May 14, 2008 10:20 AM

Sandra Day O'Connor, the trailblazing first woman Justice, sat down with me yesterday for a moving conversation about Alzheimer's Disease and how it has affected her life. It was the first time she's discussed the horrific disease from her perspective -- that of a caregiver to her husband, John, who has battled the disease 18 years.  You can watch the segment from Good Morning America HERE.

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“Live strong” is a common slogan among cancer patients. I think I understand the slogan’s appeal, and I admire the spirit that lies behind it. But it doesn’t fit my experience, and I suspect I’m not alone.

Reduced life expectancy aside, the chief consequence of stage 4 cancers—even more, the chief consequence of their treatment—is weakness, not strength. Cancer and chemotherapy, taken together, are exhausting. Walking up a flight of stairs feels to me like running a couple of miles would feel to a typical out-of-shape 50-year-old, which is what I would be if I were healthy. All mental exercises are several times harder than they used to be. Concentrating takes real effort, and most of the time, I can’t pull it off—I have to read things twice (at least) in order to understand them once. My mind is two steps behind whatever conversation I’m in; I have to scramble to keep up. I feel half dead, as though a large fraction of whatever I was is gone, never to return.

In short, I can’t live strong, because there isn’t much strength left in me. But I can live weak.

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By Judge Richard A. Posner