live and learn

In my first blog entry I told you I have posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) Alzheimer’s. PCA affects the back part of the brain. This part of the brain is responsible, in part, for interpreting signals from the eyes. My eyes work fine. It is my brain’s interpretation of what my eyes see that is abnormal. Hence, the steps of an escalator look very different to me than to the average Joe. Since PCA is progressive I fear one day I will be “brain blind”. My depth perception is also worsening. I recently went on a vacation and learned some more things about PCA.

Since my last post my wife and I went on a trip to Grenada. We discovered a few things while on vacation. First, I can no longer hit the ground running after a day of travel. I need a day of rest to recharge. We found that out the hard way. Let’s not even go into the fact that I drank the water and paid for it! Or that our hotel room flooded, or that my wife ate a bad burger and paid for that! Live and learn.

While we were in Grenada it was very hard for me to walk onto a bridge, an escalator, or even walk on an uneven sidewalk. Also, my short term memory is worsening, and my spatial orientation has declined.

I have wanted to post since coming home but typing is exhausting. The PCA has profound effects on my vision, thus on my typing. Typing is a slow, arduous task. I have lost peripheral vision in my left eye, and partially in my right eye. Reading is difficult. This blog would probably not exist if it weren’t for my wife typing it for me.

Additional symptoms that I have now include short term memory loss, and the lack of spatial location. I’m sure as I go on this journey I will learn more about PCA Alzheimer’s, and about myself. For now let’s just say that although Grenada was a beautiful island, we won’t be going back anytime soon!

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