SPOKANE, Wash. — Claudia Bjorklund says she thinks of her husband, Randy every time she’s in her kitchen. Her life changed forever when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a week before his 55th birthday.
“He knew that there was something wrong… it was textbook Alzheimer’s,” said Bjorklund.
Since her husband was first diagnosed, they both knew they needed to do something. Ultimately, they put together a team of their nearest and dearest for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s and dubbed themselves “BJORKOLUTION.”
“It just seemed like the right thing to do, you know, to make people aware,” Bjorklund said.
Since starting to fundraise over a decade ago, Bjorklund has raised over $90,000, and she’s not stopping, “I made it a goal to meet $100,000 this year.”
Dr. David Greely, from Northwest Neurological and Kingfisher Cooperative, says he’s trying to change the way people think about the disease, “I think that’s the thing that Alzheimer’s disease is such a scary sounding disease, I’m trying to be much more positive and upbeat about it.”
Dr. Greely added that there have been significant advancements in the research, especially in the last two years.
Like any disease, early intervention is critical, “I just want people to come in, as soon as they’re convinced that they’ve got something going on. And if they think that there’s something going on, they probably do. And it’s not too early, and you’re not going to be wasting the doctor’s time by talking about it,” said Dr. Greely.
Bjorklund says their work is a testament to what an amazing person her husband was, “we’re not an organization… there were just a bunch of people who miss HIM and don’t want this to continue now.”
If you would like to donate to team BJORKOLUTION, click here!
NonStop Local will be hosting a Connect Center in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association on Sept. 23. For more information on how to donate or how to sign up for the walk, click on the link here.
