Long-Term-Care Books

Nearly five million in the U.S. live with Alzheimer's, and the author is a child of an Alzheimer's sufferer - a journalist who signs on as a caregiver at an Alzheimer's facility in response to her mother's illness to better understand the condition. Her memoir provides insights into the field of dementia care and offers many poignant survival tactics and even a hopeful story. Highly recommended for both health and general interest lending libraries.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I would give this book 4 1/2 stars if it was available. This story was moving and funny all at once. I just thought it was a little long. It gives you a real inside look at Alzheimer's and you see that even in the midst of their dieses they have a life and are still people. I really enjoyed getting to know the people of Maplewood. This is a great story for anyone who is dealing with or knows someone or has an interest in Alzheimer's.

After much deliberation, praying and consideration, my brothers and I recently moved my mother, who is in the late stages of Alzheimers, away from her home of 39 years to an Alzheimers facility. The anticipation was so much worse than the actual move. My mother has never looked back, and loves the facility because of her interaction with others. Lauren's book really opened my eyes, and I praise her for her work. My mother's facility also has a lady who carries two dolls around, and now I understand!!!

When I was told my Mother had early stage altzheimers I was at sea. I bought three books on the subject and while each had a different "slant" for those who are watching this terrible disease they were very helpful in finding out what was happening and what I could expect. This book, tho but everything into human terms. It is a companion book to "Learning to Speak Altheizmers" . I highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to learn more about what happens to a family member as they go on this journey.

This book really touched me in many, many ways. From the personal level, the relating to Lauren's job, and in the residents that Lauren took care of. Sometimes I had to put the book down from a few minutes--to a few hours to allow me time to reflect. Thank you Lauren for sharing your experiences with us the reader. I look at Alzheimer's disease in a better, deeper way then before I read this book. :)

Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown, how antibiotics work, and the clinical trials--It's all here. The Road Back, the first book by Henry Scammell and Dr. Brown is here too. This is the update.

Between chapters explaining the science are patients' stories. They're doing everything from skiing and skin diving to playing with children and dogs. They share how the common drugs didn't help, and sometimes almost killed them! On antibiotics their diseases are controlled.

When I asked about antibiotics, my doctors refused. They'd prescribe it if it worked, wouldn't they? Well, if you like cover-up stories this is for you. Dr. Brown explains the history--how the auto-immune theory took hold. The patients see another side. Arthritis is big business. Treating us indefinitely is profitable. Curing us--is not.

Page 33: "...Until physicians are confronted by educated consumers, there is very little incentive for them to change. ...Just because MIRA therapy repeatedly has proven effective doesn't mean physicians will automatically give it to everyone it can help. In some cases that will depend on how effectively patients are able to use the power of this new knowledge. That is the reason for this book."

I was almost completely crippled by lupus and RA. I had taken all the usual drugs, I did everything with nutrition; nothing helped. Fortunately a friend told me about this book. On this therapy my pain is gone, I move normally, my deformities are less, and my blood work is better. I am in remission.

I wish I had known and acted sooner. So please READ THIS BOOK!! And see [...]

Great Information, Great Book, 5 STAR no question about it. I liked the book very much, has some great alternatives to conventional wisdom.

This text provided my family and I an alternative treatment outlook for the future of an RA suffer. At my age, 28 the toxic medication on offer from my specialist wasn't appealing. We were able to read and understand the disease better, it's long term impact on our lives and hopefully have found a safe effective alternative treatment. We have nothing to loose.

I bought this book for 2 people i know who have RA. I don't think either of them read it. You really have to be ready to think outside the traditional medical box to get this book. It was originally recommended to me by someone with RA who read it and is doing the treatments and is living a wonderful life because of it. She said it saved her life. I think it's worth knowing this information.

