Marnie Allard - White Rock, North Delta and Surrey Honouree

2021 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's

Talented quilter who lectured to packed auditoriums across Canada. Adventurous soul who climbed across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Traveller. Bowler. Mother. Wife. Enthusiastic storyteller, laughing as she recounts losing her way out of the bathroom or how she just can’t stop putting her sweatpants on backwards.

“If you don’t laugh, you’re going to cry,” says Marnie Allard, later applauding the friend who confiscated the first book she bought about dementia. “A lot of it was true, but a lot wasn’t. All I was reading was negative.”

Marnie is also someone living well with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of dementia that causes progressive disruption of visual processing. She first knew her cognition was changing when she began to make mistakes in her bookkeeping and started having difficulty understanding clocks and calendars. She struggled with depth perception while driving and when she couldn’t thread her sewing machines, she knew something was wrong.

According to her doctor at the time, it wasn’t dementia – it was a normal part of aging that could be improved with sudoku. Optometrists were stumped. As her visual symptoms progressed, Marnie was left without a diagnosis, questioning her future.

“I was extremely frustrated,” she says. “I knew something was wrong, but nobody could tell me what it was.”

Eventually, she got a new doctor and a referral to the UBC Centre for Brain Health where she was diagnosed. Marnie worked with her health-care providers for more than five years before she learned what was behind her cognitive changes. Marnie connected to the Alzheimer Society of B.C. for support and education, but still felt alone in her experience. One day a Society staff person connected Marnie to the one thing she had been waiting for: another woman living with posterior cortical atrophy. The two became close friends.

“On a bad day, we could phone each other and laugh together and cry together,” she says. “It was really good.”
Eventually, her friend was no longer able to see, walk or talk and passed away. While Marnie no longer has someone in her life experiencing the same set of symptoms, she now has a strong network of people who support her. They include the people who she has connected with through an Alzheimer Society of B.C. support group, in addition to care from her husband and daughter.

In addition to care from her husband and daughter, Marnie also attends a support group through the Alzheimer Society of B.C.
Marnie’s advice to other people facing dementia: try to find someone who has what you have and understands what you’re going through, stay open and don’t be afraid to try new things.

“I’m going to do what I can for as long as I can,” she says. “I’m going to surround myself with people who care about me and look after me.”

Join Marnie this May for the White Rock, North Delta and Surrey IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's. Together, we make memories matter.