This beach is a metaphor for the Alzheimers brain.

Slow erosion of the brain as with  AZ.

Not quite a cliff that could cause a preciptious fall which is what happened to me in my condo after drinking too much. 

Concussion link March 29, 2020

 

Subdural hematoma link August 2020

The boat is a metaphor for possible recovery

 

Review on Amazon for my new book.

 Review of my recent book:

 Alzheimers is Inexorable Year Four

True Grit and Fortitude required.

Bruce MacCullough

5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging and informative inside look at a troubling disease.

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2022

This is the 4th book in a series by Dr. Brian Edwards MD, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 4 years ago. It is my favorite in the series. To be clear, there is not yet a guaranteed test for AZ, but Dr. Edwards had the best available neurological test for AZ, and it showed the presence of Amyloid in his brain.

This series is almost unique—one of very few personal narratives written by a person with AZ. Dr. Edwards has written these annual books so that others might know what to expect. You literally accompany him in his varied activities and travels, along with detailed medical information on what he is doing to slow the progression of the disease. His entries are brief, sometimes entertaining, and readable, with the possible exception of a few where he inserts medical information which may go a little beyond the layperson. The books include a well-informed hopefulness that a cure and certainly treatments are under development. He is happily surprised by how well he is doing after 4 years.

Dr. Edwards unreservedly shares his daily practices, interactions with his wife, travels, and other varied information. Notably, he is participating in some clinical studies, as well as following a new treatment protocol by Dr. Dale Breseden. He discusses a patient who has passed 9 years with an AZ diagnosis and is doing quite well.

You can jump in with this 4th book and gain much from it without having read the previous 3. If this book engages you, you can order any or all of the other three. Given how well Dr. Edwards is doing after 4 years, it should offer some comfort as well as important knowledge about this troubling disease.

Keeping to a routine helps with my Alzheimers?

 In Florida now the Temp is 70 but it is overcast and a little windy

No one in the hot tub today

No one in the gym

I completed a fourth day of exercising in the gym

I have done my 5,000 to 7,000 steps a day for years, but I stopped going to the gym with Covid

Press release on Year four book on my AZ

 Press release on my book: AZ is Inexorable link

Letter from a friend in Australia asking for advice about AZ

Received all 4 books today and am now reading book two.

Thank you

Page79/81 re: Yet the essence of the person endures.  

Kindness is more important than truth.

Don't try to correct an AZ patient who is alive or dead in their life. 

Steer them away from the subject. 

Obviously stating the facts are upsetting to the Alzheimer’s patient.

Depends on the stage of their AZ.

It's similar to telling people the truth about their cancer.

I was taught never to use the word cancer to a patient. 

Doctor patriarchy is long past.  

Is it best to lie to them and how would you approach it?

If the diagnosis is early, best to be truthful so people can try to do something about their lifestyle and not give up hope. 

I never thought I would be writing my fifth book since my diagnosis.  

I can't point to one important thing that helped me.  

I can only give people choices to make for themselves as I compare different books. 

We have a friend Viv who is about to sell her home as she moved in several months ago with Mandy, her best friend.  Viv was having too many difficulties living on her own.  A couple of us are educating ourselves on the care and responses to Alzheimer in the hope we can both give Mandy(83) help or a break every once in awhile.  Viv (70) is very sweet natured but seems to be turning to the bottle lately to cope  with this devastating disease.  How do we deal with that?  Try to curtail her drinking or leave her alone?  Diane

It's tough. 

I think the distress you might cause her by taking the bottle away is worse than the alcohol.

I fell from alcohol and had a subdural.  Try to prevent that.  I have decreased my intake due to that. 

Subdural hematoma link

Avoid getting into arguments with her.  Change the subject etc.

Much happiness with the Football playoffs this past weekend.

 I never followed football very much. 

I played touch football in the streets of Brooklyn.  The game was often interrupted when someone would yell "CAR".  Very narrow field with cars on both sides of the street. 

