Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help, and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's

by B. Smith

Other authorsMichael Shnayerson (Author), Dan Gasby (Author), Rudolph E. Tanzi Ph.D. (Foreword)
Paper Book, 2016

Status

Available

Call number

616.8

Publication

Harmony (2016), Edition: First Edition, 336 pages

Description

"I know where I'm going. I'm still myself. I just can't remember things as well as I once did. So on short trips, I work hard not to be confused. I'll say to myself, "What are we going to do? How long are we staying?" It's like I'm talking to my other self--the self I used to be. She tells me, "This is what we need to buy--not that." I'm conscious of that other self guiding me now." Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 64 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient. She's not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks. B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well lessons learned along the way. At its heart, though, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope"-- "Working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, B. and her husband, Dan, share B.'s unfolding story on dealing with early-onset Alzheimer's. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn in small bites about dealing with Alzheimer's disease's day-to-day challenges, the family tensions, and ways of coping, as well as gain tips on diet and exercise from a lifestyle maven using her decades of expertise in a new and unexpected way"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member GlennBell
This is a personal account of dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. The husband writes most of the book with some small sections written by B. Smith, who is afflicted with the disease. The book provides much insight into the caregiving required and the symptoms of the disease. Dan also discusses some
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about research in the area. The book is clearly an effort to inform the public and encourage funding of research on Alzheimer’s disease. I found the book informative. It is one sided considering the many prevalent diseases.
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LibraryThing member MHanover10
This book really opened my eyes to Alzheimer's and how it affects the families and the person who suffers from it. I am also shocked at how many people have it and how little there is to help slow the process down. Much more needs to be done for those with this disease.

I won this on Read It Forward.
LibraryThing member reader1009
memoir/coping with alzheimer's (mostly from husband's POV). very readable and great for boosting awareness of this common disease (treatment of which could be well in grasp if only for more awareness and funding).

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

336 p.; 8.5 inches

ISBN

0553447122 / 9780553447125
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