Neurologist, Dr. Daniel Gibbs, Reveals His Personal Story in A Tattoo on my Brain

Mar 22, 2022 8:26 pm

Dear AlzAuthor,

This is Jean Lee writing to you this week.

...a little about me...

I retired from teaching 3rd grade (8-year-olds) a decade ago. During the last ten years of my teaching, I slipped into the role of care partner to both of my parents, diagnosed with Alzheimer's on the same day. Also, both of my children had begun and completed their college degrees, were married, and I had one grandchild.

I made the decision to retire because I yearned to be a better grandma...the kind of grandma my own mother had been to my children.

Upon retirement, I vowed to do something every day to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Through AlzAuthors, that has become possible. Even when the pandemic shut down "in person" aspects of our lives, AlzAuthors continued our virtual work and surged forward.

AlzAuthors makes a difference in the lives of the authors whose books and blogs we elevate and promote. In turn, those books and blogs make a big difference to care partners and those living with memory impairment who read these uplifting works.

Thank you all for allowing AlzAuthors to represent your work and make a positive difference in so many lives each day!

Please continue reading for our offerings of the week, which we hope will make a positive difference in your life.

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Introducing our newest author, neurologist, Dr. Daniel Gibbs, with his personal story in "A Tattoo on My Brain"

Dr. Gibbs, as a neurologist, gives us powerful insights into his progression and guides us in our approach to caring for our loved ones in his new book, A Tattoo on My Brain.

Dr. Gibbs writes:

I am a 70-year-old retired neurologist, and I have early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. In retrospect, my first symptom of Alzheimer’s occurred when I was 57 and realized that my sense of smell was not as sharp as it once had been. I chalked this up to normal aging, but about a year later I started to have strange, illusory odors, like the smell of baking bread mixed with perfume. They would come out of nowhere and last a few minutes to an hour or so. These are called phantosmias, and they are sometimes associated with neurodegenerative disorders. At the time I was not aware of the association of loss of smell with Alzheimer’s, but it turns out that virtually all people with the disease have at least some impairment of olfaction when tested, but most are not aware of it. I still wasn’t worried until while doing genealogical research in 2012 I unexpectedly discovered that I have two copies of the APOE-4 allele putting me at very high risk for dementia. Alzheimer’s disease had not been on my radar screen because both my parents had died in midlife from cancer.

Read the entire post:

https://alzauthors.com/2022/03/22/dr-daniel-gibbs-a-tattoo-on-my-brain/

Please retweet the announcement of this post:

https://twitter.com/AlzAuthors/status/1506364012149288966

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If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.

- African proverb

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On The Podcast: Replay of Gincy Heins Untangles Life with a Spouse's Mild Cognitive Impairment

This week’s podcast is a replay from Season One, when Gincy Heins shared her story of life with her husband's mild cognitive impairment. The replay is in celebration of the publication of her new book, Before the Diagnosis: More Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia. Gincy is the creator and editor of Before the Diagnosis: Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia, and a co-author of the 365 Caregiving Tips series. She's also caregiver and advocate to her husband, who was diagnosed with MCI at age 55. She's a member of the AlzAuthors management team and volunteers with Alzheimer's Orange County (California.) After the podcast, you can learn more about her at AlzAuthors.com. Enjoy!

The podcast is currently on break as Season 9 is in production. It picks up March 28th with Lori LaBey of Alzheimer's Speaks, followed by Tony Copeland-Parker, Running All Over the World, Laurette Klier, Nana's Books, Lynda Everman, Dementia Friendly Worship and more, Christy Byrne Yates, Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation, and Patti Davis, Floating in the Deep End. Stay tuned.

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An opportunity for AlzAuthors from fellow author, Jane Mullins

Re Finding the Light in Dementia Course for Families, Friends and Caregivers

I am developing an online course to build on my book, for families, friends and caregivers. This will provide them with up to date, easy to access films, presentations and audios to help support them in all stages of their dementia journey with lifetime access to use, as and when they need it. This includes interviews with people living with dementia, family caregivers and leading professionals and researchers in the field.

I am hoping to have some quick tips films and short films with people, such as yourselves, who have been through this experience and would like to offer your insights to help support people. As you know it is so powerful knowing you aren’t alone and real-life stories really help.

If any of you are keen to contribute, please could you contact me at jane@duetcare.co.uk and we can arrange a zoom. I have a number of themes and ideas I’d like to cover but I would rather it be a more organic approach, where, what springs to mind about what worked, what didn’t etc. would be really helpful. If you’re too shy to be on film, we could create your contribution as a podcast. In return for your generosity, we can add your book details on each resource.

For more info www.findingthelightindementia.com

Jane Mullins

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Ukraine

We found this info on Alzheimer’s Disease International: Advice and support for those affected by the Ukrainian crisis. It provides information on how to help those with dementia cope during this crisis, and also lists organizations and resources helpful to these families. We’re sharing it here and across our social media to raise awareness of a very human side of war, one many may not consider. You can share it across your platforms too, by retweeting and sharing our posts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. As always, we are stronger together.

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Our mission is to provide quality resources for those concerned with Alzheimer’s and dementia. If you would like to help here are several ways you can support us:

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