Download or read book LIVING WITH ALZHEIMER S DISEASE ONE COUPLE S JOURNEY written by Frances Siegel and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a guidepost for caregivers and families of Alzheimer's patients, an objective but emotion-filled assessment of how to handle life when the one you love the most begins gradually to lose memories and reason, and medical science cannot restore what is lost or offer any cure. The focus is the case of a prominent scholar with dementia and the impact of the illness on his marriage of 40 years. Frances Siegel kept track of her husband's symptoms, the behaviors that showed a slow but accelerating loss of cognitive function. The author offers her journey of adaptation and adjustment to the changes in their lives. Compassion and love alone become the guides of her existence as she grows in understanding. Readers will be moved and guided by her experiences. The foreword is by the Co-Director of the Neuropsychiatric and Memory Group of Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Download or read book The Majesty of Your Loving written by Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle and published by The Majesty of Your Loving. This book was released on 2008 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Olivia and Hob received his diagnosis of Alzheimer's, the enormity of that prospect propelled them to make a pact with one another: they would navigate the illness - consciously and lovingly - to the end.The Majesty of Your Loving: A Couple's Journey Through Alzheimer'sis their courageous story. Given this couple's rich background in psychology, Buddhist meditation, and the wisdom traditions, they were able to handle the pain and promise of the illness with unusual thoughtfulness. The author not only writes about the inspirations and spiritual perspectives that sustained them, but gives an intimate account of how they faced loss, crisis, and eventually death. This book has a distinctively positive and uplifting tone, revealing that ultimately their experience was about growing in wisdom and deepening in love. An indispensable guide for anyone dealing with loss, each chapter includes a self-help section with reflections, suggestions, and seed thoughts. This memoir, unique for the its inclusive spiritual orientation, provides both hope and practical approaches to anyone dealing with mental loss or diminishment of any kind.
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 Melting Ice Shifting Sand written by Donald Burke and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is the story of our journey living with Alzheimer's disease. It is told in prose and verse, in Donald's voice and Marjorie's. The writing of the story was sort of a by-product of a conversation in the summer of 2013, when Marjorie asked Donald what it felt like to have this awful disease"--Preface.
Download or read book Four Umbrellas written by June Hutton and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2020-10-17 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A writing couple searches for answers when Alzheimer's causes one of them to lose the place where stories come from — memory. At the age of fifty-three, Tony walks away from a life of journalism and into an unknown future. June is forty-eight, a writer and teacher, and over the following decade watches as her husband changes — in interests, goals, and behaviour — until Tony has a fall, ending the life they had known. A diagnosis is seven years away, yet the signs of Alzheimer’s are all around. A suitcase Tony packs for a trip is jammed with four umbrellas, a visual symbol of cognitive looping. But how far back do these signs go? The couple starts probing the past and finding answers. This is not an old person’s disease.
Download or read book Alzheimer s Canyon written by Sky Yardley and published by . This book was released on 2022-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the middle of the night I wake up and don't know where I am . . . . Am I in my house? My neighbor's house? Do I turn on the light? Do I get dressed? I turn to Jane, hold her hand, and let her bring me back to reality." What do you do when your reality slips away? If you're Sky Yardley and Jane Dwinell, you accept each new challenge, reshape your life, and write. When Sky was diagnosed with "probable early stage Alzheimer's" at age 66, he was determined to live as fully with his new reality as possible. He researched dementia, talked about dementia, connected with other people with the disease, and, finally, he wrote about it. With humor and honesty, love and compassion, Sky and his wife Jane describe what it's like to live with a constantly evolving and mysterious new life. "The brain is a mysterious thing," writes Jane, as Sky muses about traveling unmapped roads with no GPS. Welcome to Alzheimer's Canyon: there is one way in, and no way out. Follow Sky and Jane as they navigate this journey they did not ask to take, a journey that balances pain, loss, and confusion with gratitude, wonder, and transformation.
