Thank You

Thanks to the many people who told others about my books. Most sales come through Amazon and a tiny trickle of royalties comes in every month. I hope to write one more book in 2016. That will be the last I expect. However I am gratful to have been able to to write five books during the ten years that I have had Alzheimer's. I am now just entering stage three but I have fought Al Zheimer every inch of the way with diet research and improved life style. The fading memory is slowly receding, but as always odd and there is no set pattern. Forgetting names and faces came first, it is now words. Often simple words that I struggle to remember, such as cucumber and other simple everyday stuff. Usually the lost name pops into my head later. so it is not yet a serious problem. Today it is very hot here in Paarl and it is now 41%C. We have water rationing because of the drought and we will only be able to use the pool for a few more weeks. However we are very happy. The three dogs are still going although like me getting old now. Boysie stll loves swimming and diving into the pool. Polly still dislikes small children and Snowy sleeps a lot. Bobby the parrot still whistles away and tals when no one is around. Poor South Africa struggles on with drought, a bankrupt postal service, disfunctional railways, electricity challenges and of course ever growing crime. The rand keeps falling which makes SA an incredibly cheap place to holiday, so the news is not all bad. Looking back over the last five years and thinking about my books I think that the best one was 'Christmas Day and Fridays'.This is about the farm and written through the eys and mind of Boysie. He became a little famous for a while because of the Rainbow Boy bloggs that I wrote on the farm. I also quite like my bookof poetry 'The Journey'. I had never seriously written poetry before, but I think that it is rather good. These days I reflect a lot on the past and the many things that I have done. I left school at fifteen but when I was eighteen I became a teacher at the Berlitz school in Barcelona. I taught both English Literature and of course language. Because of my restless nature I travelled to many places and worked at many things. Later I went into business and as predicted by a Gypsy fortune teller I made and lost three fortunes. What a blessed and wonderful life I have had. I wish the very best to everyone and hope that peace will come to the world in 2016. It is always darkest before the dawn. God bless you all. David. Paarl

A cure for Alzheimer's?

Well, I am not sure if it really is a cure, but great claims are being made about Tumeric and after taking it for some months I think that my deterioration has slowed down to almost nothing. This spice is cheap and easily available and of course used in curries and other spicey meals. Other than eating curries every day the way that I take it is to mix half a teaspoon of Tumeric with a heaped teaspoon of cocoa and add boiling water a liitle at a time to obtain a smoothe past and then a cup full of spiced cocoa is created. Add a teaspoon of honey and even a little sugar. This is a pleasant drink and statistics do show that the number of cases of Alzheimer's in India is very low. Dementia is also very low, but of course one must take into account the low average lifespan. As dementia and Alzheimer's are more evident in older people. I am still continuing with my three teaspoons of cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil and my fruit diet. Both have helped me enormously, but I think that the addition of Tumeric has been a great benefit. My Alzheimer's has now been with me for ten years' so I am doing very well and although I do have creeping memory loss and some cognitive difficulties I am still driving and writing books. My most recent one written under my pen name of David Barnato has had a very good reception. Sales are mainly in the form of e books from Amazon and so not immensely profitable, but nevertheless very rewarding emotionally. We are all well and the three dogs now barking fluently on Afrikaans. Bobby the parrot copntinues to entertain and is I am sure pleased that warmer Spring weather is upon us, although the nights are still cold. However, the drought continues and the dams ony 60% full. Water rationing is a certainty. I am working steadily on the garden and I recently built a greenhouse. So rewarding to soo the seedlings growing daily. I also created a vegetable garden. Our avocado tree was particularly rewarding with over 100 giant avocados this year. so one way or another life is very busy. Julian's dress hire business has really taken off and she works very long hours creating more and more beautiful dresses. She has taken on another member of staff to help with the dressmaking and alterations, so life is very exciting for us. David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa

Beating Alzheimer's --- Ten Years

Although my memory is still dripping slowly away, despite Alzheimer's I have been able to write and publish my fifth novel ' Billy Butcher and the Open Door.' This is the sequel to 'Why Billy Butcher Killed His Dad.' The book continues the story of Billy after ten years in prison. It is an often amusing tale of the trials and tribulations faced by a man with a criminal conviction. Billy faces many challenges but with luck and hard work turns his life around only to be faced with a final almost insurmountable challenge. The book is on Amazon . Life continues pleasantly here in Paarl in South Africa. We are in a drought situation after ten months of almost no rain. but today the heavens have opened! My Alzheimer's continues to erode my memory, but I am managing very well for someone who has had the ailment for over ten years. So there is hope for everyone and even some benefits to having Alzheimer's. It is strange how one learns to treasure blessings and live every day to the full and with gratitude. We have had some flu in the house, but we are all well now. Boysie and his sister Polly are now barking in fluent Afrikans, but Snowey is still struggling like myself with the language. Bobby the parrot now chatters away mainly in English and is as funny as ever and his immitation of some of the things that we say so perfect that he causes confusion. Spring is now here and we had a temperature of 30 C which was glorious after the cold Winter. I will miss the log fires though. Julian's Wedding Dress hire business is now growing well and she finds little time for actual dress making, but by early morning starts her beautiful creations contine to flow. Bye for now. David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa

