Download or read book Journey Through Alzheimer s written by Rick M Gardner Ph D and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this deeply moving chronicle of love and loss, cognitive psychologist Rick Gardner recounts his journey alongside his wife, Betty Ann, as she progresses through dementia and eventually Alzheimer's disease. Part love letter to his wife of 50 years, and part science narrative, Journey through Alzheimer's conveys in vivid detail Betty Ann's descent from her first understated symptoms to her subsequent cognitive decline. Gardner describes what happens in the brain when dementia occurs, including the deterioration of the five senses on cognitive functioning, and the effects aging plays in the process. The book is the only first-person account of decline of thinking and cognition into Alzheimer's written by a cognitive psychologist, and readers will appreciate the clarity of Gardner's insights, as well as his compassion and candor. This book will be especially helpful, as well as cathartic, to family and caregivers of those with Alzheimer's, although it is Gardner's tender portrayal of his commitment to the brilliant, vivacious Betty Ann that will remain with readers long after the final page is turned.
Download or read book Before My Eyes written by Diane Currie and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2010-03 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Imagine the heart-wrenching devastation that is experienced by a family when a parent is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease! Author Diane Currie shares her candid and personal reflections about her mother's struggle with this disease as she copes with the reality of the present but always honors the memory of her past. Through a series of moving vignettes, she remains connected with her mother in a creative way as the strong bond between them slowly dissolves as the disease progresses. From the first moment of her mother's diagnosis, Currie conveys in a captivating manner the intense feelings of loss and hopelessness one experiences when dealing with this dreadful disease. She is able to protray the subtle changes in her mother's behavior and personality throughout her decline, all in a deeply human way. While Before My Eyes describes one family's touching and painful journey, in essence Currie's reflective account may typify the Alzheimer's experience, while offering support and validation to all those who walk its arduous path"--Page 4 of cover.
Download or read book One Family s Journey Through Alzheimer s written by Mary B. Walsh and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mary B. Walsh and her husband made a promise to his grandmother that she would never be placed in a nursing home. After the family moved to Pennsylvania, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and the family held to its promise of care. Told with humor, love, and compassion, this is the story of how that decision affected the entire family. It is a book that will encourage anyone in a similar situation and show that despite the illness, the rest of life does not stop.
Download or read book Ten Thousand Joys Ten Thousand Sorrows written by Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ten Thousand Sorrows & Ten Thousand Joys offers a vision of lives well-led, and of love in the thick of crisis and loss. Beyond inspiring."-Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence "This beautiful book is unlike any other personal account of living with Alzheimer's disease that I have ever read . . . it offers patients and families practical insights into how they can live their lives more fully amidst the heartbreak of a mind-robbing illness."- Paul Raia, Director of Patient Care and Family Support, Alzheimer's Association, Massachusetts Chapter "A story of courage, love, and growing wisdom in the face of Alzheimer's."-Joseph Goldstein, author of One Dharma, Founder / Director of Insight Meditation Society In this profound and courageous memoir, Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle describes how her husband's Alzheimer's diagnosis at the age of seventy-two challenged them to live the spiritual teachings they had embraced during the course of their life together. Following a midlife career shift, Harrison Hobliztelle, or Hob as he was called, a former professor of comparative literature at Barnard, Columbia, and Brandeis University, became a family therapist and was ordained a Dharmacharya (senior teacher) by Thich Nhat Hanh. Hob comes to life in these pages as an incredibly funny and brilliant man who never stopped enjoying a good philosophical conversation-even as his mind, quite literally, slipped away from him. And yet when they first heard the diagnosis, Olivia and Hob's initial reaction was to cling desperately to the life they had had. But everything had changed, and they knew that the only answer was to greet this last phase of Hob's life consciously and lovingly. Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows provides a wise and compassionate vision for maintaining hope and grace in the face of life's greatest challenges. (This memoir was originally self-published as The Majesty of Your Loving.)