I never really learned the rules of the game. 

I am 70 years old with Alzheimers and feel lucky to have experienced the 

 greatest NFL playoff game of all-time: Chiefs' epic OT win over Bills among best ever.

I became  more interested in football living in Kansas and watching the spectacular play of 

 Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes'  It was similar to my admiration of Michael Jordan in basketball which was my main sport of interest. 

I am also a fan of Tom Brady.

What went wrong for Buccaneers in playoff loss to Rams? Matthew Stafford's stand & Cooper Kupp's catch sinks Tom Brady

I rarely watch a whole Super Bowl yet somehow my new found interest in Brady (I'm a resident of Florida) and Mahomes ended up with me watching the two playoffs back to back.  

I have never done that before.  It turned out to be ver fortuitous as they turned out to be historic games.  

Good to be alive. 

WITH Four SHORT TRIPS MY ALZHEIMERS SEEMS WORSE.

1- Returning home from NYC link Nov 11

Visited friends and cousin.  Good time. One afternoon we walked 8 miles. 

2- Flew to Atlanta December 7 -12

Visited 2 sons, a daughter and two grandsons. 

Good Christmas. 

3- Difficult drive to Avon  link January first

My wife and I drove to Avon, Colorado 

Driving in the snowstorm was very stressful.

My wife babysat our grandson while our kids skied. 

 Avon, Colorado link

The flights are never enjoyable even though we often go first class. 

The challenging part is getting everything packed, especially my 26 bottles of medicine. 

4- Flew to Florida January 1

 It seems there are very few direct flights from MCI.

We tolerate long layovers as we usually can get into an airport lounge.  

This fourth trip destroyed me.  

The packing is a chore. 

Whenever we go down to our condo in Florida we have to deal with hooking back up to internet and TV.

This year it was worse because I had to sync my new iPhone and fitbit.  

The two mornings I failed at doing it was very stressful. 

Today we went to our GEEK squad and they figured it out.  

It was not my fault but the poor internet at our condo.  

We have had to make calls to Infinity. 

We still have trouble with internet and TV. 

I needed a good drink to relieve my anxiety yesterday

Update  Jan 25, 2022

Geek squad saved me by syncing my iwatch and fitbit.  They said I seemed to have trouble with my

I feel much better now. 

I am now exercising more to control my anxiety.

I used to think that joyful experiencial activities with travel helped my Alzhiemers.  Now it's a question of the balance with the amount of stress caused. 

Cruises are the ultimate stress free way to travel.

Main challenge is getting to the ship especially with flights to Europe. 

We are determined to continue our travels.

Diets for Alzheimers Part Two

I have been following which diets

 Dr Bredesen, 

Amy Burger, 

Dr Gupta, 

Dr Isaacson and Dr Ochner advise for Alzheimers.

Link to blog on these diets

Dr Tanzi diet advice below:

I couldn' find much other than he himself is vegan?  

 

It seems to be only Amy Berger that advises a

 low carb high fat diet for nutritional ketosis

The other experts don't like the idea of eating a diet with saturated fats. 

The ironic thing is none of them seem to understand is that despite saturated fat you can get your lipid levels low on statins.

I have enjoyed listening to Laura Branigan's song memories.

 

Trying to recover from two difficult emotional mornings.

 As I have written before my Alzheimers problem is more 

emotional than cognitive.  Anxiety link.

Yesterday after a nice drive back from a great trip with family to 

Avon, Colorado, my wife and I were having a quiet first day home.  

She asked me to look up on Amazon to buy special masks for COVID as we are flying to Florida soon.  

I found it but there was a bewilding abundance of choices that I asked her to decide which mask.  

She did and than asked me how to order it on Amazon.  

I ordered it for our Florida address.  

