Month: March 2023

Birthday Tremor

I survived the 2010 earthquake in Chile. The epicenter was in Concepcion only 200 kms from Santiago and measured 8.8 there and 8.5 in Santiago where we were spending the winter.

Today, Tuesday March 21, 2023 I woke up early and watched the sun rise over the Andes from my bedroom in Curacavi, Chile. Utter bliss. I am staying with friends. My birthday comes after an Antarctic cruise and before a wedding on Friday.

After breakfast we are going to pick up my friend’s daughter who is flying in from Barcelona where she lives. I have not seen her in almost 12 years. She was no longer a teenager but now an architect and though looking more grown up and more sophisticated seemed the same young girl I knew and loved.  It was the same feeling I had when I met her brother and his wife a few days earlier. The years fell away in a long exuberant hug.

Now here we were at grandmother’s home to welcome her and to celebrate my birthday.  There were 10 of us, members of what I call my Chilean family. We had demolished the laden table of food in the living room, the appetizers, and were now seated at the dining table also laden with food and making fast work of that too.

Now it was time to sing the birthday song. Of course, we had to have both versions sung in two languages. First up Cumpleaños feliz then Happy Birthday sung loudly and somewhat slightly off key under the influence of a variety of the ever flowing wonderful Chilean wines. Salud!

I smiled my thanks, raised my glass and as I lowered it to the table there was a slight shake. Then another followed which was just a tad harder. Puzzled, I looked up and saw the flowers in a large vase do a slow waltz. OMG an earthquake! Shades of 2010! I grabbed on to the table as if I could stop it from shaking. Please, I do not want to go through another 8.5 earthquake in Chile or anywhere else for that matter, I prayed. A third bigger shake rattled the dishes though not a drop of wine spilled.

I was terrified but aware enough to look around.  Hard to believe but here was what registered. One lovely woman used her fork to delicately stab another quail egg and pop it into her mouth. The men were muttering something about ‘only a small tremor, no problem’.  I was pleased that my Spanish was working enough to understand it all.

Then another speared a cherry tomato and reached for the crudités with the salmon coloured dip. My beef empanada was cooling on my plate as I refused to let go of the table.

Two men and a woman went to the balcony to see what was happening to the water in the swimming pool. Don’t ask. I didn’t. Grandma stretched out her hand gently stroked my hand.

My dear friend was watching the other vase of flowers doing a lazy dip and fall back salsa routine. Another calmly, nonchalantly sipped his sparkling wine savouring it with obvious pleasure. I looked up at the chandelier and silently begged it not to come tumbling down as the crystals played a tinkling tune as it swayed and shimmied. Then with a last shudder things stopped moving.

It’s over, only a little tremor. No problem. That was the general consensus. They checked into the earthquake website or whatever it is called. The report said an earthquake measuring 5.1 occurred in Santiago and environs.

By that time everyone, except me, was back to eating and drinking. Still tremulous I picked up my empanada again. I was not yet quite back to normal but laughed, perhaps with a bit of hysteria when one suggested that Bert had come to visit and the little tremor was his special birthday greeting to me. That was what I needed to be calmed, helped along in a large part by my third or fourth glass of wine. As the talk turned to Bert I reflected on the many amazing birthdays I have had: bonding with elephants in Sri Lanka; celebrating Nyepi in Bali; going over the Andes from Santiago to Mendoza, Argentina, and so many more!

This little birthday tremor will join the crowd as being very special. I was surrounded by friends, enjoying Chilean wine, eating food that was prepared with love, being serenaded in both Spanish and English versions of the birthday song, and a visit by Bert in the form of an earthquake which somehow was typical and fitting. With a sigh of relief and in serenity I went back to my empanada.

The Meander: The entire trip was a celebration of LIFE.

“For everything that lives is Holy, Life delights in Life”.             William Blake

Morning Shock!

Did I hear that correctly? A 19 year old has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s? I was shocked. I immediately thought, well, okay this is obviously a case of Early-Onset Alzheimer’s but I had never heard of one beginning so early.  The next thought was that the cause must be genetic.  Another consideration was that he must have been engaged in dangerous activities that damaged his brain. I remained skeptical wondering what kind of activities could maintain that amount of continually repeated head trauma to one only 19 years old to result in a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.  It did not compute in my unschooled brain.

This I had to check out and was led to a Study in the Journal of Alzheimer ’s disease which gave details of the case.

The confirmation added a profound sadness to my shock. Here was a young man on the cusp of manhood whose life, hopes and dreams were all ahead of him now stymied by this deadly disease. Instead of moving forward to a bright future he would now be regressing to the inevitable end. Would he live long enough to receive the first known cure for the disease? The more immediate question is would he be able to take advantage of any cure that may emerge given the unpredictability of the progression of the disease?

General opinion is that only old people get Alzheimer’s.  It should be noted that old age is not a cause of the disease but one of the markers.  The older you get the more susceptible you are to contracting the disease. Early-Onset usually refers to those who contract it at younger than 65 years of age. But being diagnosed at 19 is rare, actually non-existent until this case.

I thought of the parents. If your child complains of being forgetful at age 17 Alzheimer’s would be your last thought. Any number of issues facing a teenager could be the cause of the laziness of the brain. It could be a growth spurt, suddenly raging hormones, lack of sleep or perhaps a creative excuse for a bad report card. None of these seemed to be a factor here. I would guess that a pediatrician given this symptom would not have Alzheimer’s top of mind, if at all. It took two years for the diagnosis of probable case of Alzheimer’s to be diagnosed. What was more frightening was that there were no markers to indicate that this was caused by genetics, a more acceptable and plausible explanation.

No doubt this teen will be studied in minute detail, every change in his behaviour scrutinized to the nth degree. His parents will not only have to grapple with the diagnosis but also find the empathy and strength to watch as he becomes a human guinea pig. As critical as it is to find out how this adolescent contracted the disease it will also be an agony for them to see the slow deterioration and watch as researchers learn from him.

Alzheimer’s has stretched out a long arm to touch a teenager. In so doing we must rethink the pathology of the disease. I have felt deep sympathy for fellow caregivers whose spouses died at 47 and 52 years of age.  The feeling is that they died much too young and that was after living with Alzheimer’s for a number of years. I could empathize. I could find words of comfort as I went through my own caregiver’s journey. What do you say to a parent whose teenager has Alzheimer’s?

 I hope these parents will record and celebrate the moments of joy that come with living and caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s.

The Meander:  On behalf of all persons living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, a big thank you to the parents of this young man. I hope their love and sacrifice and some diligent research will result in a positive outcome that advances knowledge and greater understanding of the disease. I also want to remind them that they are not alone.