http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/...
Anyone here nearing 65 years old? Forgetting where the car keys are? What to pick up
At the store? Did you want to do something, but can't remember what? Your getting
Worried you may have something serious going on in your head. Visions of you sitting
in a wheelchair drooling, staring at nothing cross your mind.
An article in the New Your times says over half of you aren't being tested for memory loss 0r Dementia and Alzheimers.
I've taken the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test. You count backwards, draw a clock, try and remember a series of words you are given and asked to repeat the words every 5 or 10 minutes.You draw squares, shapes and play silly games.
I've taken it once, failed badly, and now have to take it once a year. How will I do? II have no idea. Once I learned I had a problem. I took steps to deal
With my problem. Lists, trigger words, writing something five times perfect until you get it
right. If you get something right four times, mess up the 5th, start over.Even after being shown something by a very patient friend, I sometimes forget 30 seconds later.I work
Doing the most basic things.I rarely drive I forget the gas and brake. How to start and stop.
The most important message is if you take the test, you may be fine. Think of the stress
That will vanish. If you don't do so well, you can focus on "exercising " your brain. The brain will work better if you force it to. My Parkinson's is a mystery to the Doctors because I still don't use a walker, I walk up steps and I still run and race walk. I'm learning how to write articles, not blogs, I'm learning about formatting.
No matter what, push yourself.You can have enjoyment, laugh, cry, and see beauty.
You can live years with Dementia and Parkinson's if you treat those words for what they are: labels.
Don't fall in the trap of feeling sorry for yourself. Don't let loved ones do either.Push and push again. Too many young people die before their time. Make every moment on this Earth grateful to be alive. Look for rainbows and a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Magic and joy will find you if you allow them to.
-If children with
terminal cancer can
find love,joy, beauty
and peace in their day and they do-
why don't we?
-Dan Zadra