I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at 33 years old. I grew up very healthy and active. In September 2005, I had my second child, a girl. I was 32 years old. During both pregnancies I had hyperemesis gravidarum, which means extreme nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. In October and November of 2005, I had two root canals (I ruined my teeth from vomiting during pregnancy). My immune system was down because I had just had a baby (the immune system lowers as to not reject the fetus), I was getting very little sleep with a newborn, and I had just had two root canals, the perfect entrance for bacteria. In December 2005, the balls of my feet began to ache. By the beginning of January 2006, I knew something was wrong. I did some investigating later and found out I had a great aunt with Scleroderma and three second cousins with RA. There are also a lot of allergies and asthma in my family, indicating a pattern of hypersensitive immune systems. (I always thought I was the lucky one in the family who didn't get allergies. It seems my allergies have just manifested themselves in a different manner.) About a week later, I was in extreme pain and I had read a lot about RA and knew that my symptoms matched. I referred myself to a local rheumatologist. My pain had spread to over 35 joints. I was having trouble lifting my newborn baby, opening jars, turning car keys, fastening infant seats, putting on my 4-year-old's socks, brushing my teeth, washing my hair, etc. I required at least 12 hours of sleep at night, and was still tired during the day. I was very depressed. I would cry every day, usually out of frustration because I could not undo my seat belt or put on my son's socks for school. Everything that I read said this disease was progressive, degenerative and crippling. I could not imagine it getting any worse than it was! I was referred to [...] by other RA patients. I read and read. I contacted my local area contact. I told him I was considering starting Enbrel the following week. He e-mailed back that I had a choice to make. I could give antibiotics a try and possibly go into remission or get significantly better; or I could go on potentially harmful immune suppressors, which would usually eventually wear off and I would have to jump from one drug to the next. And what would happen if I ran out of drugs to try? He said there is hope in AP. With AP, I had the hope of getting better. With the other drugs, I was merely suppressing the symptoms, not getting to the root cause of the illness. I ordered the book The New Arthritis Breakthrough and started posting on the roadback board. It made much more sense than the conventional autoimmune wisdom which stated that: One random day my immune system just up and decided to attack my joints for no reason at all. I finally came to the conclusion that I did not want to just suppress my pain and symptoms. I wanted my life back. I knew that in the past I always tended to get side effects of medications and I thought I would probably be one of the 1% of people who got lymphoma, TB, or severe infection from the biologics. I knew I wanted to be alive to watch my kids grow up. It was not like I was NOT going to be treating my RA; I would be treating my RA with an American College of Rheumatology approved DMARD. I decided to try the antibiotic protocol. It was the best decision I have ever made. Within 1-2 months of being on Zithromax, the depression and fatigue had disappeared. Within 3 months, I felt 60% better. After 10 months, I was 98% back to my normal self. 18 months later, and I have only one finger that will not bend all the way into a fist (it is about an inch away). My rheumatoid factor has dropped from 282 to 28 and my CCP has dropped from it's all-time high of 153 to 55. My sed rate is 1.0 and my CRP is .3. I walk two miles a day. My feet, neck, knees, ankles, and shoulders do not hurt at all! I thank God, Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown, Henry Scammell,and The Road Back Foundation for giving me my life back!

This book has given me some help on things to think about with my aging parents.

Read "The Retirement Nightmare" by Dr. Diane Armstrong. Get the real truth about the fraud and abuse of the elderly and not so elderly. To avoid a professional guardianship, should be of paramount importance. Reports of guardians stealing from their wards' bank accounts and other wise abusing guardianship powers are surfacing with disturbing regularity. 'This problem is going to get bigger and bigger,' says E. Bentley Lipscomb, AARP's Florida state director and a former state secretary of elder affairs. - GUARDIANS DRAWING INCREASED SCRUTINY, AARP Bulletin.

Virginia Morris nails it with this comprehensive volume. She addresses every issue I've faced as a caregiver and more. Her sensitivity and caring shine through every page, and she's packed the book with useful information.

If you're caring for aging parents, start here. "How to Care for Aging Parents" stands head and shoulders above other general caregiving books.

Phyllis Staff, Ph.D.
author, "How to Find Great Senior Housing"
and
"128 Ways to Prevent Alzheimer's and Other Dementias"

Taking care of my 90 yr old Grandmother was so difficult. This book gave me so much insight on area's that I had no understanding of. Also helped point me in the right direction to planning at the end.

This book is exceptional. The author includes all specifics needed to apply the valuable information provided throughout the book...including phone numbers and addresses. Not only did the book help my husband and I prepare to care for our own parents, reading it has helped us prepare for our own aging process. The information will make things as easy as possible for our single child when we become the "Aging Parents". This book is a must have. I bought one for each of my siblings and also copies for good friends who are also caring for elderly parents.

Thank you, Valerie, for sharing your expertise with us in this highly recommended book that is both easy to read and to understand.

