How to live a full and rewarding life after a dementia diagnosis. Keith Oliver was diagnosed with young onset dementia at the age of 55. Unaware at the time that dementia could affect people of this age, Keith set out to increase public awareness of the condition and dispel the myths about the illness. Using a unique diary format, this intimate and empowering memoir captures what everyday life with dementia is like, offering both a candid look at its struggles, and a profoundly moving account of Keith's journey to live a full life afterwards.
At the time this book was written, the youngest person recorded with Alzheimers Disease was 28 years old. Since I learned about Alzheimers with my maternal grandmother suffering from and succumbing to the disease in the 1980s, the ages of Alzheimers patients have been steadily becoming younger and younger. In my mothers memory care unit was an educator who died of early onset Alzheimers at the age of 53. There is a new diagnosis of Alzheimers every 67 seconds and it is estimated that one in every three people in the United States will have Alzheimers by the age of 85. This disease lasts from 2 - 25 years. If this trend continues then every family in this country will be visited by Alzheimers and the affects on caregivers will also affect this nation. This book is both a personal story of a decade-long journey of caregiving as well as a call to arms for funding and research of this terminal disease.
When the author's wife, Judith James, was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer's disease in her sixty-first year, they'd been a couple for close to four decades and together had constructed an enviable life. Her diagnosis threatened to up-end that life by casting them adrift in a territory for which they had no map, no compass, and no foreknowledge. Slowly, by trying and failing and trying again, they would navigate that territory, discovering the scale and scope of the challenges her disease presented and, with love and commitment, figuring out how to hold on to the best quality of life possible.In Dear Judy: A Love Story Rewritten by Alzheimer's, the author reconstructs, honestly and with great sensitivity, their shared experience through the multiple advancing stages of the disease, their accommodation of the successive and accelerating losses and the accompanying grief, and the eventual acceptance that allowed light to dissolve the darkness into which their relationship had been unexpectedly cast. We are privy to some of the most intimate moments in a marriage upended by this disease and by the curve balls it would throw, so often when the author and his wife least expected them. In this unflinching meditation and reflection, we learn that life can indeed be enriched by adversity, and that love can, against strong odds, expand, deepen and ultimately reach its fulfillment.
Living In The Labyrinth is the story of how one woman found the strength and the courage to cope with a devastating disease that has afflicted five million Americans. Far from being an exercise in self-pity or a standard autobiography, this is an unflinching and ultimately uplifting look at a debilitating illness from the inside out. “Somewhere there is that ever-present reminder list of what I am supposed to do today. But I cannot find it. I attempt to do the laundry and find myself outside, in my backyard, holding soiled clothes. How did I get here? How do I get back?” Only forty-five when she first began to struggle with the memory lapses and disorientation that signal the onset of Alzheimer’s, Diana Friel McGowin has written a courageous, stirring insider’s story of the disease that is now the fourth leading killer of American adults. Diana’s personal journey through days of darkness and light, fear and hope gives us new insight into a devastating illness and the plight of its victims, complete with a list of early warning signs, medical background, and resources for further information. But Diana’s story goes far beyond a recounting of a terrifying disease. It portrays a marriage struggling to survive, a family hurt beyond words, and a woman whose humor and intelligence triumph over setbacks and loss to show us the best of what being human is. “A stunner of a book . . . it takes the reader on a terrifying but enlightening journey.”—San Antonio News Express “Touching and sometimes angry . . . a poignant insider’s view.”—The Cincinnati Enquirer
A poet's chronology of caregiving for her spouse who struggled with Alzheimer's. An intimate recording of how the disease acts as a slow moving wedge to separate us from the ones we love. A powerful testament to all who love, care give and ultimately say goodbye.
Imagine being lost, then found, then lost again. Imagine being giddy in love with a man who is slipping away from you bit by bit. This is the heartbreak that I endured. This is the story of my journey as a caregiver and the route I chose to get my husband and me safely to the end. Research shows that more than half a million Canadians have Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. Those suffering from it lose their memory and ability to think properly. What was more frightening, for me, was the profound changes to Tony's mood and behaviour. As Alzheimer's disease heaped indignity after indignity upon him, I struggled to maintain my equilibrium. My natural optimism took a pounding. I was often crushed, often weepy. Sometimes I gathered my dog and my car keys and was ready to bolt. If you are a caregiver, you will see yourself in this book. If you have just learned that your partner, parent or other loved one has Alzheimer's disease, you will find insight and hope.
Description: Doctor Richard Zalar and Trude become more and more real as Day Is Ending evolves from its opening on a dreary, and tragic December 7, 1941 to December 7, 2000, the day of Trude's death. This romance is so moving and meaningful because in many ways it is about those "normal" life events that are common to most of us: the first kiss, the roller coaster of courtship, the proposal, marriage, new life, growth, joy, success--and then, a shadow, an inkling, a doubt that insidiously grows into a heartbreaking tragedy. There is no facile resolution offered here. Dr. Zalar simply asks if he would ever have been able to appreciate the depth of this love affair with Trude if they had been spared the torment of Alzheimer's disease.
Individuals or families receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or brain damage from a stroke face daunting questions: how to provide for care when the patient can no longer manage his or her own affairs, how to protect their rights and property, where to go for help, and how to cope with the day-to-day challenges of fading memory and diminished cognition. Here is a comprehensive guide specifically for aging Nevadans and for family members, professional caregivers, and health care workers who help them. The authors—an elder law attorney and a specialist in geriatric care management—offer readers useful advice from the perspective of Nevada resources and Nevada law, addressing such topics as the legal and financial steps that patients and their families can take to protect themselves and their assets, paying for long-term care, arranging for guardianship, and tending to the details that follow the death of a loved one. This edition, updated in 2011, includes information about recent changes in laws that affect seniors, new research and treatments, and a new guide to resources throughout the state that can provide assistance to people afflicted with these medical conditions.
Dementia and Alzhiemers Diary When it comes to the care of Dementia and Alzheimers patients, different things work for different people. Many reports find that journal or diary entry writing helps to relax, calm and ease the minds of those with this horrible disease, as well as assisting in slowing memory loss. This book has been printed on high quality, premium white paper to ensure that it remains highly durable and allows for easy writing, and relieving pressure on the wrists of the elderly users. Pages are appropriate thickness, making the pages easier to turn. The dementia book was developed from insights by neurologists, psychologists, caregivers and dementia and alzheimers patients, to make the process as easy as possible. Note: The book does not mention dementia or anything that could cause distress aggrievance to the patients. Book features: Convenient 6x9 inch size - perfect to fit into small bag or purse Easy to turn pages High quality, smudge resistant paper Wide lines for easy writing Margin Soft, Matte cover Perfect bound
Felicity Jaffé¿s aim in writing this book is to send out helpful advice on how to cope with dementia from her personal experience.She has made something first-rate, genuinely informative and useful, and enormously human, with dignity and humour, including many practical ideas.One gets the feeling that all along she is remembering and expressing what she remembers, not necessarily for her benefit, but for the benefit of a wider community.This book will inspire the families and carers of dementia suffers as it deals with dementia in a positive and happy way.