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 Living With Thunder written by Joe Brazeal and published by . This book was released on 2020-04 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first fifteen years of our marriage, we were the typical couple. All was well. Our three children were stable and for all intents and purposes, we were the average American family. Like weather slowly changing from calm to tornadic, our lives became a living hell on earth. But slowly, slowly, slowly, the love of my life, my wife Kimberly, began to change. We tried to keep our problems within our immediate family but the reality of the insanity devastated us. We couldn't hide from it anymore. First came the headaches, then the medications to ease the pain, and finally a cocktail of medications and alcohol to slow the progression of what I later learned was her brain fragmenting and disintegrating. No one knew; not even me. We treated the symptoms until her behavior became insurmountable and uncontrollable.The brain is a mystery and remains unharnessed. The power is beyond the scope of human imagination. This oddity called dementia or Alzheimer's disease has been with mankind since the beginning. What is known is that there is a breakdown in the brain. Its highways of communication become gridlocked. Essentially, it starves itself. There is no effective treatment and this disease is irreversible.Forty-seven million people worldwide and nearly six million in the United States have been diagnosed. Of those diagnosed in the United States, 200,000 fall into the category of early-onset. Sadly, it is the 6th leading cause of death. One in ten over the age of sixty-five will become lost in their own mind. These numbers are expected to triple by 2050 with cost skyrocketing. We are facing an epidemic as the baby boomer generation age. What used to be attributed as old age, is now considered Alzheimer's in some shape or fashion. Let's not rule out, sometimes folks just forget. The forgetfulness could be attributed to vitamin deficiency or caused by a thyroid imbalance. There are many factors including genetics, diet, exercise, and environment. Like anything else, if you don't use it, you lose it. This is not just an old person's disease. This disease can strike as early as age twenty-seven.The financial, physical, and emotional toll will be astronomical. Although there are no known cures or effective treatments advances are made every day. This book is a journey of hope. You'll discover coping mechanisms not found anywhere else. Know this, you are not alone. Much like an upcoming hurricane of epic proportions, knowledge is power. Having these tools provide preparation for living with thunder and the aftermath. Ignorance is not bliss. There is a God. You are not forgotten. Never give up.
Download or read book I Still Do written by Judith Fox and published by powerHouse Books. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a lovely book about a devastating problem-Alzheimer's. The pages are like poetry and the photos saymore than words. Anyone who has cared for a loved onewith Alzheimer's will relate to and appreciate every one ofthese pages." -Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor "There is a sweetness in the light Judith Fox finds thatsoftens a brutally unique and all too common experience.Ms. Fox has made the story about love and devotion when itmight easily be expected to be about a more tragic and angryvision. But the tough stuff is lurking around every corner..." -Arthur Ollman, Director, School of Art, Design,and Art History at San Diego State University Three years into their marriage, Judith Fox's husband, Dr.Edmund Ackell, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.Over the course of the next ten years, Fox watched as theman who used to perform surgery, fly planes, and rununiversities, forgot how to turn on the coffee maker, placea phone call, or remember what his wife had told him twominutes earlier. More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's. A poignantand beautiful portrait of a man with Alzheimer's as seenthrough the loving lens and words of his wife and care-partner,I StillDo: Loving and Living With Alzheimer's puts ahuman face in front of the statistics, exploring the diseasethrough Fox's intimate photographs and poetic writing.While the details of I Still Do are personal and unique, thisdeeply candid story of illness, aging, partnership, and lovingis universal.
Download or read book Living with Alzheimer s A Journey Observed written by Leigh Smyth, M.D. and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Alzheimer's disease rewrites the terms of a marriage in this debut memoir... a touching personal account..." - Kirkus Reviews "... a concise and moving treatise that supports and informs caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. This book is required reading for family caretakers, clinicians, and others who simply wonder how to approach such afflictions." - D. Robert Aiello, Ph.D Writing from the vantage point of a spouse and mental health professional who has witnessed and cared for a loved one with Alzheimer's over the course of ten years, the author- a clinical psychiatrist- reveals the personal side of signs and symptoms of the disease beyond memory loss that make up the full developmental syndrome of Alzheimer's, including: distortion of memory erratic likes and dislikes oppositionality hoarding and miming behaviors irritability and mood instability personality changes loss of cognitive resilience judgment issues paranoia common psychological defenses against these progressive losses
Download or read book Loving Someone Who Has Dementia written by Pauline Boss and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-06-24 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research-based advice for people who care for someone with dementia Nearly half of U.S. citizens over the age of 85 are suffering from some kind of dementia and require care. Loving Someone Who Has Dementia is a new kind of caregiving book. It's not about the usual techniques, but about how to manage on-going stress and grief. The book is for caregivers, family members, friends, neighbors as well as educators and professionals—anyone touched by the epidemic of dementia. Dr. Boss helps caregivers find hope in "ambiguous loss"—having a loved one both here and not here, physically present but psychologically absent. Outlines seven guidelines to stay resilient while caring for someone who has dementia Discusses the meaning of relationships with individuals who are cognitively impaired and no longer as they used to be Offers approaches to understand and cope with the emotional strain of care-giving Boss's book builds on research and clinical experience, yet the material is presented as a conversation. She shows you a way to embrace rather than resist the ambiguity in your relationship with someone who has dementia.
