Last year Terry Pratchett, the bestselling author of the Discworld fantasies, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. How does the writer cope with a disease that whittles away at his brain?
When writer Terry Pratchett was told he had Alzheimer's disease, his first thought was "that's a bit of a bugger". That, and "I hope they hurry up and find a cure quick."
In December 2007, at the age of 59, the Discworld author was diagnosed with a rare early-onset form of the disease called Posterior Cortical Atrophy, or PCA.
It was last summer when he first started to suspect all was not well, and went to see his doctor. Given a brain scan and a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), a brief 30-point questionnaire commonly used by medics to screen for dementia, he was told that all was well. "I passed the test - it's actually quite hard to fail I think."But as time wore on, he remained convinced that all was not well.
"We had what I called a Clapham Junction day, when you know the phones were ringing. There were lots of things to do and I was just kind of flat-lining almost. I just couldn't deal with it and I thought 'there's more, there's more'."
He was referred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where the diagnosis was finally made.
BY-BBC NEWS
