"My Journey Into Alzheimer's Disease"

Justin Hale

2011-06-22 20:57:52 UTC

Comment at the bottom

Post by Justin Hale
Is anyone here familiar with this book by Robert Davis?
Diagnosed with AD at age 50, Davis, a pastor of a large church in Miami,
retired in his early 50s and with the help of his wife began to document
the process of the disease while he was still able; autobiographical, with
his wife's assistance.
The reviewer recommends this book highly. It tells, in first person, what
it's like to travel this terrible, mind destroying road.
Amazon.com lists the book, but our city library does not have it. I'm
losing my memory little by little all the time and we believe that my dad
succumbed to AD, so I think I'll see what this book has to say. It was
published more than 20 years ago.
Ken Bland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have ordered this book and finished reading it. Most Alzheimer's books
seem to be written for the caregiver, this one only indirectly so as it is a
first person account of a man experiencing this disease, writing while he
was yet able. In that sense the story might give the caregiver a better
idea of just what the individual is going through.

Two chapters, one long and one short, are written by this man's wife, an
excellent descriptive writer. I am hesitant to recommend the book,
especially to a person who has reason to suspect that he or she is being
affected by AD. One might prefer not to know what the future holds in
store. A couple of times I had to set the book aside and come back to it a
day later.

Here's an example: Dr. Davis's doctor-examiner said, "I wish I could tell
you this is cancer, but it's not. Alzheimer's Disease is irreversible,
incurable, and terminal."

Judge for yourself.

Ken Bland