I’m glad to hear about a breakthrough in curing Alzheimer’s disease, using ultrasound.
The poem below describes what I experienced but couldn’t explain during long periods after the accident: the inability to think or speak clearly. In fact, some of my relatives feared I had Alzheimer’s.
I never want to return to that time, but one thing it gave me is a deep empathy for anyone whose brain won’t work properly.
This poem is dedicated to Jo Burton and others who have the disease, and their loved ones:
~~~
The words had left, flown off on wings
My mind confused, mixed up with things
Then empty when I tried to find
Words to say what was on my mind
~~
And then as I searched for a word
To tell of something seen or heard
The thoughts themselves would fly away
Like truant children gone astray
~~
And then I’d try to do my best
To bring them back, to make them rest
Inside my head, all in one place
Just stay with me, like bits of grace
~~
And then the headaches they would start
Like knives cutting my brain apart
Like furious birds attacking it
Intent on making me unfit
~~
To think, to speak, to read, to write
Remember anything this night
Except the pain that crammed my head
Merging with pain that made my bed
~~
A place of war, no space for rest
To perch a while and build a nest
A place where nightmares came to dwell
Behind closed eyes and doors to hell.
~~~
Link to the recent news story about a breakthrough in finding a cure for Alzheimers:
http://www.gizmag.com/alzheimers-dementia-treatment-ultrasound/36510/
Cynthia Reyes 