If you are are an adult child with aging parents, this valuable book is a must to read!

Joanne Harmon(WI)
Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)
Certified in Long Term Care (CLTC)

I highly recommend this book for everyone that loves their parents or grandparents and want to help them stay at home as long as possible. The amount of information in one single source is fantastic. I found the book easy to read and informative, great for anyone who is looking for help.

I found "The Senior Solution" easy to read, filled with practical information that I can use and bring to the attention of the people I serve as a loan officer and insurance producer. Now is the time to think ahead and prepare for your own possible long term care needs. Long Term Care Insurance is the way to ensure your peace of mind and protect the assets you've worked so hard for.

I've recently had the opportunity to read "The Senior Solution" by Valerie Van Booven-Whitsell, RN, BSN, PGCM. This book looks at the issues faced by seniors and their adult children, it covers all aspects of challenges that seniors face and gives clear, concise workable answers to them. This is a book whose cost is a worthwhile investment for seniors and their families as well as the advisors that work in the senior marketplace.

Kenneth R. Clark
Certified Senior Advisor

Having seen four of my family members, including both sets of parents and in-law parents who have needed special care and attention during periods of aging, disability and dying, I had to learn by trial and error. Unfortunately, many times it was by error.

Valerie has clearly and concisely covered a very difficult subject in a very easy to read, relatively short book. She is to be commended for including such areas as VA Home Aid and Attendant Services Grants. I had never heard about them before. She also establishes reverse mortgages as a viable way of handling financial needs for seniors aged 62 and over. At the end of the book is a very comprehensive reference guide to several outstanding websites.

All in all, this book is outstanding....especially as more and more people are aging and joining the "sandwich generation"!

6+ stars****** My parents recently moved into an assisted living facility. I wish I had read this book before instead of just after so I could have acted sooner. It gave me strength as my mother cried to know that this too shall pass and it is truly the wisest, safest, and healthest action to take. Each day is a little better. If I had read the book earlier I would have not made excuses for the mounting behavior changes, seen through her intelligent masking of memory loss, and helped my Dad make the difficult decision earlier, probably making the move easier for both of them. Stella's gift to us of her experience through the stories makes it an easy and pleasent read. As every pregant woman reads "What To Do When You're Expecting" so should every adult with 70+ parents read "The Eldercare Handbook". At least then you'll know it's normal and can make loving, practical decisions.

We baby boomers may have thought we were the most informed generation of all time, but no one I know was prepared to deal with aging parents. Stella's book is a gentle study of the process physically, emotionally and spiritually, full of forgiveness and gratitude along with information you can use right now. It has been extremely helpful to me and my family, and I've given "Eldercare" to many friends who share my appreciation. Thank you, Stella.

Stella Henry has answered so many important questions about how to deal with our aging parent's needs as well as our own. This is a MUST READ for every adult child with a parent that may need our help. She deals with the emotional and physical aspects for both the parent and adult child's needs. The insite into how and when to choose a care facilty is invaluable.

Great resource. Read it before you NEED it. But let's say you're like me, you've waited too long and you're up against a wall, it's still helpful. Get tips on the fine legal issues, get support and guidelines for decision making.

I bought several books of this type and this one is by far the most helpful and informative. It was invaluable in my visits to assisted living and nursing home facilities - letting me know what to look for and what questions to ask. But there is so much more to this book than just that. If I could only buy one book to help me understand how I can help my parents this would definitely be it.

Most of us are amateurs in caring for ill people. As one reviewer wrote, the burden of doing so "is apt to descend upon us like a blow from fate, stunning and unforeseen. ... [Then] something cracks open -- a father or a friend gets cancer, a mother succumbs to Alzheimer's, a husband has a terrible accident, a child dies -- and what Virginia Woolf once called "extreme reality" floods in." Any one of us can find ourselves unexpectedly tested to the limits of our endurance.

In number terms, there are 30 million caretakers in this country, and of course at least 30 million patients. As our population ages, both numbers are sure to grow, and the number of patients will undoubted grow faster than the number of caretakers.

These 19 people have written honest accounts of their experiences. The essays will help anyone understand the possible tests to their own endurance: the blow may happen to you as a caretaker or as a patient -- in either event, it will help to be as prepared as you can be.

