The symptoms were hardly noticeable at first. In fact, had Meryl Comer not been a veteran TV news reporter, she might have missed the subtle changes in her husband’s behavior. Even then, she chalked up his sudden lack of focus and lightning-quick temper to job stress: Harvey Gralnick had a prestigious position as a physician and chief of hematology/oncology research at the National Institutes of Health. Two years and countless medical exams later, Comer’s husband finally was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. By that time, the disease had already scrambled their lives and dashed their dreams. Gralnick was 57; Comer was just 50.
If Alzheimer’s is about forgetting, Comer’s just released book, Slow Dancing with a Stranger, is about bearing witness to everything Alzheimer’s took from her husband and her family. Equally important, it’s a call to action for women who, as caregivers, are most often Alzheimer’s second victim. What distresses Comer is that there are no better options for women today around care than there were 20 years ago. There are still no disease-modifying drugs or treatments for Alzheimer’s, a fatal neurodegenerative disease that has no cure.
Slow Dancing With A Stranger: A Caregiver’s Account of Alzheimer’s Cost
Holding the Bowl 