[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 142 (Monday, October 5, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10107-S10108]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO DIANE WOLK

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, many of us have been touched by a family 
member or friend who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In fact, more 
than 5.3 million people in the United States are living with 
Alzheimer's, which translates into a new case every 70 seconds. As our 
Nation ages, more and more cases will develop each year and an 
estimated million new cases will be diagnosed annually by 2050. I am 
proud be a cosponsor of S. 1492, the Alzheimer's Breakthrough Act of 
2009 which helps fund Alzheimer's disease research, gives assistance to 
caregivers, and increases public education about prevention of 
Alzheimer's.
  It is not just the elderly who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's. My 
good friend Diane Wolk of Castleton, VT, in her early fifties was 
diagnosed about a year and a half ago with early onset Alzheimer's. 
Instead of hiding her diagnosis or giving up hope, Diane now travels 
the State and the country sharing her experience with others. Through 
promoting education and early intervention, Diane helps patients and 
their family members recognize their symptoms and seek diagnosis and 
treatment. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a 
story from the Burlington Free Press about Diane's courage and 
perseverance in the face of an overwhelming diagnosis.
  Marcelle and I are so proud of her, and of the inspiration she gives 
to Alzheimer's patients in Vermont and nationwide. She is a true hero.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  [From the Burlington FreePress.com]

                        Lessons From Alzheimer's

                           (By Sally Pollak)

       Diane Wolk spent her adult life as an educator, a teacher 
     or principal in Vermont public schools. One day this summer, 
     Wolk said she had another lesson she'd like to share with 
     people--perhaps her most important.
       Wolk's teaching moment came in a lounge at Fletcher Allen 
     Health Care. She was in Burlington with her husband, Dave 
     Wolk, to undergo an experimental treatment for Alzheimer's 
     disease, a degenerative brain disorder Wolk was diagnosed 
     with two years ago.
       Diane Wolk wanted to tell people that in the face of 
     confusing symptoms and diagnosis with a ``scary'' illness, it 
     is both possible and important to approach the situation in 
     an honest, upbeat and life-affirming way.
       ``You have to take the fear out of the diagnosis,'' Wolk, 
     58, said. ``It's not a death sentence. You can curl up and 
     die or you can do something. I'm always the teacher, and if I 
     can help someone else, I will.''
       Wolk is hopeful that talking about her experience with 
     Alzheimer's, which she developed at an unusually early age, 
     might help others recognize symptoms, seek medical care, find 
     courage and summon an upbeat attitude.
       ``I have a very easy life,'' she said in the hospital. ``I 
     have a wonderful husband. This is a little setback, but 
     things are good. Very few people get out of this life 
     unscathed. I try to stay active and upbeat. People deal with 
     all kinds of difficult situations, and this one--it's really 
     just bad luck.''
       Wolk is married to Dave Wolk, 56, the president of 
     Castleton State College and

[[Page S10108]]

     former Vermont Commissioner of Education. They've been 
     married 18 years, a second marriage for both. They have four 
     children in their 20s, two sons and two daughters.
       Diane Wolk, has a Ph.D. in educational leadership from the 
     University of Vermont, and a long and varied career in 
     Vermont education. She's taught students from elementary 
     school to graduate school, directed the student-teacher 
     program at Castleton State, and served as chairwoman of the 
     state Board of Education.
       Wolk retired in 2006 from her job as principal of Northeast 
     Elementary School in Rutland City, bringing to a finish a 
     Vermont career that started in 1972. That year, she was hired 
     to teach first grade at Barstow Memorial School in 
     Chittenden, where she taught for 18 years.
       Her last two years as principal in Rutland, Wolk found it 
     increasingly difficult to run the school, she said.
       ``I was off my game,'' Wolk said. ``I was getting confused, 
     and I thought it was the stress of being principal. I was 
     forgetting things and repeating myself. I wasn't myself.''
       Leaving her profession meant saying goodbye to a vital part 
     of her life, but it was an important step in her care, her 
     husband said.
       ``She loved the kids and the teachers and the families. She 
     missed that part,'' Dave Wolk said. ``In terms of her well-
     being, it was helpful to her. She recognized that 
     intuitively.''