Download or read book Living in the Labyrinth written by Diana Friel McGowin and published by Delta. This book was released on 2011-08-24 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Alzheimer s a Love Story written by Ann Davidson and published by Carol Publishing Corporation. This book was released on 1997 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gripping memoir of one critical year in the life of Ann Davidson and her husband, Julian, a prominent physiology professor at Stanford Medical School who has Alzheimer's disease. These 56 vignettes each tell a complete story, progressing from Ann and Julian's initial confusion and anger through adjustments and moments of humor and joy to increasing acceptance and an odd sort of peace.
Download or read book Creating Moments of Joy Along the Alzheimer s Journey written by Jolene Brackey and published by Purdue University Press. This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The beloved best seller has been revised and expanded for the fifth edition. Jolene Brackey has a vision: that we will soon look beyond the challenges of Alzheimer's disease to focus more of our energies on creating moments of joy. When people have short-term memory loss, their lives are made up of moments. We are not able to create perfectly wonderful days for people with dementia or Alzheimer's, but we can create perfectly wonderful moments, moments that put a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. Five minutes later, they will not remember what we did or said, but the feeling that we left them with will linger. The new edition of Creating Moments of Joy is filled with more practical advice sprinkled with hope, encouragement, new stories, and generous helpings of humor. In this volume, Brackey reveals that our greatest teacher is having cared for and loved someone with Alzheimer's and that often what we have most to learn about is ourselves.
Download or read book Keeper written by Andrea Gillies and published by Broadway Books. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Keeper' is a very humane and honest exploration of living with Alzheimer's, giving an illuminating account of the disease itself. Gillies tells about the time she and her family spent living with someone with dementia, in a big Victorian house in the far, far north of Scotland.
Download or read book Five Minutes of Amazing written by Chris Graham and published by Sphere. This book was released on 2016-09-22 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This story poses a profound question - do we accept the hand that fate deals us, or do we battle to make the most of the life we have and help others in the process? Chris Graham, just 38 years old but already facing the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, has emphatically chosen the latter. Having lived through a troubled childhood, Chris joined the British Army at a young age and found that the life of a soldier provided him with a much-needed sense of stability. However, his world was turned upside down when, at just 34 years of age, he was diagnosed with a form of early onset dementia. This brutal disease had already claimed the life of his father at 42, along with several other members of his family, and tragically had already confined his brother to a nursing home at the age of 43. In his brother's life, Chris could see a terrifying window into his own near future. Chris, though, is an extraordinary human being. Having been handed nothing less than a death sentence, he decided overnight to stand up to this horrendous disease and do something to leave his mark before it was too late. And so it was that last year, Chris embarked on an awareness-raising 16,000-mile solo cycle around North America, armed only with his bike, a sense of humour, and some good old-fashioned British grit. Leaving his ever-supportive wife Vicky and baby son Dexter at home, he took on huge challenges - for instance, the fear that the ability to discern left from right might leave him at any point while navigating an entire continent - and made it home in time for Christmas, determined to spending however long he has left pouring his love and attention into his family life. Five Minutes of Amazing is both the story of Chris' epic journey and of his fight against the disease increasingly being recognised as the defining disease of our generation. Inspiring and heart-rending in equal measure, it's as important as it is moving, and it will touch everyone who reads it.
Download or read book The Emotional Journey of the Alzheimer s Family written by Robert B. Santulli, MD and published by Dartmouth College Press. This book was released on 2015-03-22 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alzheimer's disease is a growing public health crisis. According to the Alzheimer's Association, there are 5.4 million victims of this disease; by 2050, there will be close to 15 million people who suffer from this debilitating disorder of memory, thinking, personality, and functioning. The disease profoundly affects immediate family members, close friends, and neighbors. These people - the Alzheimer's family - undergo tremendous psychological and emotional change as they witness the cruel and relentless progression of the disease in their loved one. Incorporating over thirty years of experience with Alzheimer's patients and their families with current medical knowledge, the authors chart the complex emotional journey of the Alzheimer's family from the onset of the disease through the death of the loved one. They discuss the anger that rises in the face of discordant views of the disease, the defenses that emerge when family members are unwilling to accept a dementia diagnosis, and the common emotions of anxiety, guilt, anger, and shame. They focus especially on grief as the core response to losing a loved one to dementia, and describe the difficult processes of adaptation and acceptance, which lead to personal growth. Final chapters emphasize the importance of establishing a care community and how to understand and cope with personal stress. This volume will be useful to medical professionals and ordinary people close to or caring for a person with dementia.
