AlzAuthors: Untangling Alzheimer's & Dementia: Recent Episodes
AlzAuthors Featured on The Whole Care Network
Welcome to the AlzAuthors podcast! We’re so glad you found us. We are the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer's and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Join us as one of our authors shares their dementia journey, revealing intimate details and painfully obtained knowledge to help others currently on this path. We hope our stories offer comfort and support as we strive to break the silence and stigma surrounding a dementia diagnosis. May one of our authors speak to your experience. For more info please visit https://alzauthors.com.
Featuring Marianne Sciucco, RN
Podcast producer and host Marianne Sciucco is a co-founder and director at AlzAuthors and a registered nurse who cared for hundreds of dementia patients over a 20-year career. She provided care to her stepfather during his dementia journey and witnessed the painful decline of four beloved aunts to the disease. Her novel, "Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story," is based on a couple she met through her work and is a testament to the power of love in the face of this heart-wrenching disease.
Learn more about Marianne at AlzAuthors.com.
Purchase "Blue Hydrangeas"
Featuring Christy Byrne Yates, M.S., LEP
Christy is a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP), retired school psychologist, author, speaker and coach/consultant. Her book, “Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation” recounts her journey as a working mother of two who also managed the care of her parents, both of whom had some form of dementia. Combining her lived experience with her professional expertise in human development, wellness and a strengths based approach to finding solutions, Christy develops content, workshops and coaching to support Sandwiched families. She incorporates meditation, mindfulness and other evidence based mind/body practices into her work. She’s worked with care communities, financial professionals, estate planners and employers. Christy has a master’s degree in counseling psychology, and graduate credentials in both education and school psychology.
Learn more about Christy at AlzAuthors.com.
AlzAuthors is an Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small commission on book sales at no cost to you.
Join hosts Marianne Sciucco and Christy Byrne Yates on the Untangling Alzheimer's & Dementia podcast as they dive into a lively conversation with AlzAuthor Tami Anastasia about the challenges caregivers face in supporting individuals with dementia. Tami's book, Essential Strategies for Dementia Care: Learning to P.A.C.E. Yourself, offers guidance for caregivers on various topics, from communication techniques to managing emotions like anger and grief. The conversation begins with Tami providing insights on motivating individuals with dementia to engage in activities. She emphasizes the importance of understanding that all behavior is a form of communication and highlights the need to truly listen to the person with dementia. Tami also explores the concept of grief and loss in dementia care, emphasizing the need to connect with the person rather than correcting them.
In this episode, you will be able to:
- Gain enlightenment on the unvoiced hurdles that caregivers of dementia patients face.
- Kickstart your efficient caregiving journey with the assistance of the P.A.C.E. model.
- Determine how to strike the delicate balance between personal self-care and caretaking for your loved ones with dementia.
- Learn techniques to reinforce your confidence and self-esteem in your role as a caregiver.
- Develop a deeper understanding of the emotional intricacies involved in dementia care and how to manage them.
More about Tami
Tami Anastasia is a reliable confidante to countless family caregivers, guiding them through the complexities of dementia care. Drawing strength from her personal experiences—especially her encounters with her grandmother's dementia diagnosis—she's dedicated to easing the journey for caregivers. Besides running a bustling private practice in the greater Bay Area of California, she inked her experiences and wisdom in the form of her practical book, Dementia Caregiver: Learning to P.A.C.E. Yourself.
Connect with Tami
Website
X (Twitter)
TikTok
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
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AlzAuthors.com
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Register for Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Living with Dementia September 1 at 10:30 AM EST
Watch the June 2021 episode on YouTube
Rayna Neises comes to us from the heartland of Kansas to share her experience as a former caregiver for parents with dementia. She is the author of No Regrets: Hope for Your Caregiving Season. She also hosts the podcast "A Season of Caring," and is the publisher of "Content Magazine: Finding God in Your Caregiving Season." Our conversation focuses on her belief that caregiving is "a season of life," and the necessity of finding support to navigate its challenges. She offers valuable insights for caregivers who may feel overwhelmed and isolated, and emphasizes the importance of self-care and setting boundaries. Her book, podcast, and magazine offer further support for caregivers seeking to maintain their identity and find moments of respite amidst the chaos.
