Navigating Alzheimer's with Courage and Connection with Dr. Gregory Nelson

What if an Alzheimer's diagnosis doesn't have to mean the end of purpose, connection, and meaningful living - but rather the beginning of a deeper understanding of what truly matters?

With 6.7 million Americans age 65 and older living with Alzheimer's disease - a number expected to reach 13.8 million by 2060 - we often focus on the statistics and the decline. But what about how people are living with this diagnosis? What about the wisdom, growth, and profound insights that can emerge even in the face of cognitive change?

In this episdoe, Dr. Adrienne Youdim sits down with Dr. Gregory Nelson, a leadership expert, speaker, and professional musician who has courageously shifted his life's work to advocacy after receiving his own early-stage Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Who is Dr. Gregory Nelson?

• Leadership consultant and coach who worked with major companies including Amazon and Fitbit
• Expert in self-awareness development with decades of experience helping leaders understand themselves
• Advocate for breaking the silence and shame around cognitive decline

What You'll Discover in This Episode:

• How early-stage Alzheimer's can look very different from common misconceptions
• Why vulnerability and openness create more support than silence and hiding
• How a devastating diagnosis can paradoxically become a pathway to deeper self-awareness

Why This Episode Matters: 

Whether you're facing cognitive decline yourself, caring for someone with dementia, or simply navigating any major life challenge, this conversation offers a masterclass in how to transform crisis into purpose and fear into connection.

This episode will help you:

• Understand the reality of early-stage Alzheimer's beyond stereotypes and misconceptions
• Learn why shame around cognitive decline hurts both patients and families
• Navigate the balance between planning for the future and staying present

Breaking the Silence: 

Dr. Nelson's decision to openly share his journey began with telling his family, expanded to his professional network, and now includes hundreds of LinkedIn followers who find hope and community in his posts.

Dr. Nelson's Mission Statement: "I want to keep showing up. I want to keep gathering people around me. I want to tell the truth about this journey, the funny moments, the frustrating ones, the vulnerable questions. Because if I don't, I fear I'll look up one day and realize I disappeared long before I was actually gone."

Connect with Dr. Gregory Nelson:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorypnelson/ 

Ways that Dr. Adrienne Youdim Can Support You

• Join the Monthly Free Mind-Body Workshops: Participate in engaging mind-body practices designed to help manage your stress response. Register here.
• Sign Up for the Newsletter: Stay updated with valuable insights and resources by subscribing to the newsletter. Sign up here.
• Freebie alert. Register for our monthly free MindBody Workshop and receive a downloadable guide on emotional labeling to help you manage your emotions effectively.

Connect with Dr. Adrienne Youdim

• Website :https://www.dradriennespeaks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dradrienneyoudim/

Transcript

Adrienne Youdim:

6.7 million people age 65 and older in the United States are living with Alzheimer's disease, a number that's expected to grow by 13.8 million in 2060, according to the Alzheimer's Association. And Alzheimer's disease is the fifth leading cause of death in this age group. But what about how they are living? As a physician, health and well-being advocate, and a daughter of someone who's living with Alzheimer's, that's really what I care about. How to live well. 

And today on the podcast, I have someone who is exceptionally suited to speak to that piece. Dr. Gregory Nelson is a speaker, author, coach, professional musician, and an expert on leadership culture and transformation who has shifted his attention to advocacy after he himself was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's. Whether you are personally dealing with cognitive decline or have someone in your life who is, or if you're navigating aging, a health issue, or even a life challenge, This conversation is not one you'll want to miss. 

Welcome back to Health Bite, the podcast where I offer essential nutrients for physical, mental, emotional, and professional health and well-being. And I first learned about Dr. Gregory on LinkedIn, actually. Your posts were truly beautiful, vulnerable, where you share so elegantly how you are navigating this diagnosis. And as I mentioned before we started recording, I really am honored to have you here on this conversation and to share you with my listeners. So welcome.

Gregory Nelson:

Thank you. Wow, that's awfully good words that you're using there. Now, it's nice to be here, nice to be able to be with you today.

