March• 2018 | 125READER’S DIGEST
potent allure for her, the possibility
that the drug might negotiate some
sort of truce with this disease.
She wouldn’t know whether she
would receive the drug or a placebo,
though because of the way the trial
was structured, the odds of getting the
treatment were high. Either way, she
would be entitled to the actual drug
after the year-long study period.
Meanwhile, in February 2015, the
Taylors were invited to give a dinner
talk about living with Alzheimer’s at
a church that Jim’s sister belonged to.
They had at first been hesitant. But
if it went well, perhaps it was some-
thing they could keep doing. Maybe
how they were figuring out this dis-
ease could help others.
Three dozen people squeezed into
the room at the church. Geri sat in a
chair. When she stood too long, she
got tremors.
Jim said: “We’re happy to be here
tonight to share our journey. While
sometimes difficult, it’s actually been
a rather exciting time.”
They told about the way the disease
weighed on them, how they avoided
the lockdown people with Alzheim-
er’s went through, how they chose
forward as the only sensible direction
to follow. The small details drew good
laughs. How Geri kept confusing their
toothbrushes and finally threw away
Jim’s because she couldn’t figure out
whose it was, even though, as she put
it, “there were just the two of us.”
She gave tips on how towhat it was like to have dementia, to
promote understanding and empathy.
As he fumbled his way through the
star exercise, Jim Taylor said, “This is
like driving a trailer in reverse.”
The results were appalling, lines
scooting all over the place. Again, the
moderator asked how they felt.
“Frustrated.” “Disoriented.” A
piqued woman asked, “So is this how
they feel, people with Alzheimer’s?”
The moderator replied, “I would put
that back to you. What do you think?”
The woman was quiet. “Yes,” she
said softly, “I guess it must be.”
SHARING THE JOURNEY
Jim Taylor read a newspaper article
about an early-stage study for an ex-
perimental drug. The drug was aimed
at slowing mental decline by breaking
up the plaques formed by the beta
amyloid protein that are the hall-
mark of Alzheimer’s. The company
Biogen was testing subjects with mild
cases of Alzheimer’s. It was a promis-
ing possibility in a field littered with
disappointments.
Geri learned that part of the trial
was underway at Yale New Haven
Hospital in Connecticut. A few slots
were still open. Soon she was in New
Haven for cognition testing. The re-
sults placed her in the mild stage of
Alzheimer’s, the appropriate group. A
PET scan confirmed she had amyloid
build-up in her brain, another prereq-
uisite for the trial.
This felt like hope and it had a