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 H O P E for the Alzheimer s Journey written by Carol B. Amos and published by Morgan James Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-03 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A useful, step-by-step guide for anyone new to caring for those with Alzheimer’s.” —Library Journal H.O.P.E. for the Alzheimer’s Journey equips Alzheimer’s caregivers with knowledge, tools, and advice for their difficult road ahead. Author Carol B. Amos incorporates her own experience—including her family’s email correspondence illustrating how they coped during this particular challenge. Amos also introduces The Caregiving Principle™: a simple approach that provides a deeper understanding of a person with Alzheimer’s disease and a framework for the caregiver’s role. She provides examples of how The Caregiving Principle™ helped her connect with her mother. H.O.P.E. for the Alzheimer’s Journey encourages caregivers to take care for themselves and provides inspiration for a less stressful, more rewarding journey.

Download or read book My Journey Into Alzheimer s Disease written by Robert Davis and published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 1989 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book of encouragement on how one man of faith faced the oncoming darkness of Alzheimer's disease. In a powerful story of courage and faith, Davis shows how God gives strength and grace.

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 Losing My Mind written by Thomas DeBaggio and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2002-04-05 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Tom DeBaggio turned fifty-seven in 1999, he thought he was about to embark on the relaxing golden years of retirement -- time to spend with his family, his friends, the herb garden he had spent decades cultivating and from which he made a living. Then, one winter day, he mentioned to his doctor during a routine exam that he had been stumbling into forgetfulness, making his work difficult. After that fateful visit, and a subsequent battery of tests over several months, DeBaggio joined the legion of twelve million others afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. But under such a curse, DeBaggio was also given one of the greatest gifts: the ability to chart the ups and downs of his own failing mind. Losing My Mind is an extraordinary first-person account of early onset Alzheimer's -- the form of the disease that ravages younger, more alert minds. DeBaggio started writing on the first day of his diagnosis and has continued despite his slipping grasp on one of life's greatest treasures, memory. In an inspiring and detailed account, DeBaggio paints a vivid picture of the splendor of memory and the pain that comes from its loss. Whether describing the happy days of a youth spent in a much more innocent time or evaluating how his disease has affected those around him, DeBaggio poignantly depicts one of the most important parts of our lives -- remembrance -- and how we often take it for granted. But to DeBaggio, memory is more than just an account of a time long past, it is one's ability to function, to think, and ultimately, to survive. As his life becomes reduced to moments of clarity, the true power of thought and his ability to connect to the world shine through, and in DeBaggio's case, it is as much in the lack of functioning as it is in the ability to function that one finds love, hope and the relaxing golden years of peace. At once an autobiography, a medical history and a testament to the beauty of memory, Losing My Mind is more than just a story of Alzheimer's, it is the captivating tale of one man's battle to stay connected with the world and his own life.

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 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 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 A Path Revealed written by Carlen Maddux and published by Paraclete Press. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just days after turning fifty, Martha Maddux, a spirited mother and civic activist, was told she had Alzheimer’s disease. She and husband Carlen felt as though they’d been shoved out of a plane 10,000 feet up, with nothing to grab but themselves. A Path Revealed is not about the fallout from an insidious disease that extended over seventeen years. It is the story of a path of hope emerging during the darkest hours - a path that lifted Carlen and Martha above the devastating symptoms of this disease. Carlen traveled with Martha to the backwoods of Kentucky, where the quiet presence of a Catholic nun revealed a hidden path. He was forced to slow down as he traced this path halfway around the world to Australia, retreated weekends to a monastery, embraced meditation, and landed all alone in Thomas Merton’s cabin. This story conveys a message of hope and joy in the midst of an almost overwhelming tragedy.