In this podcast, you will:
- Embrace the enlightening concept of caregiving as a pivotal life season, rather than a mere duty;
- Learn how to navigate the complex landscape of dementia care unveiling truths that may transform your understanding of caregiving;
- Acknowledge the urgent need for advanced planning and transparent conversations around personal care choices;
- Discover that faith-based support groups may offer much-needed comfort in this demanding journey
About Rayna Neises
Rayna Neises understands the joys and challenges that come from a season of caring. She helped care for both of her parents during their separate battles with Alzheimer’s over a thirty-year span. She looks back on those days now with no regrets – and she wishes the same for everyone caring for aging parents. To help others through this challenging season of life, Rayna has written No Regrets: Hope for Your Caregiving Season, a book filled with her own heart-warming stories and practical suggestions for journeying through a caregiving season. She is an ICF Associate Certified Coach with certifications in both Life and Leadership Coaching from the Professional Christian Coaching Institute. She is also the host of “A Season of Caring Podcast” and a passion speaker. Rayna lives on a farm in southeast Kansas with her husband, Ron, and small pack of adorable dogs. She is the baby of her family, but most would never guess that. A former teacher, she enjoys crafts of all kinds and spending time with her grandkids most of all.
Connect with Rayna
Facebook.com/ASeasonofCaringRaynaNeises
Linkedin.com/RaynaNeises
Instagram.com/RaynaNeises
Pinterest.com/thcoaching
Website
Book
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
AlzAuthors.com
Shop our Store
After a dementia diagnosis and heart surgery, Tony Copeland-Parker and his partner, Catherine, aka "Cat," traveled for years worldwide to run marathons and half-marathons. Now, due to the progression of Cat's early onset Alzheimer's, they've recently settled down in an assisted living facility. Tony and his memoir, Running All Over the World: Our Race Against Early Onset Alzheimer's, first came to AlzAuthors in January, 2022. He has appeared on our podcast and in a virtual panel discussion, Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care. Tony is an expert on traveling with a loved one with dementia, and now speaks about the intricacies involved in finding a suitable place to settle down for the duration of Alzheimer's.
On the podcast, Tony shares how he initially struggled to accept Cat's diagnosis and find a way forward. He eventually realized that focusing on making the most of their time together was a more constructive approach than searching for a cure. By dedicating their energy to activities they love, Tony and Cat have been able to maintain their connection and find solace amidst the challenges posed by Alzheimer's.
In this episode, you will:
- Delve into Tony's enlightening journey as an Alzheimer's caregiver and the lessons he's learned
- Discover how to develop a balanced approach to caregiving that preserves your self-identity and allows you to follow your passions
- Uncover essential strategies for hassle-free traveling with a cognitively impaired loved one
- Learn the art of maintaining your own identity while caregiving without sacrificing your passions
- Discover the crucial aspects of selecting the perfect care facility for Alzheimer's care and why it matters
After the Podcast
Purchase Running All Over the World: Our Race Against Early Onset Alzheimer's
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Read Tony's AlzAuthors post Anthony Copeland-Parker and Partner Catherine Become Marathon Nomads
Listen to Tony's first podcast Anthony Copeland-Parker Untangles Life as a Nomad and Early Onset Alzheimer's
Listen to our panel discussion Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care
Watch our panel discussion Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care
Connect with Tony
Website and blog
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a Whole Care Network Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
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Jane Mullins, Ph.D. is a dedicated professional with a 30-year background in dementia care. As a trained nurse, Jane has worked in various roles, including managing care homes and supporting people with dementia in memory clinics. Her empathetic approach focuses on enhancing communication and understanding between individuals with dementia and their families. Jane's groundbreaking multisensory reminiscence technique has been a game-changer for couples impacted by dementia, encouraging connection and rekindling memories. Her book, "Finding the Light in Dementia Care," showcases her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of those living with cognitive impairment. She recently transformed the lessons in her book into an online course, available to anyone,
In this episode, Jane highlights the importance of building trust and empathy with people with dementia and their families throughout their care journey. She believes that the person with dementia should always lead the way in their care, allowing them to create a trusting environment with the caregivers. This trust enables effective communication, which can significantly improve the person's quality of life, even in advanced stages of the disease.