Adrienne Youdim:

It's wonderful to have you. We're going to get into some of this, but this is something, as I mentioned in the intro, that is so very common. So many people right now are either dealing with a personal diagnosis, they're navigating this diagnosis, whether it's Alzheimer's or cognitive decline in some fashion, in a loved one. And many of us are at risk, whether we have family members who are affected, as I do, or the lifestyle or the very many factors that we don't even recognize. So this conversation is really, I think, important to all of us.

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, I think so. I mean, when I started writing posts, it was so fascinating for me to see the comments that came in. And I think that word hunger that you and I were talking about at the beginning. Yeah, I think that is just so exactly what most people are waiting for. They're wanting something that feeds their soul. And then if they have something like, I will tell you the worst word I ever wanted to hear, It came to be the very word for me, and that was Alzheimer's. I said, No way, I'm not going to have that, even though my dad died from dementia. I said, I cannot have that word. And then I got it. And it was really, it shifted my whole my whole world. And so it's, I felt that hunger also. So that's kind of what I'm all about. I'll go as long as I can and we'll see what happens. But it's been quite a journey. And so my wife Zasta and I have worked together because she ultimately will become a caregiver. Hopefully it will be for me. But yeah, so we decided we would do it together and she would take it sometimes and then I would have it another time. So we're trying to just create a system, a process or whatever that would be very useful to those who are either caregivers or who are patients with Alzheimer's. So there's a lot to be said there.

Adrienne Youdim:

Absolutely, and I really think just having had a taste of the work that you're doing, that your work is going to be so transformative for people who are navigating this. And I want to get into that. But before we get there, can you just talk a little bit about kind of what you were doing before you received this diagnosis? Kind of like set us where you were at in your life.

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, boy, that's a big one for me, too. I had always said to myself, I don't know. I do not want to retire. I'm going to just keep going. and doing all the work that I was doing. Well, I've been a leadership person and I've worked with Amazon and Fitbit and all these big tech companies and other organizations, including some hospitals. And so it was such a wonderful experience for me to have that kind of audience. So it was very, it just fed my soul in that sense. So I didn't want that one word, but it finally came. And there's sort of a It started a year ago, and I can go through that if you want to at some point. But my emphasis has been self-awareness. I help the leaders develop their self-awareness. And it's funny because the research shows that 80% of the leaders say they are self-aware, and yet The real reality is only 15% of those people are really self-aware. So it's one of those things that leaders especially, they have to understand themselves. And so that's what I have always done with leaders and then their teams and things like that. So that's been my background.

Adrienne Youdim:

It's interesting, you know, that so many of these things that we talk about, you know, like managing your reactivity is something that I talk about through mind-body skills, right? Or being self-aware or emotionally fluent, right? It's all good and well until you're faced with a doozy yourself, right?

Gregory Nelson:

Yes.

Adrienne Youdim:

So, I'm curious. how the trajectory was for you. And before you start, I mean, I want to share that, you know, my father is a double PhD.

Gregory Nelson:

 Excellent.

Adrienne Youdim:

And he is the one who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. And to your point, I mean, I think similar to you, like his brain was his mecca.

Gregory Nelson:

Yes.

Adrienne Youdim:

He was willing, I think, to receive any diagnosis on the planet and to not hear that, not hear dementia, not hear Alzheimer's disease. And, you know, I remember navigating that. I was on the Zoom call. This happened during COVID. And so I remember the physician going over the scan, you know, all over Zoom. I remember the sadness. I remember the grief. I remember the anger. And so can you take us through that? Like, how did you get to this place of such emotional, I mean, maturity around this?