Download or read book On Pluto Inside the Mind of Alzheimer s written by Greg O'Brien and published by Good Night books. This book was released on 2018-02-27 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about living with Alzheimer’s, not dying with it. It is a book about hope, faith, and humor—a prescription far more powerful than the conventional medication available today to fight this disease. Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the US—and the only one of these diseases on the rise. More than 5 million Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia; about 35 million people worldwide. Greg O’Brien, an award-winning investigative reporter, has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's and is one of those faceless numbers. Acting on long-term memory and skill coupled with well-developed journalistic grit, O’Brien decided to tackle the disease and his imminent decline by writing frankly about the journey. O’Brien is a master storyteller. His story is naked, wrenching, and soul searching for a generation and their loved ones about to cross the threshold of this death in slow motion. On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s is a trail-blazing roadmap for a generation—both a “how to” for fighting a disease, and a “how not” to give up!
Download or read book Where Two Worlds Touch written by Jade C. Angelica and published by Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. This book was released on 2014 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jade Angelica shares the wisdom and hope she gleaned from caring for her mother and from many years working closely with Alzheimer's patients and caregivers. Challenging the predominant belief that people with Alzheimer's no longer have purpose, potential, or the capacity for meaningful relationship, Where Two Worlds Touch is both a spiritual memoir and a pastoral guide for those who love someone with Alzheimer's. Readers will find here the reassuring words of a friend who has been there and can give advice on preserving connection, finding hope, self-care, and staying open to the possibility of grace.
Download or read book Everything Left to Remember written by Steph Jagger and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2022-04-26 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This will cast a spell on fans of Cheryl Strayed and Glennon Doyle." - Publishers Weekly Between Two Kingdoms meets Wild. In this heart wrenching and inspirational memoir a woman and her mother, who is suffering from dementia, embark on a road trip through national parks, revisiting the memories, and the mountains, that made them who they are. Steph Jagger lost her mother before she lost her. Her mother, stricken with an incurable disease that slowly erases all sense of self, struggles to remember her favorite drink, her favorite song, and—perhaps most heartbreaking of all—Steph herself. Steph watches as the woman who loved and raised her slips away before getting the chance to tell her story, and so Steph makes a promise: her mother will walk it and she will write it. Too aware of her mother’s waning memory, Steph proposes that the two take a camping trip out to Montana—which her mother, on the urging of Steph’s father, agrees to embark upon. An adventure full of horseback riding, hiking, and “tenting” out West quickly turns into one woman’s reflection on childhood, motherhood, personhood—and what it means to love someone who doesn’t quite remember the person she spent her lifetime becoming. A staggeringly beautiful examination of how stories are passed down through generations and from Mother Nature, Everything Left to Remember brings us the wisdom of who our memories make us under the constellations of the vast Montana sky.
