Chris Davies spends part of each day watering the grass and flowers outside his Gansevoort home. Gardening has been a long-time passion, but it’s become more than just a hobby.
"I don’t think I ever did it to start a routine. It just became a routine, but it does because I can lose track of time very quickly,” says Davies.
At 53 years old, Davies is one of the more than six million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease. He was diagnosed several years ago with younger-onset Alzheimer’s after alerting his doctor.
"I said, 'And every morning pretty much when I make my coffee, I go to put cream in it and some little cream fairy has already put cream in my coffee.' Obviously it was me, and I obviously did it 20 seconds ago, and I can’t remember that," says Davies.
His wife, Cheri, says the diagnosis didn’t come as a surprise. A social worker, Cheri says she began to use what she learned at work to make life a bit easier. She installed posters on each door with reminders for her husband. Did he put the dog in his kennel? Did he remember to turn the lights off?
She says she also got rid of candles, knowing Chris could forget to blow them out.
They also stay active in the Alzheimer’s community, advocating and working alongside the Alzheimer’s Association Northeastern New York Chapter.
June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month. This year is particularly special, as the FDA approved aducanumab earlier this month. While questions remain, the drug is supposed to help slow the progression of the disease when it’s caught early and is the first Alzheimer’s drug to be approved in almost two decades.
"Having a drug that targets the actual cause of disease itself is a first for us in the Alzheimer’s community, and we hope that it’s the springboard for many more disease-modifying treatments and then, ultimately, that cure that we’re all longing for," says Beth Smith-Boivin, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association Northeastern New York Chapter.
Aducanumab has a large price tag, with estimates suggesting it will cost someone more than $50,000 a year. Smith-Boivin says the Alzheimer’s Association is pushing lawmakers to make sure the drug is accessible.
It’s unclear if Chris will be a good candidate for the drug, and he wasn’t part of the clinical trials. But it’s still an exciting time for those in the Alzheimer’s community, as more people are working toward creating better treatment options.
"It is really hopeful that you see more politicians on board to help with this, and really listening to our stories and hearing that it’s not just an older generation anymore that [is] being affected by Alzheimer’s. I mean, Chris is 53 and we’re living with this day to day, and he’s not the only one," says Cheri.