Caretakers in this book describe the burden as "a black hole of time and energy," a "Black Balloon," "our own little prison," "Planet Autism" and "this unfamiliar country with different weathers, different rules." The caretaker's love is often meaningless; "You and your love don't help me," Helen Schulman's father says. "How could this be? How could this endless reservoir of affection and attachment and respect that I felt for this man prove so powerless, so worthless?"

Dr. Jerome Groopman finds that when a friend is diagnosed for cancer, "for the first time in my career I had reached my limits as a treating physician... [Now I'm only a] physician once removed."

Many caretakers can't escape at all. Scot Sea, the father of a severely autistic 15-year-old girl, describes the daily routine as "just the same scene from the same interminable clip on the late show from hell". He has contempt for those "New Age pests, overdosed on media mythology," who tell him "that being the parent of an autistic child is a blessing." Nevertheless he continues to take care of his daughter.

Helen Schulman echoes the thought: "I think that people like to believe there is a reward in the end for caregiving. There were no rewards."

So does Ann Harleman: "MS is something that goes on happening .... Something huge and black that descends slowly and inexorably and surrounds you ... Bruce and I have christened it the Black Balloon. To anyone who sees me ... I seem to be in their world, the world of the well. Going about my work, going about my life. But, actually, I am inside the Black Balloon with Bruce."

Eleanor Cooney writes of reaching her limits: "I felt hard and mean and full of sorrow all at once, and it drove me truly mad. Drove me, in fact, to drink." She moves her mother into an assisted living center, who finds her too "high maintenance" for the staff to handle. With her mother back home, she asks" "What would you do? I'm still waiting for the answer."

Abigail Thomas cares for her brain damaged husband: "Sometimes I feel as if I'm trying to rescue a drowning man and I only have time to rise to the surface for one gasp of air before I go back down again. There is an exhilaration to it, a high born only partly of exhaustion, and I find myself almost frighteningly alive."

Ann Harleman writes that her marriage improved when her husband was moved to a nursing home: "I'm no longer his physical caregiver, I'm no longer implicated in his illness. ... Because our bodies don't connect, our hearts can."

There are essays here by Andrew Solomon, Amanda Fortini and Julia Glass discussing the patient's perspective: "the helplessness of surrendering to another, the paradox of both wanting attention and not." No one speaks for the patients who have no one to be their caretaker, an increasingly large group of people. And, you may find some essays weak, too light hearted or too New Age or even too self indulgent.

My personal advice: don't judge others too harshly. Sometimes the very best that someone can do is far below your own standards. Each of us has to face these challenges, whether caretaker or patient in our own way. It is very easy to criticize how others face their challenges, but if this book does nothing else, it should convince the reader that there is no "right way".

Robert C. Ross 2008

Both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My mother is in a nursing home and has dementia.

The variety of emotions and experiences in this beautifully written and profoundly felt collection covered about 80% of my gifts and disasters during my 12 years of 24/7/365. It's wonderful when we can read that others share our sorrows and joys while putting careful and caring words and analysis to them. New Wave CareGivers are not your father's Buick anymore.

This is a wonderful case book for caregivers. Many different situations are included and the essays are thoughtful and well written. It's a must for all those involved in such cases, including health and psychological problems. I came away with many ideas to help in my own caregiving.

fwt

All of us at some point in our lives will need to confront the issues written about in this eloquent collection -- whether it's our parents, our spouses, our siblings, our friends, or even ourselves. The writers here tackle the subject with intimacy, poignancy, grace...and a great amount of courage.

There are stand-outs for me in this collection: the writer Helen Schulman asking her father, "We all love you, we still have fun together, we still can enjoy one another, does any of that help at all?" Her father's reply: "No, you and your love don't help me." As a daughter myself trying to tackle my mother's depression after my father's death, this line really resonated.

Then there's Eleanor Cooney's remarkable essay, "Death in Slow Motion", about her mother's descend into Altzheimer's disease and the toll it takes on her -- unflinchingly real, not at all flowery, straightforward and raw. Or Ann Hood's essay "In The Land of Little Girls", about the death of her five-year-old daughter...which broke my heart by the courage it took to go back to those emotions and write it so perfectly. And Amanda Fortini's "The Vital Role" about her own debilitating tropical illness and her symbiotic relationship with her caregiver: "a story that arose from a perfect confluence of needs: one person's desperate need to be cared for and another's equally urgent need to care."