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 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 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 How Not to Study a Disease written by Karl Herrup and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2023-03-07 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authority on Alzheimer's disease offers a history of past failures and a roadmap that points us in a new direction in our journey to a cure. For decades, some of our best and brightest medical scientists have dedicated themselves to finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease. What happened? Where is the cure? The biggest breakthroughs occurred twenty-five years ago, with little progress since. In How Not to Study a Disease, neurobiologist Karl Herrup explains why the Alzheimer's discoveries of the 1990s didn't bear fruit and maps a direction for future research. Herrup describes the research, explains what's taking so long, and offers an approach for resetting future research. Herrup offers a unique insider's perspective, describing the red flags that science ignored in the rush to find a cure. He is unsparing in calling out the stubbornness, greed, and bad advice that has hamstrung the field, but his final message is a largely optimistic one. Herrup presents a new and sweeping vision of the field that includes a redefinition of the disease and a fresh conceptualization of aging and dementia that asks us to imagine the brain as a series of interconnected "neighborhoods." He calls for changes in virtually every aspect of the Alzheimer's disease research effort, from the drug development process, to the mechanisms of support for basic research, to the often-overlooked role of the scientific media, and more. With How Not to Study a Disease, Herrup provides a roadmap that points us in a new direction in our journey to a cure for Alzheimer's.

Download or read book My Bert Has Alzheimer s written by Paula de Ronde and published by FriesenPress. This book was released on 2022-01-26 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My Bert Has Alzheimer’s is an intimate, detailed account of a wife’s experience with her husband’s dementia. As Paula de Ronde quickly learned, life for two people — patient and caregiver - is thrown into disarray with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. Ambushed by the disease, it is a journey into the unknown, but one that features an abundance of love, hope, and support. There is no shying away from the horror of the disease, but its awfulness doesn’t strip from the experience of the powerful companions that accompany those enduring it — namely, love, laughter, and community. Thrust into the caregiver role for her other half who used to be her equal and best buddy, making all kinds of decisions together, Paula now enters a new world of uncertainty and chaos. There is no roadmap. Instead she learns that the disease is as individual as each person who contracts it. Here is a caregiver’s poignant and revealing story of the mental, physical, and emotional stress of caring for the love of her life, her Bert, as he gives over to his neurological disease. The caregiver’s life is far from easy. Yet fueled by love, which never wanes, each step of the way is handled with grace and the help of care partners. Alzheimer’s steals memories but also gives teaching moments. As the disease progresses Paula learns to be more tolerant, patient, compassionate and accepting of human frailties. Alzheimer’s releases an inner strength. She meets each challenge, finds a solution to each issue that arises, then passes on her new-found knowledge to others. She learns the value of having a support group. Alzheimer’s cements the old adage that laughter is the best medicine. Together she and her Bert become stronger than the disease. With humour, compassion, wisdom, and deep feeling, she describes this slice of their conjoined lives. More than a record of the impact of a disease this is, at its essence, also a love story.

Download or read book My Mom My Hero written by Lisa R. Hirsch and published by . This book was released on 2012-03-25 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 Amazon Best Seller in Memoirs category (June 2013) #7 Amazon Best Seller in Dementia (June 2013) #3 Amazon's "Most Wished For" in Dementia Category (June 2013) A Daughter's Newfound Love When Lisa Hirsch found out her mother, Ruth, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, her love, appreciation, and caring for her mother was transformed. To Lisa's surprise, it has brought her and Ruth closer together than they've ever been. My Mom My Hero tells the story of this mother-daughter relationship through a series of entries from Lisa's internationally popular blog. Ultimately this is an uplifting and inspirational book for anyone who's going through the difficult and often lonely ordeal of caring for a loved one who suffers from this devastating illness. "My Mom My Hero is filled with love and a deep appreciation for the human spirit." -Laura Stein, best-selling author "This book is a rare gift for anyone who reads it." -Holly Robinson, author of Sleeping Tigers and The Wishing Hill "My Mom My Hero is a light of inspiration in a world that can be dark and frustrating." -Franz Wisner, New York Times best-selling author of Honeymoon With My Brother and How the World Makes Love

Download or read book It s Not That Simple Helping Families Navigate the Alzheimer s Journey written by Pam Ostrowski and published by Alzheimer's Family Consulting. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book helps to relieve the fear, anxiety and confusion family member experience when a loved one is diagnosed with dementia. This 3-hour read provides detailed help with skills, tips and guidance based on 14 years of dementia experience.