| We lost our son to Pick's disease a few years | | | | in a facility where he could live on his own for a |
| ago. Pick's disease is a strange and hideous brain | | | | time, however, it became more and more of a |
| disorder. He was a young man when he passed. | | | | struggle to meet his needs. At this point we had a |
| Pick's disease is a rare and irreversible form of | | | | choice, care for him at home or place him in a |
| dementia. It has some similarities to Alzheimer's | | | | private Alzheimer's facility. We chose to place him |
| disease. Pick's runs a shorter course then | | | | in the private facility where he would have |
| Alzheimer's. The average length is about 6 years. | | | | constant and professional care. He remained there |
| Pick's tends to affect only certain parts of the | | | | for about 2 years and then through a doctor |
| brain but Alzheimer's can affect any part. We | | | | friend we were able to place him in a state |
| were relieved to hear that Picks is usually not | | | | accredited Alzheimer's lock up unit. Most of the |
| passed down genetically. We had 2 other boys | | | | patients here were much older than Jon. Pick's |
| that we were concerned about. Pick's generally | | | | disease usually strikes younger people. |
| progresses slowly, shrinking tissues in the | | | | Jon became increasingly worse over the next |
| temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. Speech | | | | few years, reaching a point where he couldn't |
| difficulty, impaired thinking and behavior changes | | | | even feed himself. This was a horrible and difficult |
| take place slowly but continue to worsen over | | | | time for our family and friends to witness Jon |
| time. | | | | going through the progression of this disease. At |
| Jon, our son, was a strapping 6 foot 3 man and | | | | the young age of 38 we lost Jon. |
| rarely sick. He loved to water ski and snow ski. | | | | Both forms of dementia, Alzheimer's disease in |
| While he was in the Navy they sailed to the | | | | the old and Pick's disease in the young , are still a |
| Phillipines where he spent several weeks in sick | | | | mysteries to the medical community. To this day |
| bay with a mysterious illness. As we look back | | | | we do not know what caused Pick's disease to |
| we wonder, was this the start of Pick's? The | | | | develop in our son. As is the case with many |
| doctors did not know what was wrong at the | | | | diseases we felt that his immune system had |
| time. There were signs that Jon was very | | | | broken down. At the time we asked if an |
| troubled, which may have been a red flag. We | | | | autopsy would reveal the cause. Medical science |
| had no idea that he was terminally ill with a form | | | | had no answers for us. We hope and pray that |
| of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. As the | | | | medical science will soon come up with a cure for |
| disease progressed it was necessary to place him | | | | this hideous and rare disease. |