In this episode, you will learn:
- how to enhance dementia caregiving communication by utilizing sensory props and crafting a secure atmosphere
- ways to streamline the learning process for caregivers with easy-to-understand, engaging, and compact educational material
- the crucial role of advanced care strategies and transparent dialogues in dementia care
- how to access the Duet Caregiving Training approach, embracing Dignity, Understanding, Empathy, and Training principles
About Jane Mullins, Ph. D
Dr. Jane M. Mullins is a dementia nurse consultant who has devoted over 25 years to the study and practice of dementia care. Through listening to and supporting people and their families during their diagnosis in memory clinics, caring for them in hospital and in care homes, she has helped throughout all of the stages of their condition.
Jane has uncovered certain common features that may help caregivers and the people they care for find better ways of coping. Her practice experience is backed up by expert knowledge gained from attending conferences, continuing education, lecturing and keeping up to date with research, as well as studying for her Ph.D. which explores multisensory ways of communicating and connecting.
Connect with Dr. Mullins
- Website
- Mature Times
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
AlzAuthors.com
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A crucial aspect of caregiving is keeping those in your care engaged and productive with simple, everyday tasks. Such activities can include folding laundry, arranging books, cooking, and eating. Not only does this provide purpose and enjoyment for the care recipient, but it also promotes independence and preserves dignity. Encouraging participation in daily tasks, even in a small capacity, can significantly enhance the overall quality of life for both caregiver and care recipient. In this podcast, Melissa Bernstein, an occupational therapist, and David Bernstein, a geriatrician with over 40 years of practice, share the importance of these regular activities and how they can benefit those receiving care. They stress the value of including all the senses in these tasks, such as playing music while cooking or eating. The goal is to create a rich, sensory experience that nurtures and engages the mind and body, thereby fostering continued independence and self-worth in the care recipient's life.
Melissa Bernstein is an accomplished Occupational Therapist with a wealth of experience in various healthcare settings, such as long-term care, assisted living, and hospitals. With a passion for cooking since her teenage years, Melissa has become a certified chef who understands the importance of healthy eating for both the body and the brain. Together with her husband, Dr. David Bernstein, a geriatrician, and author with 40 years of experience, they have created "The Power of Five" program, focusing on healthy eating and engagement for individuals with neurodegenerative disorders.
In this episode, you will be able to:
· Discover their groundbreaking "Power of Five" formula for preventing neurodegenerative diseases.
· Master the art of caregiving strategies for meal planning, leftovers, and utilizing online grocery shopping.
· Explore compassionate approaches to nutrition and engagement for Alzheimer's caregivers and their loved ones.
· Foster independence and uphold dignity in dementia and Alzheimer's care.
· Unlock flavorful secrets from Melissa's cookbook for healthy eating and pet care.
After the Podcast
Read Melissa and David's AlzAuthors posts
Melissa Bernstein Creates a Cookbook for Caregivers
Doctor Shares Strategies for Dealing with Unsafe Senior Drivers
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from books sales.
Connect with Melissa
The Powerof5life.com website
Connect with Dr. Bernstein
Website
Facebook.com/DrDavidBernstein/
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer's and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Shop our Store
Welcome to the third and last episode in our 2022 Summer Book Series with HFC featuring Christy Byrne Yates, MS. Christy is an expert in navigating the challenges and opportunities in life, including living in the “Sandwich Generation” (those raising children who are also caring for an aging parent), special needs education, and parenting. A former school psychologist, she applied many of the skills used in her work in her approach to caring for both of her parents, who each had dementia, while raising her own two children. She is the author of Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation.
This episode is a replay of our August 16th HFC Summer Book Series. We discuss the gifts bestowed when we plan for our end-of-life needs, surviving life when you’re in the middle of the caregiver sandwich, and the bittersweet decisions that must be made when juggling caring for ill or aging parents while raising kids.
After the Podcast
Read Christy's AlzAuthors post:
Christy Yates Helps Caregivers Raising Children Ease the Squeeze
Purchase Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation on Amazon
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from books sales.
