Introduction

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

I am a new member of the group and my name is Gloria. I lost my husband,

Saul, almost three years ago. He died in Israel where we had moved to from

L.A. to be near one of our daughters and her family. Before we left

California (a few months before) Saul started screaming, laughing and babbling

in his sleep. He also seemed to get much too angry at minor things, and at

one of those times knocked me to the floor and began to hit and pound me with

his fists.

We were excited in our move to Israel and were beginning to make friends and

we started school to learn Hebrew. Saul insisted that we leave early in the

morning for the class and together we waited outside for the building to open.

We attended the class and Saul learned nothing at all in six weeks. He was

not a stupid man and the teachers thought perhaps he didn't want to learn.

When I would ask him " Why, why are you doing this? Arn't you embarassed to sit

there week after week and not participate and not try? Are you doing this on

purpose? " Again he would become angry and tell me to worry about myself as he

was just fine!

I insisted that we go to the doctor who sent us to a neurologest, who sent us

all over the place for different tests which finally showed nothing. The

neurologest looked at me and smiled as if I was a nurotic Jewish Princess that

wanted attention or had to complain about something. I told her, told lots of

people that " Something was wrong. Something was very wrong! " She informed me

that " perhaps he needs a Psychiatrist as lots of people have a hard time

adjusting to the culture. "

In the days to follow, he fell a few times, had trouble getting in and out of

buses, was never sure where he was, had trouble with the money and much

agatation with me and our two grandsons. He also would become critical of

people on the news. Late April, early May he woke me to get out of bed and

come and see the men climbing down from the roof. This was the very beginning

of many, many hallucinations, which brought us back to L.A. and to UCLA where

he spent a month and where Dr.Cummings gave the diagnosis of CJD.

The last few months before his death he spent shaking and shaking, in diapers

and did not know me. He fell and went into a coma. The coma was not from the

fall.

Thankyou,

Gloria