By Gayla Cawley
NAHANT — One woman is fighting to end Alzheimer’s Disease.
Olivia Brand, 70, of Nahant, lost her romantic partner, Kenneth Nielsen, to the disease that destroys memory and other mental functions. He was 69 when he died in 2014.
“It’s such a devastating disease,” Brand said. “It’s really unreal what it does to lives and what it personally did with Ken’s life and our relationship.”
Brand will walk with a friend in Nielsen’s honor on Sept. 18 during the Cape Cod Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The event benefits the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter for care, support and research efforts.
Registration, which starts at 8 a.m., is free, but walkers are asked to make a donation. Brand said her goal is to raise $150. The walk starts at 9:30 a.m. at Veteran’s Park Beach in Hyannis.
More than 120,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s in Massachusetts and more than 5 million Americans are living with the disease. The illness is the sixth leading cause of death in the country. A third of senior citizens die with the disease or another dementia, according to the association.
Brand and Nielsen didn’t have the typical love story.
After their marriages ended, Brand and Nielsen reconnected and enjoyed a 12-year romantic relationship of their own. Nielsen tracked her down after seeing that she didn’t list a husband in their high school alumni directory book. The two grew up together in Baltimore.
Brand was living in Pennsylvania at the time, and he was in West Virginia. Nielsen eventually moved in with her and later moved with her to Nahant. He kept his cabin in West Virginia, which they used as a vacation home. About eight years into their relationship, the couple was surprised to learn the Alzheimer’s diagnosis from a neurologist.
“I feel like there needs to be more counseling,” Brand said. “When we were given a diagnosis by the neurologist, it was just like a bomb went off and there really wasn’t anyone there to help … My feeling has been that when someone is given the diagnosis, they should be connected to a counselor to just sort things out.”
Looking back, Brand said there were warning signs. Her partner became confused, forgetting to pay his bills and put ice cream in the refrigerator instead of the freezer. He routinely couldn’t find his cell phone and as a teacher had trouble keeping track of grades for his students.
Brand said she took care of Nielsen up until she couldn’t anymore. During his last few years with her, she said he would go missing for long periods of time, leading her to call police. He had periods of outbursts and agitation as he further deteriorated from the disease, she added.
For the last year of his life, Nielsen was in a memory care facility near his daughter in San Antonio, Texas, and Brand didn’t see him. Before that, he had been part of an Alzheimer’s study at McLean Hospital in Belmont.
Brand said she remembers the good times. She called her late partner a kind, considerate person who enjoyed life, was active and liked to tell jokes.
“Even when his symptoms with Alzheimer’s were really intense, he could always come up with a corny joke,” she said.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.