I could go on and on about these gems, all focusing on the most elemental of needs -- connection, intimacy, loss, courage. This is an important book, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Marie de Hennezel sits on the beds of hospice patients, holds their hands, touches the painful places, and even rocks them while they have their bandages changed or cry from grief. This hospice psychologist is as comfortable with touch as with silence. She doesn't shy away from murmuring endearments. She seems to know the most helpful and comforting words to say.

I loved each story, including de Hennezel's struggle with her 86-year old father's suicide and her friendship with French president Francois Mitterand, who visited her palliative care unit to see the peaceful ways in which people can die when given proper pain control and compassionate psychological support. When Mitterand was diagnosed with cancer, he asked for her. So would I!

This 1997 book is heartfelt and informative. It is almost as good as the new book From the Start Consider the Finish: A Guide to Excellent End of Life Care, written by a mother-daughter hospice team Susan Dolan and Audrey Vizzard. This little gem contains practical information, engaging stories, and unexpected humor.

Both books show that a good death is not necessarily a quick one with as little suffering or consciousness as possible. The dying process can involve immense personal growth, precious transformation, and deep spiritual peace.

Marie de Hennezel was born in the same year I was, 1946. I would love to meet this extraordinary death doula before I die.

Nancy Manahan, Ph.D., author of Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully - A Journey with Cancer and Beyond

An essential book for anyone involved in caring for a person who is terminally ill. Enormously human, helpful, inspiring.

The subtitle "how the dying teach us how to live",
had a unusually specific meaning for me.

As I watched my emotional response and empathy to the conversations
between Hennezel and terminally ill patients, I began to notice how many
patients wanted to die earlier, not later, until, that is, their
conversation with Hennezel. And, in each case, the patient was glad to
have lived another few days or weeks because, during the conversation,
they had resolved some outstanding issues about their lives. As Hennezel
helped them attend to unfinished business, I realized how much unfinished
business I have myself. Or, put another way, I see the backlog of
things-I-had-hoped-to-do (manifested in stuffed filing cabinets, cluttered
workshop and storage areas, relationships, shelves of dusty books,
financial legal issues, ... and all forms of hoarding) as well as
relationships from the past that need attention through the lens
of "unfinished business."

My life expectancy is a decade or two but this small volume, Intimate
Death, awakened me to the potential value of attending to the backlog of
all the agendas that had been postponed before retirement. In practice,
this means that I demand that most of my time be spent in stuff I had
been postponing for years and, like Hennezel's patients, I feel
so much better, even moments of serenity, when I attend to "my stuff."

I can open the volume to any pages and within minutes I'm teary eyed.
It's the depth of my emotional responses to the moving conversations that
keeps me on my new track. I dare not read the whole book in one setting
-- perhaps 10 pages/week keeps me moving on this new path.

I keep wanting to buy a crate of these books and hand them out on the
street corner but I realize that issues surrounding death is not for everyone.

My sister and I are caring for her husband at home. He has only a few more days to live. The hospice people are great, but they could not tell us what this book has told us about what to expect now at the end of his life. It has been tremendously helpful for both of us to read this book. I will be buying copies for many people and organizations in the coming years.

a gift from zoey's teacher who became my friend, this book is a strange comfort. subtitled "how the dying teach us how to live", i contemplate the daily journey and choice of work for Marie de Hennezel, the author. She accompanies the dying through setting up palliative care units in France. She accompanies the president and the poor. She tells tender stories of sitting by the side of the dying, offering them a trained stranger's comfort for the truth telling that seems too hard to bear by loved ones. She tells a cutting truth--not devoid of emotion, but certainly not overly emotional. Her life of accompaniment is a series of acts of fact. She recounts them. In her final sentence, she tells her community of readers of her longing to share her discovery of final intimacies as a revelatory exercise in celebrating humanity. It is a moving tribute to herself and those she had accompanied--this book of simple truth telling. She is unabashed as she recounts her involvement in the dying of strangers who become blessed friends. She mentions her children once or twice, her husband only in passing, and it is clear there is either a profound separation between her private life and her work, or that, more likely, her work, the sole subject of this book, is also overshadowing and compelling, perhaps to the detriment of her motherhood and marriage. what a wretched thing to suppose? me, a supposed feminist, reading between the lines to note the intimacy with strangers and the neglect of her family? how dare i? and yet, i am left with that feeling: she is good at her work, but what about her life?

