One man’s dementia adventure
Nick Rowney is an adventurer in the wild world of the failing mind.
Since self-diagnosing himself with dementia a few weeks back, then having his diagnosis confirmed by his doctor, he is going on a very public ‘‘dementia adventure’’ with no doubt he will come out the other end cured.
If he can pull it off, it will prove New Zealand’s Ministry of Health, Britain’s National Health Service, and the Alzheimer’s Association all wrong. Each says that there is no cure for dementia, though overseas authorities are hopeful in clinical trials finding a cure.
Rowney, 65, is no stranger to overcoming health curve-balls.
In his 40s, he suffered depression for the first time in his life. ‘‘I ended up sitting on the floor with a gun in my mouth thinking of pulling the trigger.’’
He didn’t do it – partly because of the thought of those who would have found him – and came out of that situation with a philosophy for life: ‘‘I don’t care about dying, I care about how I live.’’
In 2013, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, which he overcame with radiation, hypnosis, and the ability to look at death without fear.
Now he is in remission, life has thrown Rowney its latest twist. His first clue was when he looked at a willow or poplar tree and couldn’t remember its name. Then, more recently, looking at a macrocarpa tree and trying to remember what it was called: ‘‘My brain couldn’t get past ‘manuka’.’’
To sit with Rowney as he talks non-stop, with barely pause for thought or breath, it is impossible to pick any signs of dementia. But he knows it is there and he is not shy about sharing it.
He will be documenting each stage of his ‘‘dementia adventure’’ in videos posted on social media. His initial video had nearly 11,000 views on LinkedIn and his Facebook video was at more than 2000.
The adventure will detail his trials of various cures – some he hopes will work and others that will likely fail. But nothing was too personal nor embarrassing to post, he said.
Stage one, assisted by two doctors, was removing heavy metal toxins from his system and improving his gut. He had already removed sugar, alcohol, dairy and, for now, grains from his diet. He had also increased good fats, such as those in avocado and coconut oil.
But there is plenty more coming, including a treatment ‘‘I can’t talk about’’, as well as an intravenous treatment.
But as the adventure continued, he planned to try what came his way, and drop things that didn’t work. ‘‘It will zig-zag all over the place. I want to take people on a zigzag journey.’’