Alzheimer's.

I just finished this book called Turn of Mind by Alica LaPlante and it broke my heart.  I am sure you can guess what the book was about based on this blog post title.

The main character in the book was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in her late 50s.  Thus, she was forced to retire early from her successful career as a doctor.  She records the daily happenings each day in a book, and she writes little bits and bobs about various people in hopes of recalling them later.  And I hate to say it, but it is a common occurrence that she forgets the faces and names of those near and dear to her, even her own children.  

I can't even imagine what that would be like or what it would feel like to be unrecognizable by my own mother.  It hurts just thinking about it.

I kept wondering throughout the entire book what was worse...to lose your mother physically or to lose her emotionally?  Would you rather have her body but not her mind or neither?

I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to live each day as if it were your first.  And I can't help but think about that film 50 First Dates with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler.  In the film, Drew was in a bad car accident which caused her to lose her memory.  Thus, her and Adam literally experience 50 first dates because she couldn't remember any of their first dates long enough for there to be a second one.  And then remember how they made that video for Drew and she watched it every morning when she woke up in order to recall all the things that had happened in her past?

Well the main character in this book resembles Drew's character in the movie - she also suffers from memory loss.  However, instead of relying on a film to recall her past, she relies on a book to recall the important names and memories that have failed to imprint upon her mind.

So the post on Amazon.com describes the book like this...

"A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia, Turn of Mind, has already received worldwide attention. With unmatched patience and a pulsating intensity, Alicia LaPlante brings us deep into a brilliant women's deteriorating mind, where the impossibility of recognizing reality can be both a blessing and a curse.

A startling portrait of a disintegrating mind clinging to bits of reality through anger, frustration, shame, and unspeakable loss, Turn of Mind is a remarkable debut that examines the deception and frailty of memory and how it defines our very existence."

Memories truly are powerful - can you imagine your life without them?