Sold My Collection - Not About Me - Please Read

[SyrNy1960]

(Formerly 3arod13)

After 45+ years of collecting, I recently sold my entire sports memorabilia collection, except my 2005 Alex Rodriguez Game Used Fielding Glove, which was a gift from my wife. I have my final piece being sold in Heritage Auctions 16-18 November 2023. My focus has shifted.

My wife was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. In 2021, while she was retired and I was still working, she was noticing issues with her memory, but figured it was just due to her age (69); like most of us do. She would get frustrated and cry alone at times, while I was at work, and she was keeping this from me. Just before I retired, I came home from work one day and found her in the kitchen crying. I hugged her and asked her what was wrong. She told me that she was looking for her mother’s sewing kit all day and can’t remember where it is. It has been in the same place since we moved to our home in 1999 (22 years). At this point, she still didn’t tell me she has been having problems with her memory for the past year.

After I retired in February 2022, and because I was home with her every day, I started noticing issues with her memory. Mostly short-term memory. I talked to her Neurologist, who she was seeing for nerve and muscle pain in her legs, and he ordered a brain scan. This is when we found out she has Alzheimer's Disease. He put her on two medications, that are supposed to help slow down the progression of the disease: Donepezil (10 mg) and Memantine (10 mg). I wish my wife would have told me back in 2021, so we could have got her checked out and on this medication much sooner.

My point to this post is awareness. Those of us who are of older age, we tend to blow off memory issues to just being part of getting older. Please, if anyone in your family has a family history of Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease, or you notice significant changes in their memory, please have them get checked out. The sooner they get on medication, the better chance they have to slow down its progression. It is an awful disease, with no current cure.

My focus and priority are my wife’s happiness and quality of life.

Thanks, Tony