Download or read book My Two Elaines written by Martin J Schreiber and published by Harper Horizon. This book was released on 2022-06-13 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In My Two Elaines, author Marty Schreiber, former governor of Wisconsin, watches his beloved wife, Elaine, gradually transform from the woman he fell in love with in high school, and who diligently supported his political career, to the Elaine who knows she is declining and can’t remember how to cook a meal, and finally to the Elaine who no longer recognizes Marty or their children. One part love story, one part practical advice, this compelling book includes several unique elements: Excerpts from Elaine’s journal, recounting her thoughts, concerns, and frustrations as the disease progresses A recurring feature called “What I Wish I’d Known,” which provides helpful takeaways for caregivers based on Marty’s observations about what he wishes he’d known sooner and done differently A Q&A between Marty and neuropsychologist Dr. Michelle Braun, to equip caregivers with the right questions to ask and empower them to advocate for their loved ones and their own needs Beyond sincere, practical advice, My Two Elaines gives the reader permission to feel the full spectrum of emotions, including humor, even in the face of this relentless illness. And the book speaks to anyone touched by this disease--spouse, child, friend, or family member.
Download or read book Keeping Love Alive as Memories Fade written by Gary Chapman and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2016-09-16 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Across America and around the world, the five love languages have revitalized relationships and saved marriages from the brink of disaster. Can they also help individuals, couples, and families cope with the devastating diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD)? Coauthors Chapman, Shaw, and Barr give a resounding yes. Their innovative application of the five love languages creates an entirely new way to touch the lives of the five million Americans who have Alzheimer’s, as well as their fifteen million caregivers. At its heart, this book is about how love gently lifts a corner of dementia’s dark curtain to cultivate an emotional connection amid memory loss. This collaborative, groundbreaking work between a healthcare professional, caregiver, and relationship expert will: Provide an overview of the love languages and Alzheimer’s disease, correlate the love languages with the developments of the stages of AD, discuss how both the caregiver and care receiver can apply the love languages, address the challenges and stresses of the caregiver journey, offer personal stories and case studies about maintaining emotional intimacy amidst AD. Keeping Love Alive as Memories Fade is heartfelt and easy to apply, providing gentle, focused help for those feeling overwhelmed by the relational toll of Alzheimer’s. Its principles have already helped hundreds of families, and it can help yours, too.
Download or read book The Gift of Alzheimer s written by Maggie La Tourelle and published by Watkins Media Limited. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is dementia? Does it have a deeper meaning? As a loved-one slips away for us, is she or he entering a higher plane? In her groundbreaking book, The Gift of Alzheimer’s, Maggie chronicles her beautiful journey with her late mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Miraculously, instead of destroying the lives of her family, the disease strengthened their bonds and revealed something incredible—the ability of Alzheimer’s to connect those it touches with another world. Including the latest research into neuroscience and altered states of consciousness, the book offers hope and a way forward for those affected by this devastating disease. What follows is the extraordinary story of healing, love, and soul-searching undertaken by Maggie and Pat that will make you rethink everything you believe about Alzheimer’s. In a disease that so many find distressing, the La Tourelle family found peace, renewal, and spiritual growth. This revolutionary book not only changes how we perceive Alzheimer’s, but is also a window into the amazing powers of the human psyche and soul. With The Gift of Alzheimer’s, La Tourelle explores the potential for Alzheimer’s patients and their families to find wisdom and meaning in the midst of tragedy and demonstrates how love, above all else, can heal.
Download or read book Travel Well with Dementia written by Jan Dougherty and published by Bookbaby. This book was released on 2019-12-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's disease doesn't mean you have to give up everything you love. For those who enjoy travel, and want to continue to do so, Travel Well with Dementia: Essential Tips to Enjoy the Journey is a must-read both for patients and their loved ones. Whether visiting family and friends or venturing to a new location for fun, it's packed with practical tips and strategies that will remove many of the stressors created by travel. Find confidence in your ability to stayed engaged with people and places that matter--and continue to create memories It may be difficult to imagine having a fun, successful trip if you're a person living with dementia, or someone caring for an affected person. Whether early in the diagnosis or further along the path of progression, with thoughtful preparation and adaptations travel is possible for many. This is the first book of its kind that considers what people living with dementia may experience during travel and helps travel companions know what to expect before, during, and after a trip. Embrace the concept that it is possible to live well with dementia, and find joy, purpose, and meaning along the way.