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, there comes a point where you have to—it's one of the stages in a later moment—but accepting we have to come to that point. And I had a hard time. I understand what your dad went through because, man, I mean, it got me so big. I didn't know what in the world. And because communication was my whole thing. So it was a really tough one, but it was really interesting. And I really thank my wife, Shasta, for this because it was a year ago, May, where she stopped me here in the house and said, there's something I need to share with you. I said, Okay. And so she goes down this road of hearing me saying things that just didn't make any sense. And I didn't really understand that, you know, it's like, it's like you, you don't want to admit it or whatever. But after her, her after we talked together, man, I began to realize, wow, she really hears me. And if she's hearing that, then it's got to be. So that was the beginning of that whole process. She talked to me and I acknowledged that she was right. And I said, OK, so let's talk about how to how do we deal with this? So that summer, we discovered that UC Davis has this department called for healthy aging. And so they had their their neuropsychologists And so I talked to my primary physician and I said, I guess I forget exactly how I asked it for him, but he said, no, that's a good thing. Do it. Because he was from UC Davis too. So he said, okay. Anyways, all of that to say, I went to the exam, thought for sure that with three hours of you know, psychological exam. I said, man, I'm going to fail this whole thing because it's so big. But I did it. And at the end, they said, they said, you know what, we are dead. Your diagnosis for you at this stage is MCI. mild cognitive impairment. He said, that's what we see because I'd already taken an MRI. And so they were looking at that picture too. And they said, yeah, so this is the early stage. But they didn't say anything about Alzheimer's. They just said, this is MCI. And then from there on, I got a neurologist and he started working with me. It was then, I mean, this guy was so busy, it was a miracle I had a session with him, but he was really good and asked me questions. And it wasn't until February of the next year that actually I got a session with him and then He said, I think we need a PET scan. It's better than the MRI, so let's get a PET scan. I got the PET scan a week later. He called me and he said, you've got the whole thing. My brain, I go, Oh, is this for real to tell me that you're not really meaning this? And he said, no, I saw there. And he showed me the picture and everything. And so, and then we've gone from there, but that's how it all came.

Adrienne Youdim:

Your wife brought it. Your wife brought some things to your attention, but did you have like an inkling before that? Did you have any moments where you're like, what's going on?

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, that is a good point. You know, I was doing a major speaking thing for 11 months, so I had to do this thing. And it was interesting for me to notice that every once in a while, I would lose a word. But, you know, at some point, you know, as we age, that's going to happen anyway, type of thing. So that was my evaluation, but I began to see it at the end of that 11 months when that whole thing was done. I thought, yeah, this is a big deal and I think she's right. So I didn't see a lot of it, but it was enough for me to know that Shasta was being right in all that. So I knew some things by myself, but then it took her to give me the bigger picture.

Adrienne Youdim:

Yeah. You know, you're incredibly articulate with me now, but really more I'm even referring to the kind of pieces that you write that are just, again, so moving and so eloquent. You know, that somebody who has, people wouldn't expect someone that has Alzheimer's would be so articulate, so eloquent. And you know, it's like so many things, right? We have so many misconceptions about, right? So what are some common misconceptions that you think people have about Alzheimer's disease, especially in the early stages?

Gregory Nelson:

Well, this is really interesting to me because doing all these posts and all these really hundreds of people have commented. And so I've read them all. trying to see is there a thread that goes through this whole thing. And sure enough, it's the idea that when people get Alzheimer's, they immediately go to a place of shame. So that shame, they don't want to share. I've had more women, for example, write me and say, my mom told me that I should not tell anybody that she has this. That has gone over and over again multiple times. And so I started thinking of that. I said, shame. I mean, the whole point of this is we're on a human journey. Some of us have Alzheimer's, others don't, but we're still on a human journey. So what's the point? Well, who cares? There's no shame on this thing. You didn't cause it. I didn't cause it. But there it is. So that's been a huge piece for me as I write these things. And by the way, it takes a long time for me. I mean, you know, I'm like sitting at a white page and I'm trying to think all these things. I have words that I have to look up and, you know, on this kind of thing. But man, I'm telling you, There's so much shame on this. There's a fear. So that also a fear, what is this going to do to me? Are people going to not, you know, I mean, people who are working still have a really tough time because they're afraid the moment that comes out. And I'll tell you, Adrian, man, when, when I did the first post in LinkedIn, I just said, okay, this is, this is my death. Man, when people find out that I'm having Alzheimer's, I said, this is going to ruin everything. But you know what? It was the exact opposite. It was amazing to me. And that tells me that we need to be open with each other because we actually get more support when we are honest and vulnerable than we are trying to hide everything.