Connect with Christy
Website with blog
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer's and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Shop our Store
Laura Davis and her mother had a troubled relationship that began in her teenage years. It seems Laura did not live up to her mother's expectations. They were often at war with each other and grew estranged over decades, finally coming to some sort of functional truce after Laura became a mother herself. When her mother was in her eighties and showing signs of cognitive decline, she surprised Laura by moving cross-country from her home in New Jersey to live near Laura and her family in California. Laura's memoir, The Burning Light of Two Stars, tells her dramatic story of becoming caregiver to her mother who had betrayed her in the past. Her inspiring book is not only raw and honest but filled with compassion and forgiveness.
Laura is also the author of six other non-fiction books, including The Courage to Heal, Allies in Healing, I Thought We‘d Never Speak Again, and Becoming the Parent You Want to Be. Her groundbreaking books have been translated into 11 languages and sold 1.8 million copies.
In addition to writing books that inspire, the work of Laura’s heart is to teach. For more than twenty years, she’s helped people find their voices, tell their stories, and hone their craft. Laura loves creating supportive, intimate writing communities online, in person, and internationally. You can learn about Laura’s books and workshops, read the first five chapters of her memoir, and receive a free e-book: Writing Through Courage: A 30-Day Practice at www.lauradavis.net
In this episode, we discuss mending broken relationships, caregiving for a loved one with dementia who has caused you great pain, and the healing power of writing.
After the podcast
Read Laura’s AlzAuthors post: Laura Davis Shares How She and Her Mother Recovered from an Embattled Relationship
Start reading The Burning Light of Two Stars now. Buy on Amazon.
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
On Audible:
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Burning-Light-of-Two-Stars-Audiobook/B09G8WJQP7
And on Libro.fm for independent stores: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781950144471
Independent Bookstores:
Get Signed Copies Through Bookshop Santa Cruz:
https://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/burning-light-two-stars-get-it-signed)
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-burning-light-of-two-stars-a-mother-daughter-story-9781954854161/9781954854161
Laura recommends: Moving a Parent with Memory Loss by Laurie White and Beth Spencer
Connect with Laura Davis
Website
Facebook @LauraDavis&TheWritersJourney
Instagram @laurasaridavis
About the Podcast
Our podcast brings you up close and personal with authors who share their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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Welcome to the second in our 2022 Summer Book Series with HFC. In this episode, Renée Harmon, MD, author of Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer's shares her story of caring for her husband, Harvey, who had younger-onset Alzheimer's. This interview was recorded on July 12th. Christy Byrne Yates, MA moderated. We discuss the importance of acknowledging your vulnerability while caregiving, asking for and accepting help, why a good support group can make all the difference, and how to rewrite your script when dementia enters your story.
About Renée Harmon, MD
Renée Brown Harmon, MD, is a retired family physician in Birmingham, Alabama. After eighteen years of sharing a thriving medical practice, her husband, Harvey, was forced to retire after a diagnosis of younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Harmon cared for her husband for the eight years of his illness while maintaining their medical practice and rearing their two teenage daughters. The challenges of caregiving while working and parenting full-time led her to a deep appreciation for all caregivers.
Connect with Renée
Website
About Christy Byrne Yates, MA
Christy is the mother of two – now adult – children. She is an expert in navigating the challenges and opportunities in life including living in the “Sandwich Generation” (those raising children who are also caring for an aging parent), special needs education, and parenting. She incorporates meditation, mindfulness practices and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) into her work along with other evidence-based practices to support growth, goal achievement and a pathway to living your best life now. In California she is a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP), an author, speaker, and coach. She is the author of Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation available on Amazon.
After the Podcast
Read Renee’s AlzAuthors post: Renée Harmon, MD Teaches Caregivers Through Memoir of Spouse’s Early Onset Alzheimer’s
Purchase Surfing the Waves on Amazon
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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In this AlzAuthors Live! Virtual Q&A we explore the similarities and differences caregivers and those living with dementia encounter as they seek care and search for solutions to the many questions and problems a dementia diagnosis brings. The authors featured in this event represent the United States, Canada, and Argentina. We hope their stories will inspire and empower you on your own dementia journey.
