In May 2022, at age 50, I was diagnosed with a progressive, untreatable vascular neurodegenerative disease called cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), a condition that's fairly common among the elderly but very rare for people my age. Soon thereafter, this account became my video journal.

BUT WAIT … things since then have gotten, shall we say, complicated. If this sounds familiar to you or someone you care about, here's where you can climb aboard my ongoing diagnostic and symptomatic rollercoaster.

I hope that the experiences and reflections I'm sharing will be helpful to others who live with CAA, ME/CFS and chronic migraine and to friends, family, and serve as an anecdotal resource for healthcare practitioners, researchers, and advocates.

Melissa Boyack, Western NY