Keith Moreland, who was diagnosed with early-onset dementia at age 57, wrote about his experience of living with dementia i Huffington Post and how he’s encouraging others with the disease to not stop living.

Moreland, who lives in South Carolina, spoke about his symptom onset and how his life has changed since being affected by early-onset dementia.

“I first noticed an issue in 2017. I was working as an analyst for a large consumer electronics company in their accounting department. I began noticing that I was having trouble with some of the regular tasks at my job, like forgetting how to use a computer program I used every week, or having trouble with numbers and sending the wrong totals to management. This was very unusual,” Moreland wrote in the Nov. 4 artikel.

Moreland also opened up about his frustration of receiving his diagnosis, saying “the neurologist simply said, ‘Here is what’s wrong, I’m starting you on this medication, stop at the desk on your way out to schedule your next appointment.’ No suggestions for help, no brochures, or directions as to where to get resources.”

Since being diagnosed, Moreland wrote about how he’s finding a renewed sense of purpose and discovering new joys in life while rekindling old interests. He returned to his childhood hobby of writing and publishes work under his penname Stokie Lee. Moreland also had found a passion in advocacy and dementia-awareness work, saying that he hopes to “encourage the over six million people in the U.S. and 55 million people around the world who are living with any form of dementia.

“My biggest piece of advice is: Please don’t stop living,” Moreland wrote. “You may need to make some adjustments, but there are still many things you can do. No, the road will not be easy. But hopefully it will be long.”

Read Keith Moreland’s article in the Huffington Post här.