Alzheimer's Aid Society
FORGET ME NOT

Support groups throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley
ALL Donations Stay - Here in Your Community

We want to thank the sponsors of all the Society events.
Please support our Sponsors.

As we close out 2011 and prepare for the new year

We would like to thank everyone who participated in:

Our 29th Caregiver's Conference and our 8th annual Golf Tournament in Sacramento. We want to welcome our NEW title sponsor for the Golf Tournament Wells Fargo Advisors. And we want to acknowledge the efforts of the committee members for each event: For the Golf Tournament Committee members: Chris Shcoonveld --- Chairman, Greg Schoonveld – Co-Chairman, Donna Cambern, Leon Marais, Vivian O’Neill, Wendy Lamb, Cheryl Hinton, Cindy Doty, Kim Winters, Casey Simon, Giordan Jenkins, and the committee members for the Caregiver's Conference Sue Cadena, Stacy Swiess, Sondra Campbell, Cynda Rennie and Max Perry.

Our 3rd Annual Modesto Conference in Modesto, "Taking Care of the Caregiver". The success of the conference was in no small part due the efforts of: Major Sponsor Paramount Court Senior Living in Turlock and Vendors from: Pacifica Senior Living; Beth Haven, Ripon; Lifespring Senior Campus, Turlock; Acacia Park Nursing & Rehab, Modesto; Community Hospice; Stanislaus County Area on Aging; Provident Care; Stroke Resources; Right at Home, Modesto. Committee members to thank are: Cheryl Gerhardt, Jerry Moore, Mike Zuniga, Andria Watson, Lorie Ventura, Rita Gutierrez, Bettie Laird, Cindy DenBrave and Sheryl Ashby.

Our 2nd Annual Harvest Moon Dinner & Auction: Special Thanks to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation; Dan Schloss of Echo Media Photography; Rob Anderson of Kameleon Entertainment; and Soroptimist International of Modesto; Foster Farms; Gallo Family Vineyards; Tammie Webb Events; Greens Market; Bacchus Food & Spirits; 3 C's Catering, Turlock; Rachel's Kitchen and The Barnwood Restaurant.

Major Sponsors: Oak Valley Bank; Garrad & Dallas Marsh; Mapes Ranch/Lyons Land Management; Modesto Milling, Inc; Chris & Jan Wagner; Merrill Gardens, Manteca; Sierra Pacific Distributors; Edward Fernandes Family; Tom Aja Family; DMC Foundation; Pacifica Senior Living; Stanion Family; Stroud Family; Riverbank Nursing & Rehab; The Honorable Cathleen Galgiani, Assemblymember from the 17th District. Thanks also to all of the local participating businesses for their generous in-kind contributions and program advertising.

Special thanks also to an awesome committee: Co-Chairs: Cindy DenBrave and Jill Aja; Sheryl Ashby, Audrey Castellanos, Bev Fernandes, Cheryl Gerhardt, Rita Gutierrez, Dallas Marsh, Barbara Moore, Jerry Moore, Annie Newman, Max Perry, Joan Sanford, Nicole Smith, Lorie Ventura, Jan Wagner, Andria Watson and Margaret Wilkins.

Dementia From the Latin words "mind" and "away".

According to The Mayo Clinic Staff - Dementia isn't a specific disease. Instead, dementia describes a group of symptoms affecting intellectual and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning. Many causes of dementia symptoms exist. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of a progressive dementia

Why do you want to know what form of dementia your loved one has?

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive and degenerative brain illness, which causes thinking and memory to become seriously impaired. When a person has Alzheimer's disease, several physical changes occur in the brain. Brain cells shrink - or disappear - and are replaced by dense, irregularly shaped spots called plaques. Threadlike tangles will also develop within existing brain cells, and will eventually choke and destroy healthy cells. As brain cells degenerate and die, the brain shrinks in some regions – a process that will continue over time. As the disease advances and affects different areas of the brain, various abilities become impaired resulting in changes to abilities and/or behaviour.

Once an ability is lost, it is not known to return. However, research is now suggesting that some relearning may be possible.

Here is another form of dementia -

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, rapid and fatal form of dementia caused by infectious agents called prions. Prions are proteins that occur naturally in the brain and are normally harmless. When they are misshapen, however, they can cause devastating illness, attacking the brain, killing cells, and creating gaps in tissue. There are two types of CJD: classical and variant. Classical CJD (also called sporadic CJD) occurs at random. Variant CJD (vCJD) is a disease linked to eating beef products from cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "Mad Cow" disease.

In our latest Newsletter

In the September - October newsletter you can read about

"Caregiving - such a tough job! So many feelings and emotions are involved. I thought I'd share some true 'moments' and 'experiences' from people who have Alzheimer's patients in their lives (names have been changed)."

See what Margie has to say about The Caregiver

How You can HELP the Alzheimer's Aid Society

You can also attend one of our support group meetings and share your experiences with others, answer the phone during office hours, donate items in support of the La Loma Seniors.
 

Just give us a call at: (800) 540-3340
In Sacramento (916) 483-2002 or Modesto (209) 238-0538.
Be Kind - Be Loving - Be Understanding - Be Patient