Topics included:
• obtaining a diagnosis
• accessing care
• community resources
• financial concerns
• insurance considerations
• home care, assisted living, long-term care
• stigma surrounding a dementia diagnosis
This discussion was recorded on September 13th, 2022.
Note: This event was originally scheduled with three of our authors - Cindy Weinstein (US), Donna Thomson (Canada), and Katya De Luisa (Costa Rica) - but heavy rainstorms prevented Donna and Katya from participating, although we did get to hear from Donna briefly. Both Donna and Katya have been on the podcast in the past. You can find their episodes here: https://alzauthors.com/podcast . Thankfully, many of our participants shared their experiences and we had a well-rounded discussion.
The speakers:
Marianne Sciucco, New York, US:
https://alzauthors.com/2018/05/02/meet-marianne-sciucco-alzauthors-admin-and-author-of-blue-hydrangeas-an-alzheimers-love-story/
Cindy Weinstein, California, US:
https://alzauthors.com/2022/01/18/cindy-weinstein-finding-right-words/
Donna Thomson, Canada:
https://alzauthors.com/2020/02/04/unexpected-journey-caring-thomson-white/
Ethelle Lord, Canada:
https://innocareofdementia.com/news/ethelle-lord-the-warrior-of-dementia-who-is-she/
Virginia Naeve, California, US:
https://anewpathformom.com/
Dennis Dulniak, Florida, US: https://www.nanasbooks.org/
Luis Cordero, Argentina and Chicago: https://www.davidson.edu/news/2022/04/19/watson-fellows-ready-tackle-questions-health-and-well-being-around-world
Vicki Tapia, Montana, US: https://alzauthors.com/2018/05/15/meet-vicki-tapia-alzauthors-admin-and-author-of-somebody-stole-my-iron/
We hope to revisit this subject with authors from other countries in the future, so please keep in touch with us at https://alzauthors.com.
You can follow us on social media - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn - to stay updated on events, new authors, books, and resources.
Remember: You are not alone. One can sing a lonely song, but we chose to form a choir, and create harmony.
About the Podcast
Our podcast features authors who share their dementia journeys, talk about what led them to tell their stories in whatever medium they’ve chosen, and offer unique and painfully earned insights into life with dementia. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Susie Singer Carter is a Los Angeles-based creative specializing in film and podcasting. She’s a writer, director, producer, and actress. She’s also an advocate for dementia caregivers having been on a journey with her own mother for 16 years. This inspired her to write, direct and produce the 2018 Oscar Qualified short film, “My Mom and the Girl,” starring Valerie Harper in her final performance.
She’s also the host and producer of the award-winning podcast “Love Conquers Alz,” launched in December 2019, which received Best Podcast 2020 from the New Media Film Festival for Episode 6 featuring Leeza Gibbons.
Susie is proud to have served as one of the faces seen in several awareness campaigns for Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, where she also trained to be a volunteer speaker.
Unfortunately, Susie's beloved mother Norma Pecora passed away after we recorded this interview.
In this episode, we discuss her long, exhausting, enriching dementia journey, how it made her a “better person,” and the idea that Alzheimer’s is sort of like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
After the Podcast:
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
Read Susie’s AlzAuthors post
Watch My Mom and the Girl
Trailer:
Vimeo
YouTube
Complete film:
Amazon
Apple TV
Listen to or watch “Love Conquers Alz”
Connect with Susie Singer Carter:
IMDB
WEBSITE
MY MOM AND THE GIRL
WIKIPEDIA
LOVE CONQUERS ALZ LINKS
I LOVE LUCIFER LINKS
Other references
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dopesick
About the Podcast
Our podcast features authors who share their dementia journeys, talk about what led them to tell their stories in whatever medium they’ve chosen, and offer unique and painfully earned insights into life with dementia. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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The podcast you are about to listen to is a recording of an event we did with Kensington Senior Living in June, 2022. "On the Same Page this Summer: A Collection of Stories to Support You on Your Caregiving Journey" features four authors discussing their personal dementia experiences. You'll hear from a young woman whose mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's when she was just 25; a professional in dementia care with strategies to help you manage your own situation; a mom in the "sandwich generation" who shares how she balanced care between her school-age children and her parents with dementia; and a psychologist who has investigated and encountered "shared death experiences." This is an insightful, inspiring episode and you're sure to walk away with greater confidence and knowledge to guide your own dementia journey. Please join us for our next live event on September 13th at 2 pm eastern time when we discuss Dementia Care Around the World with three authors representing the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica. For more details, visit our website.