Adrienne Youdim:

Absolutely. When you hear you talk about shame, it makes me think about, you know, this concept of hunger that I that I speak about. And I and I see this in my practice, you know, when it comes to weight loss or excess weight and kind of the emotional or spiritual hunger that is beneath that, which are universal, by the way. So like whether we are overweight or not, we all hunger for connection we all hunger for we all hunger for validation right and that comes with so much shame and so i'm curious like did you ever feel the shame and you know if so how did you how did you navigate that how did you come out from under that

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, that's a great question. I think the shame came at the very first part, not in the diagnosis, because that was from the neurologist and I didn't tell anybody about that. It took a few months to try to get that going. So that first post, that was a scary thing for me. And probably there was some feeling of shame. What are they going to think? But I realized in the end, it worked. It was okay. So I didn't go past that with shame. I was lucky enough.

Adrienne Youdim:

It's almost as if, you know, you took that vulnerable first step, that scary first step, and then in the response, you were reassured by the commonality of this experience. And again, I think this is such an important discussion. Whether we're talking about Alzheimer's or anything for that matter, right? Because again, the feelings, the experiences are universal irrespective of the challenge that one is experiencing.

Gregory Nelson:

That's so true. That's so true. You know, part of what motivated me to just dive in was my dad. You know, he had dementia that he had never diagnosed. So it was dementia of some kind. But he was silent the whole time. We never as kids got to ask him questions like, hey, dad, what is it feeling like for you and what can we do to help you? He was just completely silent on that until he died. And I said, when this came through and my diagnosis of Alzheimer's, I said, I'm not going to do that. I just can't allow myself to do that. I want to actually talk to people and open up this thing so we can do this more, because that's the only way we can get support. And at some point along the way, I'd love to share what I did with my family, but it just opens up things that is so much better.

Adrienne Youdim:

Yeah. Share. I'd love to hear what you did with your family.

Gregory Nelson:

Well, it was the first thing I did was I talked to my siblings. I talked to my kids. I have three kids. And with those, I did one-to-one with my siblings, but then my kids, they knew that there was stuff happening since the summer before, because I told them all about my, you know, neuropsychologists and all this thing. So they knew that I had MCI. But they didn't know. I didn't know until February of this year. So after that, I called them up. I texted them and said, let's do a Zoom together. And so they all came, the three of them. And they, I think, pretty much knew what I was going to say. So I said, well, guys, this is the Alzheimer's. It's the real deal. And we just all cried together there. and the zoom call. And then they had a lot of questions. And so they asked a lot of things. And it was, it was a wonderful conversation. But man, I'm telling you, they just, they, they just, I don't even know the right words. Because after that, they knew where I was going. They knew that somewhere along the line it was going to be a hard time. So they have been so loving to me. I mean, it's just amazing to me. It's just amazing.

Adrienne Youdim:

You know, Greg, your openness, though, has invited that, right? Because to your point, you know, maybe it's not your experience with your father, for example. You weren't given that opportunity, right? And so I think something that, again, it echoes what we were saying before in regards to shame, but something that I really want to highlight for those who are listening is that this openness this ability to be vulnerable this ability to meet that fear is precisely what is needed in order to save yourself you know yes so that you have that support but also you're doing it in service of the people around you you're giving them this opportunity right yes to also express their feelings and to be the kind of partner, child, coworker, you know, human.

Gregory Nelson:

Yes.

Adrienne Youdim:

Alongside you.

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah. That's a beautiful way to put it. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. That's, that's exactly it.

Adrienne Youdim:

Can you share a few, again, I'm baffled by your groundedness. Can you share if you have a practice, you know, what do you meditate? Do you, yeah. What do you do to keep yourself kind of grounded and attuned and aligned to what sounds like is a mission to maintain the self-awareness and to really navigate this with that level of emotional fluency?

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, that's really an important issue. And with Shasta and me, we start the morning reading together. and then some meditation. And the biggest thing is gratitude. So we do, we have our app in our phones and we just write these things down and then share with each other. And it's such a great thing, which really leads me to what my sort of mantra is. And that is, I am grateful today. That's it. I'm grateful for today. You know, when I wake up, I feel my arms and say, okay, they're all in. Okay. Yeah. I can stand up. All right. That's all good. Okay. Today's a good day. I'm grateful. And I'm not like that all the time. I mean, I have some down moments that are very down for me. But man, that's human too. So I'm not ashamed of that at all. You know, this is what we go through. We go in and out, up and down. Anyway, those are some of the rituals that we do that are so helpful to both of us.

