your ring. I’ll just wing it and hope you like it.”

Amanda put her hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have dressed better. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be good to go.” Seth wasn’t proud of his deception, but the concern he felt outweighed any questionable ethics at play.

As soon as Amanda returned wearing a different outfit, Seth pulled her into a hug. “You’ve made me the happiest man in all of Seattle.” Amanda pulled away from him, “Just Seattle? Last night you talked about the whole world, not just our little corner of it. Where are we going? To Tiffany’s?”

Twenty minutes later, Seth pulled his vintage Chevy into a parking space marked Patients-Only. Amanda looked around. “We shouldn’t park here, there must be a space closer to the store than this one.” Seth didn’t look at her when he said, “I parked here for a reason.”

“Okay, you’re being creepy. I want you to back up and head to the jewelry store!”

Seth turned to his wife. “You’re sick, Amanda. You’ve got that … brain disease. We’re seeing a specialist today to get us the help you need.”

Amanda crossed her arms, hurt more than angry at Seth’s trickery. “I’m not really sick-sick, and I don’t care about some silly ol’ emerald, let’s go to that car show in South Seattle you mentioned the other day.”

“The car show was two months ago. I took photos of you behind the wheel of that shiny red Corvette, remember?” Seth got out of the car, opened the passenger door, and crouched beside her. “I love you so much, but I can’t protect you. The doctor said the types of tests he’s going to perform won’t hurt. I’d like to know what we’re dealing with so we can be prepared for what’s to come.”

Seth couldn’t stand to see his wife cry. Eventually Amanda composed herself. “What about my anniversary gift? I want to celebrate!”

“We celebrated our anniversary four months ago.”

Amanda wiped her face. “Now you’re just being stupid. We didn’t celebrate our anniversary yet. We got married in August and it’s only – whatever month it is right now. Take me away from here.”

“In February, twenty-five years ago, we vowed to love each other forevermore, and we renewed those vows four months ago. I’m just as much in love with you now as I was then which is why I want you to have a thorough medical exam. Please, Amanda, do this for me?”

Seth helped his wife out of the car and held her close. “I wish this wasn’t happening, but it is. This nice doctor will spend a few hours with you while I go shop for a new tool for my workshop.”

“You won’t forget that I’m here, will you? You’ll take me home afterwards?”

“Of course.”

Amanda said, “Okeydokey, but you have to cross your heart and hope to die, or I won’t believe you.” Seth took a step away from his wife. “Cross my heart and hope to die, you’ll always be the apple of my eye. When years and years have passed us by, I’ll still be your favorite guy.” Seth kissed her forehead, nose, and lips, then taking Amanda’s hand, they walked into the Seattle Urban Medical Clinic.

The imp makes itself known by gradually invading the privacy of the victim’s brain. Helpless family members struggle to hold on to those infected by a plague that can strip their loved ones of all functional abilities.

A week later Seth met with Dr. Mishra to go over the neurological findings, prior to a joint appointment with Amanda. “Your wife’s case is one of the most aggressive I’ve seen. Historically, early onset victims tend to have a stronger strain of the disease which oftentimes manifests itself in extremely unpredictable behaviors. Your wife is a poster child for that profile. Her primary care physician indicated that her symptoms became very pronounced six months ago. Tell me about those symptoms.”

“Didn’t Dr. Tobias provide that information in her notes?”

“She did, but I’d like your take on it.”

Seth dove in. “Amanda used to be a fastidious person but that started to change. I always left for work an hour before her so I was never home when she showered to get ready for her job at an accounting firm downtown.”

“Does she still hold that job?”

“No.”  Seth continued. “One Sunday morning I concluded she hadn’t showered in a while. She insisted she had. I figured I’d encourage her by asking her to join me in the shower, which she did. Afterwards I suggested that maybe she only thought she had showered. She started to cry and accused me of thinking she was ugly. I just let it go and hoped that little episode would correct itself in time.”

“Did it?”

“No, and her lack of personal hygiene shifted to the house. One day I didn’t get home from the office until late. I had helped her plan dinner menus for the entire week and that evening’s meal was chicken stir fry. I cut up the chicken in the morning and put the raw pieces in a zip-bag with Teriyaki sauce to marinate in the fridge. When I got home, she finalized dinner preparations while I headed upstairs to change. Back downstairs, she sat at the dining table with a proud smile on her face and said, ‘Voila!’ but the dishes at each of our place settings were filled with cooked rice and uncooked chicken. She was just about to put a forkful in her mouth when I grabbed her hand. When I explained that the chicken was raw, she ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. From that point forward we agreed that I would make dinner every night.”

“How was she with household chores?”

“She couldn’t figure out how to do the day-to-day stuff: vacuuming, laundry, you name it.”

The doctor asked, “What lead to her leaving her job?”

“There were days when Amanda didn’t go to work because she forgot she had a job. One day she arrived two hours late and simply sat in her office, not knowing what she was supposed to do. Her boss called me that day and said Amanda wasn’t well and should go home. She also talked about Amanda’s ongoing erratic work behavior. That was Amanda’s last day at work.”

“How was your wife’s general health at the time?”

“My wife seemed healthy. She didn’t have any of the conditions common with aging. Heck, she went through menopause, and I wasn’t even aware of it.”

“Consider yourself lucky.”

“I do.”

“Look, doctor, this is old news. My wife endured several hours of testing, and I expected you to tell me something new. You said she has an aggressive type of the disease, what does that mean?”

Dr. Mishra turned the computer screen around toward Seth. “Your wife’s brain has been invaded in such a way that the frontal portion is shrinking dramatically.”

Seth looked at the MRI image. “No way, that can’t be Amanda’s brain, you’re mistaken.”

“There’s no mistake. The testing conclusively indicated that her behaviors, and the decline in her ability to perform many daily activities, indicate an abnormal variant of the disease.”

“What else will this ‘variant’ do to her?”

“Your wife could lose her ability to speak and walk, and eventually her organs will not function effectively.”

Seth leaned on the front of the doctor’s desk. “This disease, when will it take her away from me?

“Less than five years if she’s lucky.”

“If she’s lucky?  What’s lucky about that?”

Amanda’s mother stayed at home with Amanda while Seth attended monthly dementia caregiver support group meetings. Seth felt encouraged but was equally as discouraged when other members’ loved ones joined the ranks of the deceased. He knew he couldn’t change the course of his wife’s illness but was determined to do all he could to maintain her dignity until the end.

World governments have failed to adequately reduce the percentage of those who fall victim to the perils of this demon disease.

Unfortunately, Seth and Amanda’s journey is just one of countless cases where unsuspecting peoples’ lives have been ruined in a world where Alzheimer’s and other dementia – the demon murderers – show little sign of abating.

HELPFUL RESOURCES:

AlzAuthors, an extraordinary resource of hundreds of vetted reading content about all types of dementia.

Alzheimer’s Association, find a support group near you.