Watch this panel presentation on YouTube
After the Podcast
Learn more about these authors:
Christy Byrne Yates
Christy Yates Helps Caregivers Raising Children Ease the Squeeze
AlzAuthors and HFC Present Summer Book Series
Podcast:
Christy Byrne Yates, MS Untangles Dementia Care and the Sandwich Generation
Lauren Dykovitz
Millennial Caregiver Writes About Mom With Early Onset Alzheimer’s
Lauren Dykovitz Shares Story of Mother’s Final Dementia Days
Three AlzAuthors Featured in Chicken Soup for Soul Book
Podcast:
Untangling Life as a Millennial Caregiver with Lauren Dykovitz
Tammy Anastasia
Tami Anastasia Comes Full Circle with the Dementia Journey
William Peters
SharedCrossing.com
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Visit Kensington Senior Living, a premier senior living operator and developer bringing the highest quality senior care to America’s most sought-after locations.
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer's and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a Whole Care Network Featured Podcast
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network
Also on UK Health Radio and The NYC Podcast Network
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Daniel Gibbs is a retired neurologist confronting his own early onset Alzheimer’s. His is a unique perspective once the doctor diagnosing other people’s cognitive issues and now the patient facing his own. Alzheimer’s disease was never on his radar, he says, because both of his parents died in midlife from cancer, but he unexpectedly discovered through genealogical research that he has two copies of the APOE-4 allele, putting him at very high risk for dementia. He has written his story in a memoir, A Tattoo on My Brain: A Neurologist’s Personal Battle Against Alzheimer’s Disease, where he reveals his personal story and explains how it is possible to decrease the risk and slow the progression of the disease through lifestyle modifications, especially when started early.
In this episode, we discuss the value of testing for the Alzheimer’s gene, the importance of life plans, concerns regarding work and retirement, and the Viacom documentary currently in production about his dementia journey.
After the Podcast
Read Dr. Gibbs AlzAuthors post: Neurologist, Dr. Daniel Gibbs, Reveals His Personal Story in A Tattoo on my Brain
Start reading A Tattoo on My Brain https://amzn.to/3zD6IlO
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Other authors/books mentioned:
Thomas DeBaggio, Losing My Mind: An Intimate Look at Life with Alzheimer's
Slow Puncture: A Memoir About Living Well with Early Onset Alzheimer’s by Peter Berry and Deb Bunt
Wendy Mitchell Writes Courageous Memoir of Younger Onset Dementia: Somebody I Used to Know
Tracey Shorthouse’s Poetry Provides a Glimpse into Early Onset Alzheimer’s
Laurette Klier Creates Nana’s Books: Nostalgic Picture Books for Seniors
Susan Ostrowski Helps Seniors with Cognitive Issues Enjoy Reading Again
Greg O’Brien, On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s
Greg O’Brien, Psychology Today articles
Columbia Kindred
Daniel Alejandro Drubach, MD, FAAN, Twilight and Me: A Soliloquy (Lewy Body disease article mentioned at end)
Connect with Dr. Gibbs
Website
About the Podcast
AlzAuthors is the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer's and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. Our podcast introduces you to our authors who share their stories and insights to provide knowledge, comfort, and support. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends on their own dementia journeys.
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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What are memories? Do our memories make us who we are? What happens to “us” when our memory fails, and cognitive decline ensues? I discussed these profound questions with one of my favorite authors, Patti Callahan Henry. She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels, a podcast host, and a co-creator and host of the popular show, Friends & Fiction. Prior to becoming an author, she was a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist with a fascination for memory and focused on neurology and brain trauma. Her novel, The Favorite Daughter, joined our collection of carefully vetted books in November 2019.
“Memory,” she says, “haunts all my work but takes center stage in this one. Who do we become without those memories?”
