#PrimaryProgressiveAphasia #MentorFriend #MasterGardener #CPA

A woman who I called friend and mentor passed away very early this morning.

She was a CPA for many years, and is the only person I know who got 100% on the UConn Master Gardener exam, Latin names and all. She was a gardener, hiker, mother and wife and a kind human who taught me a lot.

She was diagnosed with this about three years ago. Different from Alzheimer's or dementia, it affected her ability to communicate verbally. I ended up spending time with her over the last year helping her keep her beautiful gardens in order, building puzzles, and looking at the gardening catalogs over the winter. She was courageous in very difficult circumstances as communication ability got less and less.

I witnessed her strong bond with her husband over and over, and he carried out her wishes for no extraordinary medical measures.

She will be missed.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/primary-progressive-aphasia/symptoms-causes/syc-20350499

Glitch is one way to put it/to minimize it. I would say "probable #dementia," as #psychologist Dr. John Gartner calls it.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-glitch-nra-speech-1902257

Here's a chart listing the different #variants of #PrimaryProgressiveAphasia.

It's #BrainAwarenessWeek. Here is an image of the three different #variants of #PrimaryProgressiveAphasia. Where the
#brain is hit will determine the kind of #aphasia and what that will sound like when the person with #PPA speaks. My father, who had #early-onset #Alzheimers had the #logopenic variant.

#PrecisionDiagnosis
#EndAlz

Although I am not a neurologist, I think a lot about the #variants of #PrimaryProgressiveAphasia. I wrote a #memoir about my father's #early-onset #Alzheimer's with #neurologist, #Dr.BruceMiller of #UCSF's #MemoryAndAgingCenter. It explains where in the #brain the initial assault happens and helps us understand why people can't find the right words and/or garble them and/or repeat them. After many years, I learned that my father had the #logopenic variant.

#PrecisionDiagnosis