On Monday, Nov. 25, the former Governor of Wisconsin, Martin Schreiber, is set to make an appearance at the WWAMI Education Program to talk with medical students about his personal experiences caretaking for his wife who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
His presentation will start at 12:00 p.m. in classroom 160 at the WWAMI Medical Education Building and will be about how caring for someone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s changed Schreiber’s life and outlook on medicine.
Schreiber, who was the Governor of Wisconsin from 1977 to 1979, has a unique story of caring for his late wife, Elaine Thaney Schreiber, who suffered from Alzheimer’s for nearly 15 years before she passed away in 2022.
“Caregiving brought extreme stress, anxiety, worry, and hopelessness that impacted directly on my ability to care for the love of my life and to be a father and grandfather,” Schreiber said.
Although passionate about the topic and sharing the story of him and his wife, what brings him to the University of Idaho is his granddaughter, Abi Haas, who is a current student in the WWAMI medical program.
Inspired by the work of her grandfather as a caretaker and the life of her grandmother, Haas notes that her path to pursuing medicine has been influenced directly by them.
“Watching my grandparents navigate through such a long disease course showed me the profound impact physicians can have on not only the patient, but their entire family,” Haas said. “More than just an interest in patient care, witnessing the struggle of living with an incurable disease sparked my interest in clinical research and really motivated me to contribute to the advancement of medical science.”
Schreiber hopes his presentation will be an opportunity for him to share how his wife and her diagnosis changed him, as well as the importance of patient care to the UI medical students.
“The takeaway is that in an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, there are two patients [the patient diagnosed and their caretaker]. The goal following diagnosis is to develop a health plan for both,” Schreiber said. “That plan is to help them live their best lives possible with an incurable and life-destroying disease.”
Inspired by the lessons he learned through his experience of becoming a caregiver for his wife, Schreiber wrote a book titled “My Two Elaines.” Published in 2017, it illustrates how it was to live with her, love her, take care of her and come to terms with her diagnosis all at the same time.
Paige Wilton can be reached at [email protected].