Adrienne Youdim:

Yeah, I love that. Starting the day with reading and gratitude. Are there any other changes that you've made in your day-to-day life? I don't know, food, movement, other animals.

Gregory Nelson:

That's great. Yes. As a matter of fact, we have talked to a number of functional medicine people. We've talked to nutritionists. There was the one that one of the doctors sent us to, and this was this woman in Scotland of all places. So we had a session with her and she talked about all the nutrition and things like that. We found a gym within walking distance of our house here in Grass Valley in Northern California. And so we now go to the gym because we all know that as people age, they need stronger muscles so that, you know, if you fall down, you don't break a bone. So I'm out there and that's been really, really meaningful to us. Pickleball is a wonderful thing. Man, I love that game. And so does chess. So that's all good. So it's those kinds of things. Exercise is important for us. We walk a lot. So is that the kind of thing you're thinking about?

Adrienne Youdim:

It's interesting because you talk about exercise, but what I hear coming through your words still is tying it back to, or this tie that you have to connection. Right? It's the gym with your wife. It's pickleball, which is inherently not done solo, but with connection. It feels as though that connection is kind of like a core value that out of everything that you're doing, then going to the gym, right?

Gregory Nelson:

You've nailed it. And if I can expand that even a little more, the other connection are the connections with the people closest to us. So it started with Shasta, then it went to my siblings, then it went to my kids, then it went to my best friends. I'm on the phone with them every week, every week. about an hour and a half with each of them. And then we have other friends also that were close enough to us, so they all know about my journey. And they've all said, what can we do to help you? I mean, this is a group, we're talking about a big group of people and they really want to be supportive. It would never have happened had I not opened up with these people. And that's the connection that Shasta and I really value, connect with that. And so it's been a really helpful thing.

Adrienne Youdim:

Do you feel like, you know, I'm not sure that I believe the statement that everything happens for a reason.

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, I hear you.

Adrienne Youdim:

What I do believe, though, is that we're meaning making creatures, right? Yes. We are successful as humans when we can use our experiences, particularly our trials and tribulations, in a way that is meaningful and in a way that gives us a sense of purpose. do you feel like on some level this diagnosis for you and particularly this diagnosis right like this is not cancer this is for someone who's like my father your mecca your professional life like is your your brain that's like your product yes yes do you wonder like was this meant to

Gregory Nelson:

Man, I was very angry to God. I can tell you that. When I first got all this, I was thinking, come on, man, this is so unfair. You know, how do I get this? So I went through that process for sure and realized that, you know, I just think that things happened, you know, I mean, we can't stop it. Some things we can stop, but not everything. And so the idea of, yeah, this comes from God is not the thing for me. I just don't think God would do something like that. But here's what I have found about this whole thing for me, and that is, In fact, I'm going to do a post on this because it's so meaningful to me. But it's the idea that, you know, self-awareness, isn't that ironic? That's what I've been teaching the whole time, and now I'm getting it for myself. Okay, Greg, what do you know about yourself that you haven't known before? Well, man, I was reading this one thing, and the author said, going down this road helps you to become who you really are in this chapter. In this chapter, not your whole life, but in this chapter. And I started thinking about that, and I think, man, you know, there's really something to that. Because what this a difficult journey is doing is really sort of smoothing out parts of me that I needed to have, you know, kind of smoothed out in some respects. Does that make sense at all? It's really kind of an interesting thing because we look immediately at the pain stuff and we say, this is terrible. But then if we go past that, We start finding out, wow, actually, here's what I can do as a result of like this. I would never be heard with people in Alzheimer's. I would never be heard if I didn't have Alzheimer's. There's no way I would be doing all my other work all the time. But now it has given me an opportunity to be a part of that community. I'm not better than anyone else. I'm just as much as everyone else that has it. And someday that's going to be even worse for me, and I know that. But that understanding and the sense of community, man, I mean, that's pretty powerful.

Adrienne Youdim:

Yeah.

Gregory Nelson:

 I mean, that's the way I look at it.