                        ``Tough thing to learn''

       The problems Diane Wolk perceived at work--memory loss, 
     confusion, repeating herself, frustration--had been 
     noticeable to her family and close friends since early 2004, 
     her husband said. The family was concerned enough about the 
     symptoms that Diane Wolk went to her doctor to check it out.
       She was ultimately diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 
     2007 at the University of Vermont's Memory Center, where she 
     saw its founder, neurologist William Pendlebury.
       ``It was a tough thing to learn,'' Wolk said. ``I think I'm 
     still absorbing it.''
       She has come to understand that the best approach for her 
     is: ``OK, it's a new day. Let's see what we can do.''
       This means Wolk--who considers herself a high-energy 
     person--is adjusting to a slower pace. She's learned to take 
     naps when she's tired. She tries not to ``bug'' her husband 
     too much. She says she sometimes feels like she's in a haze.
       ``You get angry at yourself because there are these moment 
     where you know what you want to do and you can't,'' Wolk 
     said. ``And it just gets very frustrating and scary.''
       ``I've always felt that I've been in tune with my body,'' 
     Wolk said. ``If I need to sleep, I sleep. If I need to be in 
     sunshine, I'll be in sunshine.''
       David Wolk keeps track of her medicine, her meals, her 
     schedule and other aspects of family life. Their children are 
     a great support and visit home often, the Wolks said.
       ``We've downsized our lives,'' Diane Wolk said. ``We pick 
     and choose when we want to stay in or go out. I have a great 
     group of friends, and socializing when you have Alzheimer's 
     is very, very important.''
       Dave Wolk says he tries to minimize the stress in Diane's 
     life, not an easy endeavor for a college president and 
     primary caregiver of an Alzheimer's patient.
       ``She's my No. 1 priority, and president of the college is 
     my No. 2 priority,'' he said.
       His responsibilities include bringing Diane from their home 
     on the Castleton campus to Fletcher Allen Health Care every 
     six weeks for medical treatment.
       She is enrolled in a clinical drug trial at UVM with 
     intravenous infusions every 13 weeks, brain scans and memory 
     tests.
       The care provided by Pendlebury extends beyond his leading 
     the clinical study, the Wolks said. He is ``wise and 
     gentle,'' Dave Wolk said.
       ``He's very calm, very wise and very uplifting,'' Diane 
     Wolk said. ``He doesn't let you get down. He gives you the 
     information you need and says here is what you can do with 
     it. He's salt of the earth.''
       One conversation with Pendlebury was particularly important 
     and especially hard to confront, they said. Pendlebury 
     advised the Wolks to complete advance directive documents, to 
     put in writing their wishes about medical care and treatment 
     options while they are capable of making such decisions.
       ``Nobody wants to realize their own death. Everybody thinks 
     you've got plenty of time,'' Diane Wolk said. ``But we had 
     those choices to make. Now everybody knows exactly what our 
     wishes are, and it ended up being very comforting.''


                         ``Cherish the moment''

       The Wolks make an effort to find comfort where they can. 
     This means hanging out with family and friends, taking a July 
     trip to Citi Field to see Paul McCartney, Diane Wolk's other 
     big crush, and practicing a certain acceptance of each day, 
     each moment.
       ``I've been trying to embrace something akin to a Buddhist 
     philosophy,'' Dave Wolk said. ``I try not lament the past and 
     I try not to worry about the future. I'm trying to embrace 
     the moment, cherish the moment.''
       Yet he is fully aware that Alzheimer's is, in his words, a 
     ``nasty, progressive disease that's full of doom and gloom.''
       As he cares for his wife, and makes arrangements and 
     schedules to help ease her way through the day, Dave Wolk 
     remains in awe of her sunny nature.
       ``If you approach Alzheimer's the way Diane Wolk approaches 
     it--in a very upbeat, positive manner--I believe it can 
     extend life. And extend the quality of life,'' he said.
       Diane Wolk has suffered a decline in her short-term memory 
     over the past couple of months. She is confused about the day 
     and date, and sometimes can't remember what happened 
     yesterday or what's planned for tomorrow.
       For Diane Wolk, the ``mystery of the brain'' makes 
     Alzheimer's a particularly frightening disease, she said. 
     When people are scared of something, they shy away from it. 
     They don't want to talk about it, she said.
       ``If somebody is struggling with this disease and not 
     knowing where to go or what to do, there's a lot of help out 
     there,'' Wolk said in July at the hospital.
       Dave Wolk remembers the first time he and Diane went to 
     Fletcher Allen for her IV treatment. She receives the 
     intravenous in the oncology unit, where patients go for 
     chemotherapy.
       The Wolks were there for seven hours, and they watched 
     cancer patients come and go.
       ``Diane kept saying how fortunate we are,'' Dave Wolk said. 
     ``She is such an amazing, inspirational person. I know of no 
     greater profile in courage.''

                          ____________________