Racing Alzheimer’s

Runner’s World magazine ran the story,  Outrunning the Demons on December 15, 2015.  We all know about sundowning. But have you ever heard it described so eloquently:

I could hear their screeching howls through the canopy of oak and red maple trees that enshroud Lower Road in Brewster, Massachusetts, on the Lower Cape. They were gaining, ready to pounce—I had to sprint to avoid capture at sundown. I felt them closing in as the spring afternoon gave way to dusk and a spectral fog crept over me, first in misty sprays that tingled, then in thick blankets that rose slowly from the base of my neck to my forehead, penetrating my mind and disorienting my senses. Alone, I was soon enveloped in fear and paranoia.

The demons kept advancing as the blazing red sun sank into Cape Cod Bay, doused like a candle. Faster and faster they chased, and faster and faster I ran. I was 61 that day, two years into my diagnosis, and with every ounce of my will, I made it home. But I knew the demons would be back—with a vengeance. My life, once a distance run, has become a race for survival. That’s the way it is with early onset Alzheimer’s. It’s like a death in slow motion, like having a sliver of your brain shaved every day. Alzheimer’s stole my maternal grandfather, my mother, and my paternal uncle. Now, at age 65, it’s coming for me.

This personalized account of one man’s fight to hold on in face of a relentless disease is a compelling read.  Photos of the author accompany the story. The author, Greg O’Brien, wrote On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s.  Read the  article. It’s worth it.