No impairment (normal function)
Unimpaired individuals experience no memory problems and none are evident to a health care professional during a medical interview. (Seven Stages of Alzheimer's Disease from www.alz.org, the Alzheimer's Association)
It seemed strange that the first Stage of Alzheimer's is about showing no obvious symptoms. The answer lies within the disease, an answer that offers the additional terror that Alzheimer's is already at work before a person knows it or before an expert like a doctor can tell.
This is how it was with Jan. Then as time went on and I thought back about our life together, the clues were there, but only in hindsight. Alzheimer's has immense patience as it creeps. It oozes with such stealth that some researchers now believe it starts twenty or thirty years before the symptoms are obvious enough for diagnosis. It begins in the cradle of everything that is us, in a healthy brain.
Jan was perfectly healthy. We had physicals every year, and she always did better than I. She was from a family that considered living past ninety as normal. She exercised her brain as a marvelous writer, far better than I. She read voraciously, everything from the morning paper to magazines on design, art, travel, and antiques. She was always well dressed with her hair beautifully styled. She traveled easily and occasionally repeated herself. It was easy not to see if you started out not wanting to see.
Jan was always younger looking than her years, always upbeat. She could chat with anyone and they would feel better for it. She had a strong and optimistic personality.
One can hide a lot behind optimism.