What a nightmare for about 14 months. He began, I believe, with a bad sinus drainage. He would always cough for about an hour and a half, especially after eating a hot meal. The allergy medicines didn't even help. Later on his memory got bad,

His driving "funny", and he had a shuffling gait. We took him to a neurologist and had several tests run. He could not get in MRI because of the shrapnel in his body, having been wounded in Korea in 1951. To my knowledge that is the only time in his life he had blood transfusions done.

He only got worse each day and on March 7th(his 69th birthday) we put him in hospital in Tuscaloosa, Al. They did a spinal tap and many more tests. All came back negative except B12 was low. We brought him home after a week for Home Health to help me with him during the day. He was very,. very unbalanced {walked just like a mad cow and fell a lot}. In April we took him to UAB in Birmingham where he stayed ten days. They diagnosed it as early Alzheimer?s.

I couldn?t handle him at home anymore so he stayed in a nursing home for thirty days, begging to come home. I finally brought him but he was so hard to handle. He knew he was home, though. I?m so thankful I brought him home as he only got to stay here two and a half weeks before he developed illus. (paralyzed intestines). He also had pneumonia and was completely helpless. We transferred him to the VA hospital in Tuscaloosa the last of June. Finally on Aug. 13th the neurologist told me it looked like CJD. What?s that, I asked? He had me read the symptoms out of his book and I knew that must be what he had! No one at the VA had ever heard of it. What I needed was support! He get where he could not swallow, his limbs were drawing up and he could hardly talk. He was so sweet and still knew everyone when he saw them. On Nov.6, he started rectal bleeding and left us peacefully a6t 11 PM that night.

At the funeral home was the first time I had ever heard of prions. What horrible stories they told us and said we had to have a special embalming fluid. Dr. Bastian told me later they didn?t need it but they didn?t ask him. Commercial airlines would not fly it from Savannah, Ga. because it was a hazardous material. The U.S. Postal Service handled it. HOW IRONIC! He was a retired Postmaster! We had open-casket funeral six days after his death. Life is and never will be the same without him but at least he is at peace now.

Dr. Bastian put me in touch with Cecile Sardo and I?ll always remember her.

My thoughts and prayers are with any family that has to go through this nightmare. I had the death certificate changed after the autopsy and sent a copy to CDC.

Symptoms: sinus drainage, very bad balance, memory loss, muscle loss, dizziness, myoclonus, and hallucinations. Vaccines: flu, swine flu, and pneumonia. Operations: stomach and shrapnel wounds-Korea 1951--- (3) knee surgeries 1978 and 1987(with staph infection)---Heart by-pass (5) 1994-- Carpal tunnels Dec. 1996. (He already had CJD then but we didn?t know it.