Adrienne Youdim:

It absolutely is. And, you know, we have all these cliches around these ideas, like the only way out is through or what have you. Yeah. But I mean, you're really describing, you know, you're really describing the process so granularly of of how you're doing that. And and again, tying it to this kind of greater sense of purpose. You know, you said something that made me think of just being present. You know, I think one of the challenges with this diagnosis is like the what ifs. And quite frankly, with everything, right? Like, catastrophizing you know and it could be health related or it can be you know i've been very i've been very open on this podcast and in all of my platforms on the impact of october since on my life as a jewish woman as a jewish mother and the rise of anti-semitism in the united Right. Yes at the beginning of all this had these what like what if I won't see it in my lifetime But what about my children? What are they gonna experience? What if something like? Yeah, holocaust hap like what if right and yeah catastrophizing that just adds a layer of Turmoil it's like insult to injury. I mean, how do you I? How does that land? How do you stay present? Do you have your own version of catastrophizing? And how do you... I mean, you clearly walk yourself away from that.

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, beautiful way that you're talking about it, Adrian. It's beautiful what you're saying. And I'm with you on that a hundred percent. It's a very difficult process to, for me, for this reason, it's when I have this, I don't know if you, well, one of my strengths is, one of my strengths is futuristic. I'm always looking down the road. And I realized that's going to kill me, you know, I mean, in terms of right now, if I go too far into the future, I'm going to it will bring me down so strong. I might stay down and I don't want to stay down. So what I've done is another another sort of mantra for me is one day at a time, one day at a time, everybody. I mean, that's not a one that's really I mean, everybody says these things, but this one is so important for me. I just wake up in the morning, I start doing things, and I am sort of deceived into looking ahead because I want to know. I want to know, you know, what is going to happen to me. And then I finally realized, no, Greg, you can't go down that road. I mean, yeah, you'll get there. But why live in the future when you know the future is going to be bad? Why not live in the now where things are OK? I mean, we're doing the best we can and blah, blah, blah. So that's what is really I mean, I have to be admit is very hard to do that all the time. But the times when I really do it, man, it saves me.

Adrienne Youdim:

Yeah. I mean, This is like the curse of I think the particularly type A professionals. I'm going to I'm going to lump us both into that bucket is that being goal oriented means that you're constantly planning for the future.

Gregory Nelson:

Yes, yes.

Adrienne Youdim:

And yet, whether, again, you're dealing with a difficult diagnosis or not, future thinking is the bane of all of us. I mean, being present really is the only way to be. And so, I want to come back to this point of, like, not being Pollyannish about it all, but you are being forced, and we are all in our own ways, in our own lives, forced. to live out these cliches that you mentioned, right? Which aren't actually cliched. I mean, when push comes to shove, it is a measure of a life well-lived. The ability to do these things, to be present, is probably, you know, number one in terms of living a life well-lived.

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, I think that really hooks into gratitude. Gratitude is about something that you have in this moment, and then we can go backwards too, because that's sometimes what we do in our gratitude. Oh yeah, last week we did, oh man, I'm grateful for. But your point is well made. And that keeps us sort of in the now. And we can, I mean, we can, I mean, we can, people can go down the road as much as they wanna go. But I tell you, that's a hard way to go. I mean, at some point, you know, you gotta say, all right, but we don't even know. We can assume what's gonna happen in a year, but we don't know for sure. And I tell you what, Adrian, I just thought for sure I wasn't gonna have Alzheimer's. I mean, she and I did the 23andMe, I was like 12 years ago or whatever, they started that thing. And I wanted to do it because I wanted to know, do I have this genetic thing? And I saw one APOE and I said, Oh yeah, but they're saying is that, you know, if you have one, maybe 20%, but if you have two, that's like 65% or something. Well, I had one and there was in this diagnosis that, and I died, I wasn't planning on that for sure.

Adrienne Youdim:

You know, I, the thought of it, I think about 23andMe, the thought of it freaks me out. And I've toyed with this idea, right? Because, again, because of my dad, you know, would I want to know? I've decided for myself personally, unless there's something actionable, right, that I don't need to know my fate. I can just engage in the practices that I know are helpful to me, body and soul, the kinds of practices I've talked about on this podcast, and let the rest kind of make itself known when needed.