Patti is the recipient of The Christy Award 2019 Winner “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020, and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for 2019. She is also a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. A full-time author and mother of three, she now resides in both Mountain Brook, Alabama, and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.
In this podcast, we explore how our memories define us, if they do, the landscape of memory, and the concept of “ambiguous loss.”
After the Podcast
Read Patti’s AlzAuthors post: Memory is at the Heart of Patti Callahan Henry’s The Favorite Daughter
Purchase The Favorite Daughter on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2D9TDnQ
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Patti
Website
Watch Friends & Fiction on Wednesdays at 7 pm, EST
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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Welcome to the first in our 2022 Summer Series with HFC. We kicked off this season on June 14th with Ruth Stevens’ novel, Stage Seven. Christy Byrne Yates moderated.
About Ruth Stevens
Ruth Stevens believes in stories that make you laugh and cry. She says, “I like to write about the topics that worry me the most. Since I worry about a great many things, there is never a shortage of material. A resident of Torrance, California, Ruth is a former public relations professional (in New York and Los Angeles) and proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and Women’s Fiction Writers Association.
Ruth has been writing professionally for her entire career—including hundreds of articles for magazines, newspapers, and journals—but creative writing is her passion. She took up this endeavor full-time after quitting her day job in 2017. At last count, she’s written two plays and three novels. In her spare time, she enjoys travel, hiking, wine tasting, hip hop, Broadway musicals, movies, leading a book club, and visiting her grandsons in Manhattan. Stage Seven is her first novel.
About Christy Byrne Yates
Christy is the mother of two – now adult – children. She is an expert in navigating the challenges and opportunities in life including living in the “Sandwich Generation” (those raising children who are also caring for an aging parent), special needs education, and parenting. She incorporates meditation, mindfulness practices and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) into her work along with other evidence-based practices to support growth, goal achievement and a pathway to living your best life now. In California she is a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP), an author, speaker, and coach. She is the author of Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation available on Amazon.
After the Podcast
Read Ruth’s AlzAuthors post: Ruth Stevens Pens Dementia Tale as a Play and a Novel: Stage Seven
Purchase Stage Seven on Amazon
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from books sales.
Book Mentions
The Forgetting, David Shenk, available on Amazon
Connect with Ruth
Website
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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Caring for a father with a dementia diagnosis brings to caregiving its own special set of circumstances and considerations. In this AlzAuthors Live! Virtual Q&A we explore these changes and challenges with four of our authors. Their stories will inspire and empower you on your own dementia journey with your dad.
This free virtual event was held on Tuesday, June 7th, 2022. The video replay is available on our YouTube Channel.
Meet the Panelists
Andrea Couture: author of Embracing What Remains, a memoir
Andrea recently lost her beloved father, a renowned surgeon, to Alzheimer’s. She wrote about her family’s caregiving journey and is the first of our authors to write about caregiving during COVID.
Irene Olson: author of Requiem for the Status Quo, a novel
Irene survived being an Alzheimer’s family caregiver twice: to her father and her sister-in law. Her goal in writing Requiem was to encourage and educate others who might be called upon to take on the role of family caregiver.
Patti Davis: author of The Long Goodbye and Floating in the Deep End: How Caregivers Can See Beyond Alzheimer’s, memoirs and caregiving guide
Patti is the daughter of President Ronald Reagan, who opened the world’s eyes to the disease when he disclosed his own diagnosis in his Letter to America in 1994.
Tanya Ward Goodman, author of Leaving Tinkertown, a memoir
Tanya grew up in the mountains of New Mexico in a roadside attraction built by her father. Throughout his Alzheimer’s journey she documented their experience with photographs and journaling.
After the Podcast
Other books mentioned:
Tami Anastasia, Essential Strategies for the Dementia Caregiver
Dave Meurer, New Every Day
Joy Johnston, The Reluctant Caregiver
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from books sales.
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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“If there’s one thing worse than Alzheimer’s, it’s ignorance of the disease,” says Martin Schreiber, author of My Two Elaines: Learning, Coping, and Surviving as an Alzheimer’s Caregiver, where he tells the story of his caregiving journey with his wife, who recently succumbed to her illness. Written with Milwaukee author Cathy Breitenbucher, the book was recognized by Caring.com as one of its Best Caregiving Books of 2017. Initially self-published, it was recently published by Harper Horizon.
