This volleyball tournament is dedicated to those who are caregivers and spouses.  Most of the time they are the husbands and wives of those suffering from Lewy Body Dementia.  It is not only the caregivers that suffer.  It is the families, the sons and daughters, the children and grandchildren, those who care about the person with LBD and the caregiver.  It affects everyone attached to the one they love.

My name is Kristine Spencer.  I am a volunteer for the Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) and am organizing the LBD Awareness Volleyball Tournament 2007 because my father was diagnosed in 2005 with Lewy Body Dementia.  When my mother, a nurse for almost 30 years, told my family that dad had LBD, none of us had ever heard of LBD including my mother. 

I became a volunteer because I was helping my mother in her Lewy Body Dementia Drive Across America to raise awareness of LBD.  I chose volleyball because it is a sport that I have been involved with since I can remember.  I feel that LBD is an unknown disease that I needed to do something to help raise awareness. 

It is hard to see your family member go from being a very active person that is involved in many different organizations to not being able to take care of themself, not able to walk, have halucinations and now it is to the point that he can't talk much. 

The LBDA has helped my mother better understand what is happening with my dad, networking with other caregivers going through the same things that my mom has gone through, and inspired her to start her journey across the US with the Lewy Body Dementia Drive Across America telling the world about LBD.

My mother resigned as a registered nurse and was "told" that she was "free to tell the world about LBD."  That was the beginning of the Lewy Body Dementia Drive Across America.  She drove from Alaska to Florida raising awareness from March 2006 through present.   I was assisting her in scheduling speaking engagements when I decided to become a volunter for the LBDA. For more information on the drive, visit www.lewybodydementiadrive.com.  

Thus begins the LBD Awareness Volleyball Tournament 2007.