John’s story - Aging Gracefully - Enjoying the little things

John was in Law Enforcement for over 50 years and was always considered to be sharp, organized and a leader. He has a Masters Degree in Psychology and graduated from the National FBI Academy. He had his pilot’s license and owned a four-seater plane that he would fly to various FL airports. He’s owned and captained several large boats, including a 40 ft yacht, hosting many day trips for friends and family. He sold both the plane and boats so other people could chauffeur him around. He owned a vacation cabin in NC and would travel there often. He retired in 2013 and kept active golfing weekly and enjoyed free time and traveling with his wife Jeanine.

In early 2019 he started forgetting simple things such as where he left his keys, or his glasses. Somedays he couldn’t remember common words or names of items he wanted. He’d walk into a room and forget what he went in to get or why he was there. As the memory loss and confusion started happening more frequently John and Jeanine headed to his doctor.

John was put through a series of cognitive tests to determine if in fact it was more than just getting old. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. His doctor first put him on Memantine, a daily oral medication; however it upset his stomach and he refused to take it. Then, he was prescribed Donepezil (also a once daily tablet) that is also for memory loss, mental changes and improving thinking ability. Several months later he was prescribed Escitalopram to help with depression. He still takes both.

Even though he was taking the oral medications Jeanine observed the memory loss and confusion happening almost daily. She actively started looking for something/anything that might help. She heard about a clinical study in Tampa at USF and started the long process to get him in the study. There was also a clinical study at Morton Plant that he was deemed to be ineligible for. For each of the studies he underwent interviews, cognitive tests, and blood draws.

During John’s regular check ups the doctor noticed a few movements that made him think that John might have Parkinson’s disease and referred him to the Clinical Neurosciences of Tampa Bay and he was assigned to Brenda Moriarty, ARNP. She had him take several tests, including blood draws, a DATSCAN, and an MRI. She observed and assessed him walking and performing various exercises. The tests were negative for Parkinson’s disease but it did show that he has the Alzheimer’s gene. Jeanine and John asked “Now what?”

“John was an ideal candidate for Leqembi given his early stage of Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, more often than not diagnosis is made when patients’ are into much later stages of Dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s. He fell into the limited diagnosis category for Leqembi as well as other criteria for the infusion so he was not only a great candidate for discussion of this new treatment but also we felt he should begin treatments,” stated Brenda Moriarty, Family Nurse Practitioner – Board Certified (FNP-BC) and a Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP)

Leqembi was approved in July of 2023 for people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Leqembi is administered through an IV infusion every two weeks and has shown to be slowing cognitive and function decline. It helps by targeting harmful amyloid proteins that build up in your brain and reduce existing amyloid brain plaque.

In November of 2023 Brenda referred John to Sage Infusion to receive his Leqembi infusions.

“I have frequently referred other patients to Sage Infusion for various infusions and their team has always been exceptional at scheduling and turn around time for getting patients established so of course there was no other choice in my opinion. I often hear from patients how they put forth best efforts to make taking time for infusions an enjoyable experience,” explained Brenda.

She continued “Leqembi was also difficult to obtain at the time due to its rather new status and Sage had acquired it rather quickly.”

John says, “Going to Sage Infusion is quite enjoyable, everyone there is so professional, kind and knowledgeable. I get to sit in a comfy chair and watch golfers on a beautiful golf course, one that I’ve enjoyed playing on several times before. The clinicians’ are so attentive to all my needs and offer me the best snacks, I especially enjoy the cookies.” They are easy to work with and Brittney handles the appointment scheduling and managing insurance details

John recently had his 7th infusion treatment with no side effects to date.

Both Jeanine and John are so thankful for Sage Infusion and all the AWESOME people that work there and grateful to Brenda Moriarty for all that she did to make the referral to this Fantastic Facility!

John (and Jeanine) feel like Leqembi infusions have been helping with his disease or at least he isn’t getting worse and he experiences a lot more “normal” days. He thanks his doctors and the nurses at Sage for continuing to care for him and looks forward to his “cookies” at Sage every two weeks.