it took me some time to get through this book--and i guess that's the thing about grief. it matters not that other people die, until there is room to see past the death of one's own loved one. and then, there is the invitation to the wider human condition. of course everyone dies. of course many die unaccompanied. of course many, who attend to the deaths of others, cannot, somehow, face the death of their own loved ones. of course. of course. the egoistic centrality of one's own pain makes it difficult to make room for anyone else's. and yet, when i did wade deeper into the water of this book, i was called closer to the moments of "real life" that marie accompanies. like the author, my future work choices may invite a deeper contemplation of what i could and couldn't do for my own father as he faced his final moments. like every poet, i am somewhat fascinated by what it all comes down to, what it means and where we go. like every playwright, i am interested in the untold stories of others and how marie reveals to her readers, that those she accompanies are often unable to go on, until they tell that story to someone else.

for her story, i am grateful to marie de hennezel. for her work, countless others have been moved, touched & inspired.

This is a good reference book with information on many areas of concern all in one book. Well organized and seems to be quite accurate.

"Be Prepared" is the only guide to provide a comprehensive and accessible map for coping with the maze of financial, legal, tax, and practical issues. It was refreshing to just discover that a financial planner somewhere "out there" had taken the diagnosis and progression of chronic illness into consideration. Many books from planners are written with a "what if you get an illness" or "after you owe thousands in medical bills" viewpoint. This is a great book for understanding the basics when you have a chronic illness but are not yet owing over a hundred thousand dollars in medical bills.

I highly recommend it to all of those with chronic illness that my organization serves through HopeKeepers Magazine--telling them it's WELL worth the expense.

It is easy to access and understand and includes over three hundred tips, with guidance on these and other topics:

How to obtain, keep, and maximize use of your health insurance coverage. * How to maximize your income and manage your debts. * How to make new uses of assets, such as turning life insurance into cash and using credit as a nest egg. * How to assess work issues, including the legal protections relating to your current job or a new one. * How to prepare for disability, make it work for you, and return to work without compromising your benefits. * How to minimize your taxes. * How to tailor your investment and retirement strategy to meet the needs of your condition. * How to choose and use the best professional services, including doctors, home care, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, and hospices. * How to find, evaluate, and finance promising new drugs and treatments.

This book was full of helpful information. I read it for my stepmother, who has terminal cancer. There is tons of information in the book, and it was super easy to pick through it and read the parts that were relevant to us. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has limited time in this world.

Before I start my review let me just say I read the previous reviews for this book and I don't understand the ranting of Betty Burk's review. It is very clear that she has not read this book and is on some personal vendetta against the gay culture. It's amazing how she speaks out about name calling from "bullies" on the internet but has no problem with singling out young gay men as being "evil." I hope Betty is judged as she judges others.

At age 34, I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that has metasized to my liver. At the time of my surgery to remove a large tumor from my colon, my oncologist gave me a 50% chance of living another two years.

Today, I've survived over a year and a half of chemotherapy and still going strong. My wife discovered this book one day at our oncology clinic at a time where we where struggling with a lifetime cap on my health insurance and monthly bills from the hospital that would burn up the cap in a year.

This book, though a little bit dated with the recent drug plans offered by Medicare, covers pretty much everything you should be thinking about when dealing with a life challenging condition. From dealing with your employer, your rights as a person with a disability, to private insurance and disability, and of course your options for long term care, social security, Medicare and Medicaid. It also encourages you as well as gives you hints on how you can take action as your own advocate.

I highly recommend anyone facing a life challenging illness or disability to read at least the first chapter of this book. The chapters are well listed and you can skip very easily to the places you are most interested in. I'd also encourage family members to read it as well.

Overall, it's a wealth of information written in "grandma's english" which makes it very easy to understand. I thank David Landay for providing us with this great resource.

Be Prepared seems to have been written for people with AIDS and cancer, but its recommendations apply to anyone facing health problems and any kind of financial difficulty. The author guides you through getting disability, maintaining health insurance, getting other benefits that may be available to you and getting all your papers and affairs in order.

These steps help you keep control of your life when health problems could otherwise overwhelm you. As Landay says, "preparing for the worst allows you to expect the best." I followed his recommendations in coping with multiple sclerosis and applied some of them in my book The Art of Getting Well.

