Alzheimer’s disease, when it strikes family, tends to uncover Hidden Heroes. In Sharon and Bill Dunnigan’s case, the entire family qualified as they pulled together to keep Sharon at home as long as possible after she was diagnosed,at a surprisingly young age. The surprise was even greater because there was absolutely no history of the disease in her family.

High school sweethearts, Bill and Sharon met when they were in Grade 11 in Edmonton and married when Sharon graduated in nursing and Bill had completed his third year in dentistry. They moved to Nanaimo in the early 70s.

Sharon chose to be a stay at home mom when their kids were young but she also managed to do a lot of volunteer work in the community during that time and to study fine art at Malaspina where she excelled at sculpture, pottery and wood carving. Later she took the nursing refresher program and began working at the college where, among other achievements, she started the long term nursing program.

Always a creative, hard working, family oriented woman with a great sense of humour, Sharon began to show signs of frustration with her work in the mid 90s so she and Bill decided it was time for her to take early retirement

Her family assumed she would return to her passion for sculpture and pottery but it didn’t happen. In fact she seemed to go into a deep depression which they assumed was a post retirement depression. Suddenly the things she loved most during her life didn’t interest her. Always a great cook and hostess, she was uncomfortable having people in her house and she became extremely territorial. She didn’t want anything moved or changed. Always an avid gardener, she lost interest and claimed to be too old to garden and, totally against her personality, she didn’t want to baby sit her grandchildren.

About that time, she took her daughter, Susan, aside and confessed that she thought she was losing her mind. In the fall of 1999, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The disease has now progressed to the point where communication is at best extremely difficult.

However, when she was first diagnosed and given appropriate drug therapy, things improved to the point where she began travelling to visit her children and grandchildren, went river rafting with her son, James, and to Europe and on other trips with Bill.

In retrospect the family feels that if they had known more about Alzheimer’s, Sharron might have been diagnosed five to seven years earlier and, given appropriate drug therapy, she may well have had more “good” years. That’s why they would like you to know about the symptoms, which may or may not indicate that someone you know has Alzheimer’s.

People with Alzheimer's disease first tend to lose short-term memory. They may remember a high school experience but forget what they ate for breakfast. People with Alzheimer's disease may also:

• Forget simple things, like familiar people's names, commonly used phone numbers, or what month it is
• Forget how to get to familiar place
• Misplace things more often than usual
• Lose his or her train of thought when speaking
• Repeat things often
• Feel more suspicious, cautious, or anxious
• Lose interest in things and people that used to be enjoyable
• Feel stressed when making decisions

People who are older, depressed, or under stress may experience some of these symptoms without having Alzheimer's disease. When the symptoms are caused by Alzheimer's disease, they get worse over time and are usually more severe.

The Dunnigan’s would also like to encourage you to participate in the Investor’s Group Walk for Memories on January 28 at Bowen Park in support of Alzheimer’s disease research. For more information go to www.alzheimerbc.org/walk.php.