ALZstars Alzheimer's Association

My husband, Ryan, is running the Chicago marathon on October 8 for the non-profit charity ALZstars-Alzheimer's Association.  It's mission is to increase awareness & inspire others to take action in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.  We are working directly with the charity & all funds will go directly to ALZstars.  This charity is near & dear to our hearts for many reasons.  The biggest one for us personally is having to witness first hand, day after day, the sheer cruelty of the disease through a couple I essentially became a caretaker for over the years.  I own a cleaning business & cleaned for an elderly couple in which the wife had Alzheimer's disease and unable to care for herself.  Her husband, along with my help, did the best he could to care for her in their own home as he was a private person & didn't want to see her go to a nursing home.  Over the last few years especially, her deterioration was substantial and the absolute saddest thing I've ever had to bear witness to.  In October of last year, I walked into their house with groceries to find her husband laying on the floor; deceased.  He had been there for days.  She was just sitting in a chair not far from him, staring off into space with no ability to grasp the situation at hand.  The house was in disarray & it was apparent that she had not eaten for days since he had been gone for that long & she was unable to feed herself.  It's a miracle that she didn't wander off alone outside somewhere as she often did that.  I immediately tried giving her Ensure through a straw as I waited for the ambulance to arrive.  It was a terribly sad; devastating scene.  She is now in the great hands of the good people in the memory loss ward at a local nursing home.  However, because of this, we now find it our mission to help others & hopefully prevent them from finding themselves in the same situation as this couple.  
     Alzheimer's is fatal.  It kills more than breast & prostate cancer combined.  Alzheimer's is NOT normal aging.  It's a progressive brain disease WITHOUT any cure.  Alzheimer's is MORE than memory loss & appears through a variety of signs & symptoms.  Help us raise money to find a cure!!  Anything is appreciated.  We thank you kindly in advance for your support!