It's not always the easiest read; it's long and packed with info and resources. But I consider it a vital reference; I don't know of an equal one on the topic.

David Spero RN www.davidsperoRN.com

A very good, nuts and bolts book that helps greatly with the caring of a patient with a fading mind. Thank You

I think this book is an excellent book in givig ideas as to the different problems that can occur when caring for one that has AD. It gives examples of the do's and don't's during various problems that can arise in caregiving

I had the opportunity to work with Ms. Bell at the Helping Hands center almost 10 years ago. It is an amazing program and she is the most amazing person I have ever met. This book teaches you the fundamentals of how the Day Care operates and how to communicate with those afflicted with Dementia. After all these years I still rely on this book and its teachings in my work as a therapist.

This book was very easy to read and understand and for someone just starting caregiving the book gives some good ideas. I do think though that for more indepth information there are better books out there.

As a professional in the Alzheimer's field, as well as a family caregiver, I have read dozens of books on caring for people with Alzheimer's disease. Though there are many excellent ones (Claudia J. Strauss's "Talking to Alzheimer's" and Bell & Troxel's "The Best Friends' Book of Alzheimer's Activities" are other favorites), this is the first book I most recommend to anyone on the challenging journey of caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease. It is simply superb.

What a wonderful book about Mary Ellen Geist who gives up her high paying job as a reporter, her lifestyle and all she knows to move back with her mom to take care of her dad who has Alzheimers. This book has it all--humor, sadness, touching moments. You get into it quickly and at points it is hard to put down. I enjoyed this this book! I'd give it 10 stars if I could!

Hope. Grief. Frustration. Exhaustion. Delight. Denial. Mary Ellen Geist touches on all these emotions and many more in her account of dealing with her father's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. She put her career and life on hold and returned to her childhood home in Michigan to help her parents. In the Foreword Dr. Oliver Sacks points out that Geist "has written eloquently of a whole family living with dementia." This is indeed the whole family's story. Geist gently guides readers into the labyrinth of daily life in the household.

The book is emotional but also full of information. Stories of other caregivers are woven into the narrative. Facts and figures about the disease and caregivers (71% are women) are provided. Particular attention is devoted to caregivers. All too often caregivers take on too much and compromise their own health.

One chapter that surprised me was about the hospital experience. Geist's father (Woody) was admitted for orthopedic surgery, a double knee replacement. He was in the hospital for two weeks. The hospital personnel were not prepared to deal with a Alzheimer's patient; I was shocked. This chapter, "Hospital Hell and Healing," should be read by any caregiver who will have an Alzheimer's patient in the hospital. Geist offers a list of suggestions that will be helpful.

Despite a cascading loss of mental acuity, Woody never lost his musical abilities. He remembered the words and melodies to songs learned long ago. Music remained in tact in Woody's brain. As Sacks notes, "he seemed to be completely present, to come together and bypass his dementia (though as soon as the singing ended, the dementia was evident again)."

Anyone caring for a person with dementia will find information and validation in this book. There are resources listed and a bibliography. Most importantly Geist brings her journalist's instincts to bear on this incredibly difficult and stressful situation. She honestly discusses personal difficulties and offers concrete suggestions for coping.

Mary Ellen Geist left a stellar career as a radio broadcaster to move home and help her mother take care of her father, Woody, a sufferer of Alzheimer's. She did not know, could not know what she was in for.

Like so many daughters who move home to cope with this devastating disease, Geist experienced moments of sweetness, hours of frustration, days of pain as she watched her father slip further and further away. Her dreams of rescuing her mother from the pain of a spouse with Alzheimer's faded away to a more realistic view of the disease and the problems that inevitably accompany it. Their world, once expansive, contracted as friends slipped away. This is how it is living with Alzheimer's.

Geist has created a fine volume. Her writing shines and is even lyrical at times. Her pain is clear; the gifts this disease brought her also clear. Hers is a book to make the tears flow, and mine did as I recalled my own father's descent into darkness.

If there ever were a reason to make every possible effort to avoid Alzheimer's or any other the other dementias associated with aging, Geist provides it. Read it. Weep and laugh with her.

Godspeed Woody. Godspeed Mary Ellen. Well done.

