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Hello: May I ask who you are? Maybe you've heard of my husband and me, Bernie and Betty Weiss of Los Angeles. My husband is the only man in the entire world at this moment with advanced Alzheimer's whose symptoms are reversing. There is the woman in Texas, of course, and there should be thousands more like them. In August 1998 he was living in a home for assisted living when he became so violent that the police had to be called, he was handcuffed and involuntarily committed to a lockdown mental institution. After two weeks he was sent back to the home with neurontin, ativan, and zyprexa to keep him sedated. It worked, he was in a constant stupor. In November I read Carol Kahn's article, in December I met Dr. Goldsmith, in January we had the surgery done in Bad Prymont. Today, March 14, exactly two months later to the day, he is no longer violent, and he is not on ANY meds. He lives at home with me once more, he's 70 and in excellent health. His eyes are clear and bright, he smiles and walks with his head held up. He no longer has many of the symptoms of AD.		"After years of anguish, watching him disappear before my eyes, my joy at seeing him come back is overwhelming... "
He doesn't fight being washed, he doesn't shadow me or become agitated at sundown. He's a million miles from what he was before he got sick--he often thinks I speak when I'm silent, he will do odd things, like twisting a doorknob and complaining that he can't get any money out of that bank. He's often confused about the goings and comings of whoever's in the house, including the dog. But he doesn't take off all his clothes and walk around naked anymore. After years of anguish, watching him disappear before my eyes, my joy at seeing him come back is overwhelming, even though I doubt that he will come back all the way. His short-term memory is still not intact. I don't think OT is the end-all cure for AD, but it's something tangible people like us can hold onto for now, and that makes it very precious. I have a man who lives in the house to help care for him because I am, truthfully, exhausted from having done it for so long by myself, but I can give him the day off and spend that time alone with my husband, and there are no problems. My husband cannot dress himself, be left alone, or trusted, but he can now properly tie his own shoes, zip his jacket and buckle his belt. Whatever other memories may be restored no one knows. He may plateau here, he may get better, or the AD may take over again, we'll have to wait and see. But countless others can possibly be snatched from the jaws of the "living dead" as he has been. Not everyone will have the same success, obviously, but it's tragic, if not downright criminal, that they are not at least encouraged to have that opportunity by the medical establishment. Please let me hear from you. I'd like to help others make a decision about OT by having this information about my husband's experience posted at this site. You can verify what I've written by contacting Dr. Goldsmith, and everything else can be substantiated through my husband's medical records. Betty Weiss