She was looking over my shoulder and among the list of potential addresses she saw a woman named Julie.  She thought it was a woman from a long time ago.  I said I didn't think so but could not be sure who it was on the spur of the moment.  I can't think that fast anymore.  She asked me to erase it.  Again I said it would not be that easy for.  She got extremely angry with.  It was so very distrising for me. 

The next moring my mood was still not great when a friend asked to get involved in a Twitter controversy.  He could not leave me a clear thread trail of his position.

I finally had to call him to get it staight. 

It exhausted me and made me very distressed again. 

After a Manhattan coctail, wine and watching Lost in Space, I finally gained my equanimity. 

4 year series of first person narrative of my time with Alzheimers- UNIQUE AND HOPEFUL

 

MY FOUR BOOKS ON MY PERSONAL JOURNEY WITH ALZHEIMERS.

UNIQUE: WRITTEN IN THE FIRST PERSON 

HOPEFULL: I HAVE DONE BETTER THAN EXPECTED.  I HAVE ENTERED MY 5TH YEAR

A

Last day at Avon I did make it on the lift.

 Temperature is 38 degrees F. 

Thus at the last minute I did make it on the lift 

Nice fire pit nearby.   Very warming.

Covid is still a problem.  Last 3 days, one million cases each day. 

Nice view without the mask.  I love my parka.

Tomorrow we drive back to Topeka. 

I am really looking for to getting back home and to my dog. It's a dog's life link

I do miss not skiing. 

Winter vacation in Avon, Colorado in my 5th year of Alzheimers

I have had a great time this last week visiting my two sons with their wives and one grandson. 

My wife and I had a difficult time driving here in the snow: 

Stressful drive up the mountain link.

We arrived late at night and just before the main highway was closed.

However the next morning there was beautiful sunshine:

The Blizzard by Judy Collins link

Now we are planning to drive home tomorrow.  We will probably not come back unless someone else drives us.

The week was wonderful we have only had flurries of snow. 

My kids tried to ski everyday.  They loved it. 

My wife would babysit the baby while they went out. 

I love my grandson but the last two mornings I stayed by myself for the quiet and calmness as I was the news and write my twitters and blogs. 

Looking forward to going home to my Smart TV and the recordings of Morning Joe, as well as the DVD player. 

I have filled some of the down time re-reading Bernard Cornwall series on the Penisula War of Britain vs. Napolean in the Richard Sharpe series. 

I am reading Sharpe's Gold for the third time.

I first read it 10 years ago.

I take my time and underline more.  

It has been a great joy to rediscover these books.

We save money by not eating out. 

Ginger and I brought a great deal of groceries from Topeka. 

She cooked six thick pieces of Salmon two nights ago. 

My son Andrew made a great plate of Shrimp Curry.

Of course there was wine and red wine. 

I also make my usual anchor Manhattan each day.

However it has been very cold outside.  I get cold so easily.

I did walk over to the liquour store a few blocks away, yet 

the sidewalk was still covered with some snow and ice. 

Thanks goodness I had my snowboots on.  

My kids have used the outdoor hot tub everyday.  

I forgot my swimming trunks but I am not sure I would want to go out into the cold.

There is a lift to Beaver Village that is free and I would have liked to visit again.  Again even though the temperature is up to 36 degrees F.  I decided not to go. 

So here I am by myself listening to MSNBC talk only about the Jan 6 insurrection that happened 1 year ago while so far I haven't seen Fox news talk about it at all. 

I am content.  We had a free breakfast that was included with our points. I am warm and am grateful I can still write these blogs which will make up the YEAR 5 book that I will title Trying to Avoid Falling off Cliffs. Subtitle Doing Better than Expected

The main goal for me is to maintain to maintain my routine .

1- Medications: Ten different types in AM

2- Supplements: Twelve different types after lunch.  

I have not been checking my fasting glucose, ketones or weight. 

3- Exercise: I am able to walk 4,000 to 8,000 steps by pacing in my room each day.

