Dementia is the kind of diagnosis that hits you out of nowhere, changing your life and the life of your loved ones irreparably and forever. It is the kind of diagnosis you frequently cannot even avoid, precisely because the illness itself is poorly understood even at the highest levels of the medical corpus. It is the kind of diagnosis you cannot forget - even when it takes the best and the worst of your memories, even when it takes your ability to walk properly, and even when it takes your ability to eat dinner by yourself.

Dementia is a cruel disease, and neither this book nor any other make it all better. What this book aims to do, however, is show you that you can live with dementia and that there is life after a diagnosis. While dementia will steal a lot of the elements of your life, it can still leave you with much to be grateful for. Its progress can be delayed. And, ultimately, you and your loved ones can learn how to cope with it.

This book aims to help you through the weeks, months, and years following a dementia diagnosis. Hopefully, by the end of it, you will look at your future with a little more optimism, you will be more prepared for what is to come, and you will be stronger in every sense there is - regardless of whether you are a patient or a loved one.

I wish you love, power, and grace in the years to come - as you will learn from this book, these ingredients will prove to be more important than ever!