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 Dancing in Small Spaces written by Leslie A. Davidson and published by Brindle & Glass. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unstintingly honest and surprisingly humorous memoir that charts a couple’s parallel diagnoses of Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia. In 2011, Leslie Davidson and her husband Lincoln Ford were enjoying retired life to the fullest as ardent outdoor enthusiasts, energetic travellers, and soon-to-be grandparents. But when Lincoln’s confusion became a concern and Leslie began to experience a hesitant leg and uncontrollable tremors in one arm, a devastating double diagnosis completely changed their life. In this personal and unstintingly honest memoir, Leslie recounts the years that follow the diagnoses—her Parkinson’s and Lincoln’s Lewy body dementia—charting physical changes, mastering medications (and sometimes flubbing it), the logistical puzzles of caregiving, and the steady support of their close-knit community in the small town of Grand Forks in south central British Columbia. She describes her struggle to maintain perspective while questioning what having perspective even means, and the work of being an advocate while needing an advocate. And she explains how, amid all the challenges and tears, shared laughter remained all-important to their survival, especially in times when Lincoln saw her as an imposter. She shares powerful lessons in love, courage, and grace from the man who had always led the way and who, despite the ravages of his illness, in many ways, still did. At once poignant and unflinchingly frank Dancing in Small Spaces is the story of a long and adventurous marriage, of deep gratitude, and, ultimately, of writing one’s way toward understanding and acceptance.
Download or read book A Story of a Marriage Through Dementia and Beyond written by Laurel Richardson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-02-09 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Story of a Marriage Through Dementia and Beyond is the extraordinary, unflinching account from sociologist Laurel Richardson of her love and caregiving through the last period of her husband Ernest Lockridge's life - from his transient amnesia to his death from Lewy Body Dementia. Focusing on the lived experience of the caregiver through the loved one’s journey from mild cognitive impairment to death, the book gives the reader the experience of what the medical diagnoses mean and what has led up to the loss. It shows the complex, nuanced lives of a couple both living with the worst effects of a disease like Lewy Body Dementia, while maintaining, sometimes with hope and laughter, their loving connection nourished through a 40-year marriage. Dementia is a ‘silver tsunami’ - the third leading cause of death amongst senior populations. Richardson’s beautifully written book gives on-the-ground emotional support to those already in service as caregivers and helps prepare others for such service. Hospices, book clubs, and medical and allied professionals will find this book extraordinarily valuable. Weaving in autoethnographic and sociological methods and scholarship, as well as a list of reading and further resources for caregivers and scholars, this book will also appeal to courses in a wide range of disciplines and fields, including health communication, nursing and allied health, courses covering death and dying, end-of-life, and illness care, and, of course, scholars pursuing autoethnography, creative non-fiction, and qualitative methods.
Download or read book Neither Married Nor Single written by Dr. David Kirkpatrick and published by Brush Education. This book was released on 2018-01-26 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Dr. David Kirkpatrick’s wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007, their lives—and their marriage—would change forever. In an honest, uplifting, and sometimes heartbreaking account of loving a partner with dementia, Dr. Kirkpatrick creates a clear guide for others in similar circumstances. He shares his perspective both as a loving and grief-stricken husband coping with a profound change in his marriage, and as a geriatric psychiatrist doing everything he can for his wife while continually learning throughout that experience. Dr. Kirkpatrick tackles the tough questions about caretaking, grief, loss, love, and sex for those whose partners have dementia. When is the right time to find or even to begin considering a care home for your loved one? How can you navigate the complexities of your changing sexual relationship with an Alzheimer’s partner? When is it appropriate for you to consider new relationships? With wisdom and compassion, Dr. Kirkpatrick reflects on these questions and more. Whether your partner has been recently diagnosed or has been living with dementia for many years, Neither Married Nor Single will help lead you to effective strategies for living and loving in an Alzheimer’s marriage, and for dealing with the changes ahead. And it will help you remember that you are not alone.
Download or read book In Love written by Amy Bloom and published by Random House. This book was released on 2022-03-08 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful memoir of a love that leads two people to find a courageous way to part—and a woman’s struggle to go forward in the face of loss—that “enriches the reader’s life with urgency and gratitude” (The Washington Post) “A pleasure to read . . . Rarely has a memoir about death been so full of life. . . . Bloom has a talent for mixing the prosaic and profound, the slapstick and the serious.”—USA Today ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR Amy Bloom began to notice changes in her husband, Brian: He retired early from a new job he loved; he withdrew from close friendships; he talked mostly about the past. Suddenly, it seemed there was a glass wall between them, and their long walks and talks stopped. Their world was altered forever when an MRI confirmed what they could no longer ignore: Brian had Alzheimer’s disease. Forced to confront the truth of the diagnosis and its impact on the future he had envisioned, Brian was determined to die on his feet, not live on his knees. Supporting each other in their last journey together, Brian and Amy made the unimaginably difficult and painful decision to go to Dignitas, an organization based in Switzerland that empowers a person to end their own life with dignity and peace. In this heartbreaking and surprising memoir, Bloom sheds light on a part of life we so often shy away from discussing—its ending. Written in Bloom’s captivating, insightful voice and with her trademark wit and candor, In Love is an unforgettable portrait of a beautiful marriage, and a boundary-defying love.
Download or read book Dancing Around the Chaos written by Tracie Bevers and published by Lucid Books. This book was released on 2018-04-30 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since more than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, most of us know someone whose world it has invaded. "Dancing around the Chaos" seeks to bring the experiences surrounding Alzheimer's into the open so that we can learn from one another instead of struggling to figure it out alone.
