image of person or book cover 2582530901101473188.jpg
Cover image courtesy of publisher.
Issue Details: First known date: 2015... 2015 Before I Forget : How I Survived a Diagnosis of Younger-Onset Dementia at 46
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

''Some days all I want to do is give up the constant, exhausting struggle and stop trying to be normal. But I can't. It's not in me to walk away from a fight. I'll keep fighting and telling my story. Before I forget.'

'When she was just 46, Christine Bryden – science advisor to the prime minister and single mother of three daughters – was diagnosed with younger-onset dementia. Doctors told her to get her affairs in order as she would soon be incapable of doing so. Twenty years later she is still thriving, still working hard to rewire her brain even as it loses its function.

'The unusually slow progress of her condition puts Christine in a unique position to describe the lived experience of dementia, a condition affecting tens of millions of people worldwide. In this revealing memoir, she looks back on her life in an effort to understand how her brain – once her greatest asset, now her greatest challenge – works now. She shares what it's like to start grasping for words that used to come easily. To be exhausted from visiting a new place. To suddenly realise you don't remember how to drive. To challenge, every day, the stereotype of the 'empty shell'. Brave and inspiring, this is Christine's legacy for people with dementia and those who care about them.' (Publication summary)

Affiliation Notes

  • Writing Disability in Australia:

    Type of disability Younger-onset dementia.
    Type of character Primary.
    Point of view First person (autobiographical).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 2582530901101473188.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 288p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 26/08/2015
      ISBN: 9780670078745
Alternative title: Voor ik vergeet : mijn leven met jongdementie
Language: Dutch
    • Antwerp, Belgium, Western Europe, Europe,: Manteau , 2016 .
      Extent: 254 p.p.
      ISBN: 9789022333242, 9022333248
Last amended 27 Apr 2018 10:09:43
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