Robert Tejada
I live in Fort Worth Texas and my wife has a cousin who's husband has CJD going on three months now. I am not educated enough on this disease but can only relate the events that have taken place thus far. eddie is in very bad condtion and deteriorating with each pasing week. He is an airline pilot who travels a lot out of country to places in South America , Central America. the CDC in Atlanta has been going over his pilots log books for the past few years. They have conducted interviews with fellow pilots trying to determine where he ate, places he might have gone to as most pilots eat togehter when away. Since this disease has an incubation period from five to ten years it is almost impossible to determine where he may have contacted this disease. I have spent many hours rresearching this disease , its effects and suggested causes. Ther are many ideas but to date there are no known cures or test to determine 100 per cent that the people do in fact CJD, only thorugh testing of brain tissue can this be positively identified but reading all the symptoms and stages he has gone through, it is strongly believed to be the problem here. My gut feeling about this disease is that while destroying infected cows to keep them out of the food chain will help, it does nothing to prevent a possible break out that may occur already sometime soon, if incubation theories are correct. The public in large are not being made aware to facts they should know, such as most hosptials are not equipt to handle CJD patients. The public is not being told about all the ill effects CJD patients indure during there various stages they go through. families are going to be devastated when a love one becomes ill and find there is nothing they can do but watch idly by as they watch the disease slwoly take there loved ones life. Presently there are no cures for this disease. While I pray that some time soon something will come along, I can only feel sorry and saddness for eddie who has this disease and all he is going through. Currently he is in Nassua trying a new treatment. Hyperbaric pressure chamber. Basically it is giveing him purre oxygen which only temporary improves quality of life but not much else. It is beleived that pure oxygen may help in assisting dormant healthy brain cells to rejuvenate and halt the distructive process of destroying the brain but it is not proven 100 per cent. What time eddie has , I hope something can be found, for those who are experieincing this with a love one or friend I share your grief and knowledge of what this is doing and ask we all remain postive and strong. Robert tejada 28 Aaug 04