About a year ago, I was exploring a relatively undiscovered island paradise in the South China Sea when I received a call telling me my father (age 92) and his wife (86) had been in an accident and both were in the hospital. As the only child, I naturally said I'd be there (rural western Michigan - more than 8,600 miles away) as soon as possible. When I commented something like "must have been a bad accident" the response was "the accident isn't the problem." Having an unstable VOIP connection, I let that comment drop and began making arrangement to head there (stopping off briefly at my home in Nevada). As soon as I got to the states, I had to confront the harsh reality: the accident wasn't the cause of the problem - it was the result of both of them having what was now diagnosed as "Senile Dementia of Alzheimer's type."
Flash forward 9 months. My life has adapted to a routine of flying to Michigan to spend a week or so each month with them -- while a couple wonderful paid 24/7 caregivers allow them the freedom to stay in their home. I'm fresh off a red-eye, driving a rent-a-SUV full of food and flowers and Depends heading to my parent's home when I hear on Diane Rehms' NPR show some woman addressing a challenging issue that I was also facing at the time (how to get an Alzheimer's patient to eat). Damn! She had some extremely helpful suggestions. As soon as I arrived, I implemented her concepts -- then went on-line with my laptop and ordered her book (Measure of the Heart) from Amazon. And I'm so glad I did.
More than merely a compendium of useful tips (even though it is also that) Mary Ellen Geist's book is an insightful and thought-provoking first-person perspective that will strike a resounding chord with anyone who has a friend or family member with this disease - as well as being a fascinating, touching story for any reader.
It is her very personal narrative of leaving the fast-paced, high-profile world of broadcast journalism in New York City to come home to Michigan and help care for her father who has suffered from Alzheimer's for 10+ years. With a delicate balance of humor and profound sadness, Mary Ellen gives voice to the heart-wrenching challenges that hundreds of thousands of us baby boomers now face in caring for our aging parent.
It is obvious from her book that her father was a brilliant, charming and gentle man. It also shines a light on the heroism of spousal caretakers like her mother, Rosemary. It weaves together this family's story with a very readable account of his slow transformation and deterioration. She addresses the complexity and array of emotions surrounding issues such as the loss of independence, unwanted personality shifts, struggle to communicate, and the unique power music sometimes has to transcend the pain.
This book is hard to put down. Then, on the other hand, there were times in reading her story (such as dealing with refusals to eat or patiently listening to the same story over and over) that touched me so deeply and personally, that I had to stop reading and put it down.
Mary Ellen acknowledges the difficulty of these situations honestly, while at the same time providing simple concepts that can help diffuse the issues by emphasizing a strategy of relating to patients in their own reality.
She used her fine journalistic investigative skills to learn everything she could about the disease's history and treatment options. The book is user friendly. It shows easy, day to day activities that can help patients feel a sense of connection and accomplishment.
This is book of courage, instruction, empathy and family loyalty. Certainly, there are numerous challenges that other families face which it does not address. Yet, it is what it is: her personal revelation of her family's story. This appears to be an exceptional family - she is certainly an extraordinary woman - and this is a book I can whole-heartedly recommend.

As lifespans lengthen, it's an unfortunate reality that more and more of us are likely to encounter the tragedy of Alzheimer's Disease. In "Measure of the Heart," ambitious, successful California and New York radio news anchor and reporter Mary Ellen Geist tells of leaving her career to help her mother care for her father as he declines in the clutches of this terrible affliction.

Both an exlanation of Alzheimers and a personal caregiver's memoir, this book explores the tragic effects of the disease on the vctim and his family. As the disease progresses, the author learns to let herself be guided by her heart rather than by the pressures of her demanding career.

This very personal story helps to explain the devotion of Woody Geist's wife, daughters, and other family members to this nice, kind, cheerful former CEO who loves to play tennis and to sing, activities he is able to continue long after the disease strikes. The family's selfless devotion and refusal to put Woody into a care facility seem puzzling as the disease progresses, and yet their extraordinary love is admirable.

In addition to telling the victim's and caregivers' stories, this book explores and lists various resources: helpful organizations, publications, and web sites devoted to Alzheimer's and those dealing with it. The book makes fascination reading for anyone who has ever wondered about the disease or marveled at the dedication of those dealing with its victims. For anyone faced with an Alzheimer's diagnosis in the famiy, it should be required reading.