Books about Alzheimer's and
dementia are difficult reads. Not only are they cruel reminders of a
devastating fate that befalls a large proportion of us, they force us to
think about and examine all the difficulties it entails. With 5.3 million
Americans living with Alzheimer's and other dementias, it's important for us to
learn as much as we can about it, so we can understand what is happening to the
individuals who have it, whether they are known to us or not. This is a fate
that could happen to someone we love or even to ourselves. Pretending it's not
there is not an option.
Greg O'Brien's On Pluto: Inside the
Mind of Alzheimer's is one of those books that should be at the top of the
reading list. Written by an award-winning journalist with 30+ years of
experience, On Pluto takes us into the deepest and darkest secrets of this
disease.
O'Brien holds nothing back,
revealing how his forgetfulness started to unravel the day-to-day details of
his life and how he chose to meet the disease head on. He was no stranger to
its cruelty after witnessing his own grandfather and his mother succumb to it,
leaving him with a "blueprint" of how to live - and fight - with
Alzheimer's.
Diagnosed with Early-onset
Alzheimer's in 2006 at the age of 59, he decided to use his knowledge, skills,
and platform to educate others about living with a brain disease that robs you bit by bit of your memory. It may
sound easy to do given his skills and talents, but it is never easy or routine
to reveal something so deep and personal as the losing of one's mind. O'Brien
rightfully prized his above average intellect, and witnessing its gradual
disappearance within the pages of this book is sobering and sad.
The story he tells is one of loss,
fear, uncertainty, and doubt. It's about the betrayal of one's own body, the
altered future, the coming years not to be enjoyed. It's a story of growing up
Irish, of a Cape Cod life, of a 37-year marriage, of family. It's about a
lifelong dedication to a profession that revolves around words, words that the
disease steals each day.
I've read many books about
Alzheimer's and this is only the second written by the person affected. The
first was Thomas DeBaggio's Losing My Mind, also written by a newspaperman and
writer like O'Brien. I thank God that we have men who are able to use their
skills to bring us this enlightenment. We need it.
To meet Greg please visit the
Living With Alzheimer's Film Project.
To purchase On Pluto please go to
Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
For a selection of other great
books that shed light on Alzheimer's please visit #AlzAuthors.
Follow #AlzAuthors on Twitter.
Visit our event page on Facebook where we share information on Alzheimer's and
dementia and where you are welcome to share your own story.
To win a copy of Greg O'Brien's On
Pluto as well as the other books in the #AlzAuthors collection please enter our
giveaway.
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