For as long as we can… – Alzheimer’s disease.
A diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease is not how anyone envisions kicking off their retirement. For Tom and Marilyn Oestreicher, it had already been a tough year. Tom had survived two minor strokes in 2012, so this news was like having the wind knocked out of them. Instead of shrinking from the challenge in front of them, they forged ahead and have become a source of inspiration for thousands of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Tom & Marilyn interviewed in the WGN-TV special, Unforgettable: Living with Alzheimer’s.
Tom Oestreicher speaks at the Alzheimer’s Association 2016 Illinois Action Summit.
A diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease is not how anyone envisions kicking off their retirement.
For Tom and Marilyn Oestreicher, when Tom was diagnosed in 2013, it had already been a tough year. Tom had survived two minor strokes in 2012, so this news was like having the wind knocked out of them, but instead of shrinking from the challenge in front of them, they forged ahead and have become a source of inspiration for thousands of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
In the year prior to his diagnosis, both Tom and Marilyn had noticed some things were off, but didn’t suspect anything as serious as Alzheimer’s. Tom was a highly accomplished educator, speaker and writer – having taught history and economics in high schools near their home in Sycamore for decades, published four books, and lectured at Kishwaukee College and places around the world – when he started losing track of details and experiencing confusion. Following the strokes, Tom saw a neurologist and after a battery of tests, he and Marilyn were confronted with the news.
Tom (Right) and Marilyn (Center) are pictured with Robert Jordan, retired WGN news anchor and creator of the Alzheimer’s Memory Preservation Project, at Reason to Hope, an Alzheimer’s Association fundraising event, in 2015.
“The first thing we did was contact the Alzheimer’s Association office in Rockford to find out what to do,” Tom and Marilyn explained in a recent interview. “We’ve never understood being ashamed. You can’t let Alzheimer’s disease define who you are. We decided on day one that we were going to be out there.”
After his diagnosis, the Oestreichers joined a Walk to End Alzheimer’s planning committee and Tom began using his well-honed public speaking and writing skills at events like Reason to Hope and the Illinois Action Summit, as well as acting as an Association ambassador at hospice worker and caregiver conventions. In 2016, Tom was asked to join the Association’s National Early-Stage Advisory Board as well.
Tom and Marilyn (center) are pictured with Dean Richards (right), WGN’s Emmy award-winning entertainment reporter and critic, and Dina Bair (left), WGN’s Emmy award-winning Midday News Anchor.
Marilyn, never one for public speaking before Tom’s diagnosis, became the family’s medical expert, staying current on dementia news and research trends, and has also begun using her voice to offer advice and support to other people and families facing Alzheimer’s disease: “Tom never met a microphone he didn’t like, but advocacy has brought out another side of me.”
With two grown children and four grandkids all living in Sycamore, Marilyn says that their most important goal as a family is to “make the most of what we have for as long as we can.” While Tom has noticed some progression of his symptoms, his philosophy is simple: “Alzheimer’s is living with me, not the other way around.”
