Something Happened to Al; A Dementia Chronicle

In this down to earth, sensitive, and unflinching memoir of a dementia, the reader sees the deficits in language, procedural memory, and disturbing behaviors brought on by the diminishment of brain functioning. Al was a nice guy who never had a traffic violation or a fender-bender. Then he had three. The straight road of his ordinary life started to curve. Changes in his personality picked up speed, becoming more and more pronounced.

Al's symptoms didn't fit neatly into one type of dementia. He heard well, but he didn't always understand what was said. Did he have Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD)? He got lost sometimes. Did he have Alzheimer's? Did a head injury sustained in college cause his unusual behavior? Only a brain autopsy would answer these questions.

Family caregivers strive for patience, understanding, and calm. But no one is perfect, and instead anger, frustration, fear, and guilt can be the pallet of emotions. How the narrator deals with Al's declining communication, social skills, and physical abilities is honestly portrayed as Something Happened to Al takes the reader through the pitfalls and problem solving of caring for a loved one with a degenerative brain disease.

This is a book for anyone touched by dementia who seeks an unvarnished account of a family caregiver's experience.