AL ZHEIMER

I am coming to terms with my current status of Alzheimer's stage two. It is a disappointment after thinking last year that I had stopped the progress of Alzheimer's by my special diet. However, on reflection I am gratful that I have gone for twelve years,and remained able to function. It started with dementia, which I now know was the symptom of Al Zheimer, the gangster of the brain, Initial stages were mild memory loss,middle stages after about five years cognitive abilities began to fail. All very slow and I was unaware of my real condition until three years ago when the doctor said rather casually; 'Oh you've got dementia.' At first I thought that I would get some pills, but at present there is no cure for dementia, which is in fact the symptom of Alxheimer's,or some other terrible illness. There is now hope of a cure from Queensland University where tests on mice have been very encouraging. However the gap between now and and testing on humans will be at least two years and by then I may be too far gone to even travel. There is some sadness in my feelings, but not too much, I am 73 and I have had a blessed life with many challenges, but still blessed. After selling my farm in South Africa five years ago I started seriously writing books, beginning with 'When The Jacaranda Petals Fall.'This was a book about the farm, written as a novel. Many friends bought copies from Amazon and had good things to say, no doubt some were just being polite, but others were very profuse in their praise. A further four novels are now also on Amazon and a book acalled 'My Dementia and I.' Much has happened since I published that book on Amazon, so I want to publish a sequel explaining my struggle wth 'Big Al the gangster of the mind'. I think that others with early stage Alzheimer's may be interested in the changes that took place. This may be the last book that I am able to write which is disappointing as I have so many ideas for other books. We will see. One of the interesting developments that has happended as Alzheimer's has progressed that I and others have found is that because one spends much time thinking about the illness, one begins to look inside oneself and a certain tranquility of mind develops. One becomes contentedly fatalistic about what is going to happen and one tends to live quite happily from day to day. You tend to live each day to the full and fight the challenges of depression and sadness. One of the challenges to come is that one may live long enough to reach the last stage of Alzheimer's and become a vegetable until the damaged brain finally stops sending messages to the lungs and breathing stops. How ironic it is that one hopes to die quickly and quietly before tis happens. How curiousit is that I am the happiest that I have ever been. David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa