By Joyce Lee
Stories give voice to the experience of Alzheimer’s disease – the experience of patients and families struggling with the disease. Carpe Kilimanjaro is one such story, a film unveiling the challenges Zach Jordan faces as his father is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This is what Penn Memory Center Co-Director Jason Karlawish, MD, writes about in his latest Forbes column.
Carpe Kilimanjaro is, according to Dr. Karlawish, “a blend of documentary, biography, and autobiography into what I will call a natural history of life as a human.” In it, Zach scales two mountains: the mountain of Alzheimer’s disease that his father faces, and the mountain of Kilimanjaro that he himself faces, with his other father – his girlfriend’s father – by his side. It is a tale of two mountains and a tale of three men: one suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (Zach’s father), another one of similar age still thriving (Zach’s girlfriend’s father), and a third (Zach) coming into his own adult life. And in facing these challenges, Zach ultimately comes away with the message to “seize the mountain, seize the day.”
Stories like Zach’s help us understand the experience of Alzheimer’s disease as is felt by those affected by the disease. It engages us in conversation that is “meant to comfort, reduce the stigma, and [provide] a sense of hope,” Dr. Karlawish writes.
Most of all, it teaches us. “As Alzheimer’s kills, it teaches us how to live,” the column concludes.
To read Dr. Karlawish’s full column in Forbes, click here.