How can you keep a memory?

Here is a Mike Oliver chronicle about his diagnosis of Lewy body dementia and other health and life issues here AL.com and his blog.

This morning I had a memory of my childhood.

This, in itself, is not particularly worthy of interest. But that made me think of how my brain works.

I have a degenerative brain disease called Lewy body dementia and I think my experiences may be helpful to the medical community and the caregiving community – or to anyone interested in what it feels like in the world. head of a patient with dementia.

My memory this morning was as follows:

I watched pants go to work, and I realized that unlike most of my pants, the size was too ample. The pants would literally be floor pants after about five or six steps.

This triggered a memory: it was a sunny day in Auburn, AL. I was a 5 or 6 year old kid playing on Rudd Avenue (which, in my opinion, no longer exists, the road is there, but the name has changed for some reason.)

In my memory, I run to the creek where we used to play, then we would probably go for a walk in the cove of Prather's Lake.

Running, I realize that I have to hold my pants. With both your hands.

As in all Auburn boys in the 1960s, I had only two things: underwear and short pants. And my short pants kept slipping. Not cool.

Fortunately. I had belt loops on my shorts.

My memory lasted only a fraction of a second, but it was very visual. I remembered finding a piece of thin rope. It was only about 5 or 6 inches long. Not enough to go around my waist. So. I could not use it as a regular belt because it was too short.

I guess the idea just arose spontaneously in my brain of 5 or 6 years old. I've attached two front belt loops with this little rope. Tailored! The britches have held up and tight now.

I do not remember anyone who ever taught me this trick or hack as we would call it with the current nomenclature. But it's really a real moment of "necessity is the mother of invention".

I think of it, not because there is something unusual or deep.

But that made me stop and wonder why my brain chose to provide me with this vivid memory of an event past irrelevant, aside from the fact that I'm watching some pants.

It's my brain that says, "Hey, here's some information you've used in a separate getaway with pants at the waist. Here, see if it will help you, 'my brain seems to say. Pretty complicated shot for a brain submerged with protein clumps named after Dr.Lewy, who discovered them.

Or maybe it's a symbolic lesson about how the solution, the cure, is right in front of you, like the piece of string.

My brain is sitting here, all the time, in my head.

What if thinking alone could literally change the brain?

I wonder where this thought comes from?

I will try it.

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Here are five essential facts about Lewy Body Dementia from the Lewy Body Dementia Association.

• LBD is an ever-progressive disorder that affects thinking, movement, behavior and sleep. On average, people with LBD live 5 to 7 years after diagnosis, although they can progress as fast as 2 years or as slowly as 20 years.
• Despite its low public awareness, the LBD is not a rare disease and affects approximately 1.4 million Americans, as well as their families and caregivers.
• People with LBD and their caregivers need significant support from family members and health professionals early in the illness due to frequent and unpredictable changes in thinking, attention and vigilance, delusions.
• LBD is the most misdiagnosed form of dementia. Getting a diagnosis of LBD usually takes 3 or more doctors over 12 to 18 months. The LBDA Network of Centers of Excellence for Research comprises 25 leading academic centers specializing in the diagnosis and management of LBD.
• Early diagnosis of LBD is extremely important, because of the high sensitivity to certain drugs sometimes used in LBD-like disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and other medical and psychiatric diseases. Early diagnosis also allows the person with LDL to review, pursue and meet their personal priorities before the disease progresses too far, to review their legal and financial plans, and to discuss their care preferences with their own. doctor and his family.
• Contact Mike Oliver at [email protected] Also follow his stories, including his quest for dunk at 58. AL.com or myvinylcountdown.com