{"id":3800,"date":"2026-09-24T21:42:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=3800"},"modified":"2026-09-24T21:42:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T21:42:58","slug":"capt-sully-sullenberger-shares-early-signs-of-alzheimers-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=3800","title":{"rendered":"Capt. Sully Sullenberger Shares Early Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tCapt. Chesley \u201cSully\u201d Sullenberger III is speaking out about his early-stage Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis to help other families catch the early warning signs of the disease.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 75-year-old retired pilot became a national hero after saving 155 people in 2009 in what became known as the \u201cMiracle on the Hudson\u201d. This week, Sullenberger and his wife of 37 years, Lorrie, sat down with Good Morning America<\/em><\/a> this week to discuss their new reality.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter initially planning to keep his August 2025 diagnosis a secret, the couple decided to share their experience publicly so others going through the same thing wouldn\u2019t feel isolated. \u201cInitially, like a lot of families, we were not going to tell,\u201d Lorrie told Good Morning America<\/em> co-anchor Robin Roberts. \u201cAnd I said to Sully one day, \u2018This is a disease, not a character flaw. I think we need to talk about it more openly, and maybe other people can do the same.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Kaia<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\tRelated story
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\t\t\t\t\tThe Touching Way Kaia Gerber Honored Late Brother Presley\u2019s Mental Health Advocacy Before His Death\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tCatching the Early Signs\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tThe first indicators of his cognitive decline were so minor that the couple almost brushed them off.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOne of the first things I noticed was that it was harder and harder to remember<\/a> people\u2019s names, even people we knew,\u201d Sullenberger said. \u201cThat\u2019s still an issue. Just forgetting things that I normally wouldn\u2019t. Or repeating myself, not realizing that I just said that an hour ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLorrie explained that most people expect to see severe memory loss when they think of dementia<\/a>, making these small behavioral shifts easy to overlook. \u201cThey were so little that it was easy to dismiss in the beginning,\u201d she said. Lorrie advised families to watch for tiny changes in routine and pay close attention to any behavior that feels out of the ordinary for their partner.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you have doubts, get tested,\u201d he added. \u201cBecause the sooner you act, the more options there are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tFacing the Future Together\t<\/h2>\n

\n\tSullenberger<\/a> said he views his treatment as a strict plan that requires him to cut out distractions and focus solely on what matters most.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re focusing clearly on the highest-priority items first, and we are ignoring everything we don\u2019t have time to do as being only distractions and unimportant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite his pragmatic approach, he openly worries about the \u201cinevitable\u201d toll his decline will take on Lorrie as she steps into the role of primary caregiver<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI do worry about you as the caregiver,\u201d he told her during the interview. \u201cAnd I know what a burden caregivers have. I know it\u2019s going to be a thing, and I\u2019m very aware of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSullenberger hopes his transparency can help destigmatize the disease. Just as he pushed for flight safety after the Hudson River crash, he wants to use his public platform to advocate for families dealing with dementia.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI felt like after the 2009 flight that [co-pilot] Jeff Skiles and I and others had made a difference,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think in this regard, with this issue, maybe we can make a difference in this way also.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Capt. Chesley \u201cSully\u201d Sullenberger III is speaking out about his early-stage Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis to help other families catch the early warning signs of the disease. The 75-year-old retired pilot became a national hero after saving 155 people in 2009 in what became known as the \u201cMiracle on the Hudson\u201d. This week, Sullenberger and his wife of 37 years, Lorrie, sat down with Good Morning America this week to discuss their new reality. After initially planning to keep his August 2025 diagnosis a secret, the couple decided to share their experience publicly so others going through the same thing wouldn\u2019t feel isolated. \u201cInitially, like a lot of families, we were not going to tell,\u201d Lorrie told Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts. \u201cAnd I said to Sully one day, \u2018This is a disease, not a character flaw. I think we need to talk about it more openly, and maybe other people can do the same.\u2019\u201d Related story The Touching Way Kaia Gerber Honored Late Brother Presley\u2019s Mental Health Advocacy Before His Death Catching the Early Signs The first indicators of his cognitive decline were so minor that the couple almost brushed them off. \u201cOne of the first things I noticed was that it was harder and harder to remember people\u2019s names, even people we knew,\u201d Sullenberger said. \u201cThat\u2019s still an issue. Just forgetting things that I normally wouldn\u2019t. Or repeating myself, not realizing that I just said that an hour ago.\u201d Lorrie explained that most people expect to see severe memory loss when they think of dementia, making these small behavioral shifts easy to overlook. \u201cThey were so little that it was easy to dismiss in the beginning,\u201d she said. Lorrie advised families to watch for tiny changes in routine and pay close attention to any behavior that feels out of the ordinary for their partner. \u201cIf you have doubts, get tested,\u201d he added. \u201cBecause the sooner you act, the more options there are.\u201d Facing the Future Together Sullenberger said he views his treatment as a strict plan that requires him to cut out distractions and focus solely on what matters most. \u201cWe\u2019re focusing clearly on the highest-priority items first, and we are ignoring everything we don\u2019t have time to do as being only distractions and unimportant,\u201d he said. Despite his pragmatic approach, he openly worries about the \u201cinevitable\u201d toll his decline will take on Lorrie as she steps into the role of primary caregiver. \u201cI do worry about you as the caregiver,\u201d he told her during the interview. \u201cAnd I know what a burden caregivers have. I know it\u2019s going to be a thing, and I\u2019m very aware of it.\u201d Sullenberger hopes his transparency can help destigmatize the disease. Just as he pushed for flight safety after the Hudson River crash, he wants to use his public platform to advocate for families dealing with dementia. \u201cI felt like after the 2009 flight that [co-pilot] Jeff Skiles and I and others had made a difference,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think in this regard, with this issue, maybe we can make a difference in this way also.\u201d Source link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-female-health-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}