New book-

Another novel released on Amazon. 'Billy Butcher and the Open Door.' This is the sequel to 'Why Billy Butcher Killed His Dad.' David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa. dwheater@lantic.net

MY MIXED UP BRAIN

Although my memory degeneration is still quite slow strange things are happening.This mainly concerns using completely the wrong word for something. Strangely I am usually aware of the mistake and the correct word replaces the error quite quicky. Thus the other day I said 'Where is the squirrel ?'; wheras what I meant was 'Where is the key?' Names and faces are the most obvious in my memory loss and this can be very embarassing because even those who know that I have Alzheimer's dont understand how I could possibly forget them Sadly, the inevitable 'progression' into deeper loss is happening and I certainly don't relish what the future holds. However, I am grateful for my many blessing and live each day as if it were my last.In fact I have had a very good run since dementia first appeared over ten years ago. Winter has now definately come here inPaarl with tons of rain and howling storms. Of course after eight months of drought one must be grateful. Electricity cuts of about two hours happen almost every day now in South Africa. The first signs of shortages to come is the fact that there is no penicilin in the country and no drugs for babies with TB. We also now have no gas for cooking because the tanker that arrived in Cape Town harbour couldn't get clearance to offload and so, after waiting some days he sailed away to some other country who also needed gas and presumably were more acomodating and more organized. The electricity cuts will continue for several years a government spokesperson recently said. How South Africa will be able to grow the economy is a mystery. Many small businesses are in serious difficulties because of the loss of trading hours.What a tragedy that Madiba's dream of a multicultural and prosperous society should be fraying round the edges. However, it is still a great country with wonderful weather and Africans are perhaps the best singers and dancers in the world. The people of colour in my area are friendly and charming and work very hard to educate their children, but with youth unemployment of over 40% there is a lot of disatisfaction and concern for the future. Julian is very busy with her dressmaking and this is a very busy time for matric dresses and the wedding hire is growing steadily. The dogs are well and as I type I can hear Bobby the parrot chattering away. David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa.

AL ZHEIMER

I am coming to terms with my current status of Alzheimer's stage two. It is a disappointment after thinking last year that I had stopped the progress of Alzheimer's by my special diet. However, on reflection I am gratful that I have gone for twelve years,and remained able to function. It started with dementia, which I now know was the symptom of Al Zheimer, the gangster of the brain, Initial stages were mild memory loss,middle stages after about five years cognitive abilities began to fail. All very slow and I was unaware of my real condition until three years ago when the doctor said rather casually; 'Oh you've got dementia.' At first I thought that I would get some pills, but at present there is no cure for dementia, which is in fact the symptom of Alxheimer's,or some other terrible illness. There is now hope of a cure from Queensland University where tests on mice have been very encouraging. However the gap between now and and testing on humans will be at least two years and by then I may be too far gone to even travel. There is some sadness in my feelings, but not too much, I am 73 and I have had a blessed life with many challenges, but still blessed. After selling my farm in South Africa five years ago I started seriously writing books, beginning with 'When The Jacaranda Petals Fall.'This was a book about the farm, written as a novel. Many friends bought copies from Amazon and had good things to say, no doubt some were just being polite, but others were very profuse in their praise. A further four novels are now also on Amazon and a book acalled 'My Dementia and I.' Much has happened since I published that book on Amazon, so I want to publish a sequel explaining my struggle wth 'Big Al the gangster of the mind'. I think that others with early stage Alzheimer's may be interested in the changes that took place. This may be the last book that I am able to write which is disappointing as I have so many ideas for other books. We will see. One of the interesting developments that has happended as Alzheimer's has progressed that I and others have found is that because one spends much time thinking about the illness, one begins to look inside oneself and a certain tranquility of mind develops. One becomes contentedly fatalistic about what is going to happen and one tends to live quite happily from day to day. You tend to live each day to the full and fight the challenges of depression and sadness. One of the challenges to come is that one may live long enough to reach the last stage of Alzheimer's and become a vegetable until the damaged brain finally stops sending messages to the lungs and breathing stops. How ironic it is that one hopes to die quickly and quietly before tis happens. How curiousit is that I am the happiest that I have ever been. David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa

ALZHEIMERS

It seems so strange to me that I wroye on my Facebook just beforeNew Year how my Alzheimer's had been stopped advancing by my eating plan. However, only two weeks laterin early January I became aware that in fact both my memory and cognitive abilities were in fact still deteriorating. Big Al, the gangster of the brain wassuceeding in his plan of destruction. As the weeks have gone on the deterioration has been steady and memory loss especially is still growing. Al Zheimer is winning! I realize that I am now in stage two and my journey from dementia twelve years ago to Alzheimer's today has been steady and relentless. By a cruel ironony Queensland University seems to have developed a beleivable and non invasive cure. Tests on mic have been very sucessful, I have ffered myself as the first human guinea pig, but tests on humans seem to be at leat two years away. It is unlikely that I will last that long in a fit state to fly to Australia. As the Chinese would say it is 'joss', David. Paarl. South Africa