I am so proud my book on my 4th year of Alzheimers is published this week.

 

Link to buy my book on Amazon

My big accomplishment today was making a 30 second video to promote my book on Amazon.

Even now I don't know how to add the video to my blog. 

It should show up on Amazon in 2 days. 

You can read my Year Five book as I write it on this blog.

Title:

Trying not to fail off any cliffs

Almost off a cliff on drive to Avon in snow storm. link

Link to beginning of Year 5 book

I'm living with Dementia but I'm still me 5 years since DX of Alzheimers

 

Memory loss from aging vs Alzheimers

 My diagnosis of Alzheimers was made in Dec 2017 after cognitive exams and a Amyloid Pet scan. 

Presently people are surprised I have AZ.  

They say they have similar memory lapses. 

I am surprised in my fifth year since the Dx was made

 that I am doing better than expected with my AZ.

However my recent memory continues to get worse.  

Just ask my wife.  

We don't get to frustrated with it.

 Memory is not all it is cracked out to be link

What frustrates me is that my friends who downplay their memory loss to aging don't get checked for early AZ when they can adapt several steps to prevent worsening of their AZ. 

War what is it good for? A optimistic view of the future

 Attached is Tolstoy’s view of history (from the novel War and Peace}; a very bleak outlook.  And yet it’s hard to find cogent arguments against it.  Is all of history just fate?  Are we all just pawns??  It would seem that humanity just keeps repeating itself.  This would also include epidemics which come every so often to kill unknown millions of people around the world.  Maybe Ecclesiastes has it right, “Vanity of vanities, says the teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.  What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?” (Eccl 1:2-3).  Sorry; this is not an uplifting outlook for a new year.

 

Tolstoys excerpt from his novel War and Peace is thought provoking and full of information.

I have been re-reading  Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series on the Napoleon wars in Europe.

From the British point of view it was simple: It was Napoleon's fault. 

Sadly Hitler did not learn from History. He repeated the mistake of invading Russia. 

Communists said it was a class (economic) struggle.

Right now it is more clear than ever that billionaires have too much political power.  

I suggest we read The Lessons of History by the Durants link $1

As I recall their message was more hopeful. 

HIstory is biased in that it looks mostly at big events that occasionally happen which are not as important as the day to day living 

that occupies most of the time of the human species. 

Also the Durants point out that wealth over history has often been redistributed. 

My own optimism comes from the hope that women will control more of the government. 

My pessimism comes from lack of effort to prevent climate change till it is too late. 

Many people don't like the movie Look Up but it shows how politicians foolishly respond to crises.

The movie is quite a satire..  

The song Imagine by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Photos of happy outcome of drive to Avon, Colorado

#1
 Showing my grandson the snow.

#2

View from our room 

#3

Sunny day after the storm

#4

Reminds me of the Judy Collins song.

The Blizzard link

Challenging Drive from Topeka to Avon, Colorado

 Driving with Alzheimers and trying to not drive off a cliff.

Last year when we drove from Florida home to Topeka we decided we would no longer make that long drive anymore.  My wife did all the driving and it was too stressful for her.  I did not driving. 

We decided to take a drive that was half the distance (of the Florida drive) from Topeka to Avon.

We also decided to keep the two legs short by staying at a hotel in Hayes. 

First leg went well. 

Second leg was very stressful as we hit snow in the  mountains.  We we stuck in slow traffic for hours. Our cars was skidding a little.  

Very hard on my wife.  She swore we would never make this drive again.  She is 73 year old and not a confident driver in this type of weather.  I am 70 years old and can still drive but we decided I shouldn't with this bad weather. 

We made the decision to go to our time share at Westin as my 2 sons with their wives would be there with one of my grandsons.  

I wanted to see snow again as I no longer ski. 

The snow was beautiful on the mountains. 

Next day the sun came out and my son with his wife had a great time on the powder. 

I think we will stick with cruises now despite Omicron.