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, you know what's so interesting is these experts on Alzheimer's are saying that the earlier we get the diagnosis, the better it is for us because then we can actually be a part of something that could help us, you know, do it. And now they're saying people in 30s and 40s. ought to have some kind of a diagnosis. And if it just is zero, well, perfect. If not, then... And they said, you know, I did it when I was 69. This year was 70 for me, so 69. And my neurologist said, congratulations on starting so early because this gives us an opportunity to kind of help guide you into the right things. So, you know, it's, it's, it's a different way to look at it. But he said to me, when the diagnosis came, he said, I would imagine I pretty much could put money down that you've had this 10 years ago. So that's the kind of thing we're dealing with.

Adrienne Youdim:

Right. And I think that goes back to kind of the misconceptions of early stage disease and, and also, you know, how it can be actionable to your point, you know, actionable in changing the trajectory. I think, Greg, we've already kind of touched on this, but as we close, I want to ask you this question. And this has been lovely, by the way.

Gregory Nelson:

Thank you.

Adrienne Youdim:

How has this changed your sense of purpose? And what are you hoping to achieve? in your, on your platform and, and otherwise going forward?

Gregory Nelson:

Yeah, I will have to admit that this purpose that I, that I was brought into, I mean, I would never have thought about this. Well, let me, let me do some posts to people who have Alzheimer's. I mean, I would never have done that. But so interesting that there was just this deep sense inside me that I wanted to be a part of being a part of the community and maybe I have some things that might be useful, maybe not, but I'm going to try and we'll see. And that kind of a thing, it gave me a new sense of purpose. And then I came up with my self-awareness word and I go, but yeah, that's actually what I'm supposed to be doing. For me, I need to be self-aware. And others, everybody needs to be self-aware. So let's talk about how do we do that? How do we get there? So that has been really helpful. I can honestly say that I look back with nostalgia with my work. I miss that. And that's okay because it was good and I had a really good time. And I made some differences, you know, through the years. So there's my gratitude part to look back and say, wow, you know, okay, that was good. I had a good life. If I go tomorrow, that's okay because I've had a good life. And so

Adrienne Youdim:

you know let's just go day by day that's that's the way i look at it well i i just want to um echo that you are doing incredible work for people who need it um you know when i i saw one of your posts pop up. I think I was having insomnia and I think it was like 2am and I saw one of your posts and I was moved to tears. I was so emotional by the beauty of your words and I had a full day at home. I work in the office a few days a week with patients clinically and then I have my home days where I do my creative work and I just cleared my schedule and went and spent the day with my dad.

Gregory Nelson:

So good.

Adrienne Youdim:

And that was your doing that was your problem and so i just want to say from my end that you really are extraordinary and you really are doing beautiful important work alzheimer's or not i believe that you are exactly where we need you.

Gregory Nelson:

So, wow, man, Adrian, that you have no idea how much that means to me. Yeah. Thank you for that. Yeah.

Adrienne Youdim:

I'm going to end with, you know, I pulled up your LinkedIn profile and, um, I'm not sure if this was, you know, there's so much goodness, but I just want to end with this one thing that you wrote, and I encourage people to find you on LinkedIn as well, under Dr. Gregory Nelson. You write here, I want to, and this is in the context of you sharing, you know, your story, your diagnosis, and sharing that with others. You say, in the coming weeks, I'll share more about my diagnosis, symptoms, treatments, and practical tools I'm finding helpful. But before I share those details, I wanted to begin with the why. I want to keep showing up. I want to keep gathering people around me. I want to tell the truth about this journey, the funny moments, the frustrating ones, the vulnerable questions. Because if I don't, I fear I'll look up one day and realize I disappeared long before I was actually gone.

Gregory Nelson:

Wow.

Adrienne Youdim:

Thank you for being here, Greg. Genuinely, wholeheartedly appreciate this conversation. Good. I hope my listeners will share this episode widely. I think again, the impact of your message is inspiring beyond cognitive decline, and I think it's a valuable message for all. Thank you again for being here.

Gregory Nelson:

Thank you for having me, Adrienne. That's wonderful.