Okay, I realise no one deserves it, but if anyone ever really didn't deserve it. Crap.
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Oh, shit shit shit.
Maybe he's kept good notes and outlines
That is just horrible.
Yeah it is really horrible. Around 59, and he has to watch as his mind and memories slowly dissolve over the next decade. One of nature's cruelest jokes.
Does one watch oneself in this scenario? I've always hoped, selfishly, that if I get stricken with some mentally diminishing affliction that it takes away my awareness that I'm stricken. But that's really asking too much, and it would still rip raw the lives of people that love you.
It's one of those situations where'd I'd seriously consider removing myself from the playing field before I got to a point where I couldn't take matters into my own hands.
wrod.
I think in the early to middle stages there's a strong awareness of what's happening and what's being lost. On NPR they've had occasional stories the past few years about a man with early-onset Alzheimer's, and that's the impression I got from it. Heartbreaking.
In my limited experience, the person suffering from it was very conscious of the growing lacks and that lead to a lot of major negative personality changes (which he was also aware were out of character but couldn't explain) until some meds and coping mechanisms were devised.
It's been maybe 15 years since onset for my friend. He had to let a lot of things go, but has also sought out new interests that adapt better to his condition. It hasn't stopped progressing, but he and his family have gotten better at coping with it. For now.
eta: even now, he has to be conscious of the disease's effects, because in doing so, he can look for ways to avoid the situations that put him at risk without compromising his independence too much.
Curiously, one of those new interests is writing fiction.