Janet's Story

Janet retires from her job as a college chemistry teacher and starts to work with her husband Beck in his medical practice. The two of them enjoy working together in their golden years. Janet's husband who is a very successful physician is now battling cancer and has been for a few years now. Despite the cancer her husband who is a dedicated Physician continues to practice medicine with every ounce of strength he has. Janet tries her best to be a loving and supportive wife and coworker.When Beck finally passes away, Janet finds herself a widow and alone after being married to the man of her dreams for over 50 years. When Beck passed Janet was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The stress of losing her husband exacerbated her symptoms. As she struggles with her grief and sorrow over losing her husband, she starts to look to her sisters for companionship and understanding. What she gets from her sister's is not exactly what she expected. Janet and Beck had one surviving son, Burton. Burton is married and has five children. Burton is a kind a loving son but Janet's relationship with his wife is sometimes turbulent. Janet loved being a grandmother and she devoted as much of her time as she could to her grandchildren. However, the onset of Alzheimer's and Dementia was steady and consistent. It started to affect every aspect of her existence. Her memory and orientation to space and time became increasingly diminished. Her relationships with many of the people she loved and thought would be there for her no matter what, became fragmented. She found herself embroiled in a Guardianship/Conservatorship proceeding involving her, her money and assets. The case was brought by her loving sisters and brother. This hurt her to the core, to have to go and defend her competency and prove she was not mentally incapacitated. Following the proceeding, Janet's relationship with some of her family members soured. This novel follows the progression of Alzheimer's and Dementia as Janet struggled to cope with and sustain her life while dealing with the progression of the Alzheimer's.