Book Review: Before I Forget

Book: Before I Forget: Love, Hope, Help and Acceptance in Our Fight Against Alzheimer's by B. Smith and Dan Gasby with Michael Shnayerson

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

“I know where I’m going. I’m still myself. I just can’t remember things as well as I once did. So on short trips, I work hard not to be confused. I’ll say to myself, What are we going to do? How long are we staying? It’s like I’m talking to my other self—the self I used to be. She tells me, This is what we need to buy—not that. I’m conscious of that other self guiding me now.”

Restaurateur, magazine publisher, celebrity chef, and nationally known lifestyle maven, B. Smith is struggling at 66 with a tag she never expected to add to that string: Alzheimer's patient.  She’s not alone. Every 67 seconds someone newly develops it, and millions of lives are affected by its aftershocks.

B. and her husband, Dan, working with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Shnayerson, unstintingly share their unfolding story. Crafted in short chapters that interweave their narrative with practical and helpful advice, readers learn about dealing with Alzheimer's day-to-day challenges: the family realities and tensions, ways of coping, coming research that may tip the scale, as well as lessons learned along the way.

At its heart, Before I Forget is a love story: illuminating a love of family, life, and hope.



Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Review:

Before I Forget takes a very heartbreakingly honest look at how B. Smith and her husband Dan Gasby are dealing with her having Alzheimer's. They were not aware at first that she had the disease just that she was starting to become forgetful. But as her forgetfulness became worse it was time for her to get checked out. Testing indicated that she indeed had Alzheimer's but B. and her husband soon found out that there is little help for this very degenerative disease. As of yet there is still no cure or effective treatment to help those who are suffering from Alzheimer's.

In nearly every chapter, the reader experiences what B. is going through from her increasing loss of memory to a nerve racking incident where she went missing. You can also see the stress of being a caregiver, as her husband Dan although sometimes in denial, does the best he can for B.. He wants to make sure she is happy and well cared for but she also needs an outside home caregiver which is something she disapproves of having.

There is a lot of research and health information provided in the book, it gives readers an informative look at Alzheimer's. Dan knows that the likelihood of a cure or treatment being found in time to help B. is low but he's adamant that there will be one in the future. However, more research and funding are needed.

This was a very well written, researched and deeply heartfelt book. It's hard not to feel sad while reading this because you can see how everything changes for a person and their family when someone has Alzehimer's. This is an emotional book that's part memoir, part guide to caregivers, part healthy lifestyle guide and part research and advocacy guide for Alzehimer's.