Gerry’s Story

Site created on January 8, 2016

A country road leads you home. Alice Geraldine Winston Craig (Gerry) grew up a country girl.  She always said that no matter how far from home she moved, she would always be a country girl. 
Mama is on a journey that will be like a country road. Gullys on the side, ruts down the middle, bumpy and muddy in places, a little bit of gravel,  big ditches and cow pies here and there...and it will lead her home. 
In September 2015 she had neuropsychological testing done at UVa. After months of seeing major changes in her, I needed to rule out depression and to find out exactly what was robbing her of herself. Test results confirmed my fears and she was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Degeneration. I have included a link here -http://www.theaftd.org/understandingftd/ftd-overview so you can become familiar with FTD because it is NOT like Alzheimer's. There may be some memory loss later as the disease progresses but other parts of the brain are more impacted. Dementia is a symptom as are language difficulties and emotional changes. There is no cure and no medication so slow it down. However, there are specialists at UVA that we are working with. 
Mama's road will not be easy to travel. We will do our best to make it as smooth and straight as possible. I ask you to pray for her to feel peace and love as she makes her journey home. 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Malia King

This will be brief as there is very little to be said. But, mom is no longer eating and drinking only very small amounts. She’s lost significant weight and I feel her breathing is changing. As of today, she’s still awake and listens as we talk and appears to still understand but she’s listless and her eyes are not as bright as they have been. I hope she is comfortable but it is hard to tell. Please pray that is the case. We are having hospice do another eval tomorrow to look for any other changes. 
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