Welcome to the blurb blitz tour for The Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Chronicles by Tim Brown. It's the story of a man, his disease, and his faith, told in a journal format. I am sharing an excerpt with you today, as well as my review of the book. You can follow the tour for more excerpts and reviews. Please leave Tim a comment or question along the way and remember to enter the giveaway.
The PSP Chronicles
Follow the struggles, joys and sorrows on one man's personal journey as he chronicles his travails with early onset dementia and a rare, terminal brain disease- no treatment, and no cure.
Read an excerpt:
Reading and focusing are becoming much more difficult for me now. I have become critical to the point of berating myself over spelling errors, grammar, missing words, punctuation and rambling sentences. The medical terminology for this is agrammatism. I thought, “What the hell?” This story and subsequent books aren’t meant to be perfect written works. This is a true story of my personal journey with a rare, terminal brain disease called PSP and dementia, which continues to evolve before my readers’ eyes. The road I travel includes my relationship with God, my family, friends, and all the baggage I can carry. Come. I invite you to travel on this journey with me and share in my experiences, wherever they may lead.
**My thoughts**
At the time of me writing this review, it has been 6 1/2 weeks since my mother passed away from Alzheimer's. I came across this book a couple of weeks ago and really felt that I had to read it, because of her recent struggle. While PSP and Alzheimer's are not the same, they are both forms of dementia, so I knew there would be a lot in Tim's story that I would understand, or hoped I would understand.
It's not often that you find a book written by the person suffering from the dementia. We've had some fictional books written. There are dozens of books by caregivers and loved ones. But it's completely different when you're hearing it straight out of the horse's mouth. No matter what your feelings are on the topic or how Tim has chosen to share his story, you have to give the man mad props for baring his soul and creating this book.
He describes in detail the ways in which his body is falling apart. He provides the medical terminology associated with it, most of which you will stumble over trying to pronounce in your head. Welcome to some of his struggles on a much smaller level. He talks about the pain, the stiffness, the forgetting, the tics (blinking), and, and, and... Yes, I can observe these things in people like my mother, or a friend who suffers from Friedrich's Ataxia, or others with any other related diseases. I can describe what I see, but I cannot fully articulate what it must feel from from the other side.
Add to their complications having a son with autism. I feel his pain in that area, but as a caregiver/teacher, not as a parent. And then having multiple illnesses and deaths with close friends and family. I lost two aunts within two weeks of losing my mother, not to mention a few friends earlier in the year from various reasons. So those are other small ways I found myself relating to this book. I didn't think I would find as many of those parallels when reading this story.
Tim tells his story in a sort of journal format. This means that sometimes there are more intriguing stories. Sometimes it is more of a boring listing of those day-to-day tasks and events. But that's what makes the story even more real, because that's how life operates. I think readers will gain a deeper appreciation for the struggles of those with dementia and chronic debilitating illnesses when they read this book.
About Tim Brown
T.J. Brown-an ordinary family man with an extraordinary story. He is from Toronto, On but has called the small town of Ayr, in southwestern Ontario home for the past twenty-five years. He worked in the automotive parts manufacturing sector until five years ago when he had to leave work life due to illness. Tim has been blogging his PSP journey, sharing his personal experiences with this disease as well as FTD - frontotemporal dementia. His readership spans the globe. Through his efforts, it is Tim’s hope to give voice to those suffering from PSP and similar diseases that no longer have a voice of their own. Advocating for those affected... patients, spouses, families and friends. Always, with the goal of raising awareness, understanding and support to further research into prime of life brain diseases. He has made his story universal, yet personal and relatable.www.timbrownauthor.com/
Facebook: The PSP Chronicles Tim Brown – Author
Tim Brown will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteMy family and I all appreciate you bringing to our attention the book description of another great book to read. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for your wonderful comments. Even better yet - you get it. My goal was to write the narrative and continue to so, in such a way - picture-like,so a broader audience could share in my experience.
ReplyDeleteAlzheimer's and PSP have a commonality... they are both tauopathies. The most simplistic explanation is that Alzheimer's, the tau protein forms plaques on the brain cells essentially suffocating them and causing cellular death. In PSP, this same tau protein causes tangles, effectively strangling the cell with the same results.
Once again, thank you so very much for your review.
Thank you so much for your wonderful remarks and the fact,that you get it. I write and continue to write in such a way - picture-like so the narrative would be appreciated by a broader audience. I'm sorry to hear about your mother's loss, I understand the pain of losing a loved one while they're still living. Once again, thank you for comments and... your understanding.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Part of me always wished that we could have chronicled Mom's feelings. We did record several events as they happened, but of course it is from our point-of-view. Thank you again for writing this book.
DeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your review, I enjoyed reading it!
ReplyDeleteWhat is your favorite book of all time? Congrats on the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting
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