Early-onset Alzheimers forces Judge Karen Williams' retirement

[bemildred]

Source: The State (South Carolina)

Update: Alzheimer's Disease has forced South Carolinian Karen Williams, chief judge of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, to retire.

"Judge Williams has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's and while she is presently able to perform her judicial duties, because of the nature of the disease she has elected to retire so any future decisions would not be called into question," said a statement from her Orangeburg office released late this afternoon.

Her retirement at age 57 came as a surprise to lawyers and judges who know her.

The departure of Williams, appointed to the court in 1992 by then-President George Herbert Walker Bush, could tilt the conservative court to a more moderate keel.



Read more: http://www.thestate.com/crime/story/858302.html

[Coventina]

1. Not a fate I would wish on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.

Dementia is a long, slow descent into hell, for the patient and the family.

[Robeson]

4. Agreed.

[Mari333]

2. wow thats my age

i would choose not to continue existing if i found that out.

[bertman]

5. Mari, the problem is that you wouldn't remember that you'd chosen not to continue existing.

(Based on personal experience with my mom and now my father-in-law, who has dementia but not technically Alzheimers.)

Even if the Judge recognized it in herself it's likely that she was getting a lot of pressure from those around her who were seeing its effects on her memory and her work.

Now my siblings and I are constantly giving each other crap when we forget the car keys or can't remember a name or date or age. But they are normal memory issues all of us have. It's when you have the lapses and don't know that you're having them, that it gets very bad.

[Mari333]

7. hugs

:hug:

[bertman]

8. Yep, those help too. But not with the memory loss. Thanks.

[Mari333]

10. its all i can give.

I understand grief very well.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. yep. +1

[aquart]

3. An honorable decision. I wish her well.

[boppers]

6. 17 years of service on that court.

I hope she fares well, it's a wicked, hard, road to travel.

I care a tad less about the politics, when somebody is facing a journey down this road, ideologies tend to melt away.

[Twinguard]

9. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at roughly the same age as Judge Williams.

When she was diagnosed she was acting, for lack of a better word, spacey. She repeated the same simple questions over and over. She could read fine print on a menu, but couldn't spot her drink sitting right in front of her. She would call dad and me by the names of her childhood pets. At first, we thought it was something with her eyes or hearing, but upon testing found out that it was early onset Alzheimer's. By the time she was 60, she couldn't remember my name. A year later, her mind had regressed back to her childhood. Another year later, she was effectively mute and immobile. At 64, her brain wasn't able to tell her body that she needed nutrition. That year, when she was 64, she starved to death because she didn't know how to even swallow the food we fed to her.

I miss her terribly.

Let me tell you, there is nothing good about Alzheimer's disease except that, for all we know, mom didn't know or understand what was happening to her. For the last few years of her life, she was living in a nursing home surrounded by medical and nursing staff that took excellent care of her. My dad and I went to St. John's as often as possible to be with her, and I believe to my core that even though she didn't know us anymore, she knew that she was surrounded by her loving family. The saddest part of the whole ordeal is the effect it had on my dad. Before he moved her into St. John's, he was taking care of her at home, and that meant he was looking after her for 36 hours a day. He had no time to do what he likes best like fishing, hunting, camping, and traveling. He was completely frayed at the ends, and when he mover her to the home, his house went from busy busy busy to silent. Even with his newfound freedom, he never wanted to be more than a few miles from mom. I don't know if he felt guilty about "abandoning" her or if he was depressed, but he wasn't a very pleasant person to be around for quite a while. He has recovered somewhat now, but I know that losing his best friend, partner, and mate created a gaping wound that will likely never heal.

Here in Spokane, and all over the country, there is an annual Memory Walk to benefit the Alzheimer's Association. My wife and I make it a point to participate every year. It is too late for my mom, but if I/we can help prevent another family from the horrors of this soul crushing disease, I feel I have to do my part. I know that's the type of legacy she would have wanted from her son.

[deadmessengers]

14. My mother had the same symptoms.

That was our first clue that something wasn't right - she was normally fairly sharp-minded, and sharp-tongued, but she just started acting spacey - getting our names wrong, asking questions over and over again, even once forgetting who she was on the phone with in the middle of a conversation, or that she was on the phone in the first place. The big flashing red alarm for me was when she couldn't remember that I'd ever attended college.

Sadly, but somewhat mercifully, she died of a heart attack (at 67) last year. I found out after her death that her cardiologist had, about six weeks before she died, noticed her "marked cognitive deterioration" and referred her to a neurologist, who was at the time of her death one confirming test away from a diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

[Twinguard]

16. I suppose there is something to be said for small miracles.

The way you described your mother's behavior is virtually identical to the way it all started with my mom.
It's difficult to lose a parent, but hopefully you can rest a little bit easier knowing that your mom didn't have to suffer through dementia.

[JohnnyLib2]

11. Tragic story and an admirable decision.

Too close to home. Sigh.

[DesertRat]

12. That's really sad

I wish her well.

[Divine Discontent]

13. a month ago or so, I'd seen in the news that they had found something of sort of a breakthrough

regarding dementia/alzheimer's. Anything promising is welcomed with joy. My father died of complications that were brought about by his D/Alzheimer's.

I notice in my early mid-life years that I forget stuff easier, forget things more, miss things right in front of me occasionally and I think - egad! please don't let me get that...

I pray greatly to God in heaven that these scientists find the protein or whatever it is that causes the memory tracts to be 'ruined' by Alz, and that there will be a breakthrough soon, so that those who are getting it now in their mid to late life don't have to suffer that fate....

God bless everyone...

[Danmel]

15. Alzheimer's is so cruel

It is truly heartbreaking to watch someone you love deteriorate that way and lose themselves so completely. My aunt died last year of Alzheimer's. She was an incredibly strong woman, a Holocaust survivor,who as a young girl saw her father shot dead in front of her in a pogrom. She came here and married,had two sons,worked in the garment industry in NYC & was a kick -ass cook & baker. She took no crap from anyone but was as loyal & loving a person as you could e we know. It really hurt to see her just disappear but still remain.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

17. Ozone treatments are very helpful for Alsheimers

http://www.oxymega.com/alzheimers_dementia_aluminum.html

[No Elephants]

18. My cousin's wife died of early onset--at 40. Horrific. Not going to

be happy over this. I just hope Obama appoints someone noticeably left of dead center.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

19. More on ozone for alzheimers

Using an ozone machine with ear insufflation is very helpful

http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=443552