Martin is the former governor of Wisconsin and an award-winning crusader for Alzheimer’s caregivers and persons with dementia. His work on behalf of older citizens dates back decades to his 16 years in public service as a state senator, lieutenant governor and governor where he focused on improved quality for nursing home care and development of the in-home Community Care Organization. He went on to become a successful insurance executive and publisher before he started his own government relations firm in 1988.
Prior to writing My Two Elaines – and while he still cared for his wife at home – Martin helped the Alzheimer’s Association launch Operation: Stronger Together. The multi-year awareness program initiated in 2015 has helped the Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter connect record numbers of families to education and resources that are vital to successful caregiving. He also collaborated with Wisconsin’s state government and business groups to help create the Dementia-Friendly Employers Toolkit, which is used by human resources departments and employee assistance programs. Such initiatives have led to Schreiber being recognized with awards from the Alzheimer’s Association and other organizations.
Martin attended Valparaiso University and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and earned a doctorate of law from Marquette University.
He and Elaine are the parents of four children, Kathryn Lyon, Martin Schreiber, Kristine Haas, and Matt Schreiber. They have 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
In this episode, we discuss the all-around ignorance surrounding dementia, Marty’s special message to men caring for their wives, the value of therapeutic fibbing and redirection, and the realities of moving a spouse into assisted living.
After the Podcast
Connect with Martin Schreiber
Website
YouTube
Read Martin’s AlzAuthors post:
Purchase My Two Elaines on Amazon.
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from books sales.
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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Join the AlzAuthors team as we discuss the launch of our latest initiative, Custom Caregiver Collections. Managers Jean Lee, a co-founder, Ann Campanella, and Susan Landeis, and author Paulette Sharkey join host Marianne Sciucco to discuss the beautifully crafted table top wooden bookshelves holding a collection of approximately 15 to 18 books about Alzheimer’s and dementia, to support our goal of providing real books to real people in real places.
With more than 300 quality, carefully vetted books written from personal dementia experience in the AlzAuthors Bookstore, we are perfectly positioned to offer customized collections of memoirs, novels, caregiving guides, children’s books and more.
Custom Caregiver Collections are suited for Senior Care Communities, doctors’ offices, in-home care organizations, senior centers, memory cafes and professional or personal libraries. When placed together, these books take on a vibrant life of their own. Each book, each journey, represents years, if not decades, of shared vulnerability, revealed as a beautiful garden of healing for others.
Our gratitude goes out to our generous donor, Paulette Sharkey, who covered the costs of creating our first ten Custom Caregiver Collections. These collections serve as the prototype available to communities across the country. We are so thankful!
The first Custom Caregiver Collections have been presented to:
· Four locations in Ohio
· Two locations in North Carolina
· Michigan
· Minnesota
· Alabama
· Washington State
· California
For more information visit https://alzauthors.com/ccc/
Meet the guests
Ann Campanella, author of Motherhood: Lost and Found
Jean Lee, author of Alzheimer’s Daughter
Susan Landeis, author of In Search of Rainbows and Optimal Caregiving
Paulette Sharkey, author of A Doll for Grandma
Marianne Sciucco, author of Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer's love story
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network.
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Shop our Store
Chris MacLellan is well-known in caregiving circles.
You might know him as The Bow Tie Guy – because, he says, “Wearing a bow tie is like wearing two smiles."
Or you might know him from his caregiving blog, The Purple Jacket, where he chronicled his and his partner Richard’s journey with esophageal cancer.
Or you might know him as the founder of The Whole Care Network, featuring a variety of podcasts, blogs and videos to provide caregivers with much needed resources. In fact, Chris is the reason this podcast exists! A few years back, he approached our management team with the idea of doing a podcast. After much thought we realized how a podcast could further our mission and here we are today, more than 60 episodes in. Thanks for the suggestion, Chris! Several other of our authors are also featured on The Whole Care Network: Rosanne Corcoran’s Daughterhood the Podcast; Elizabeth Miller’s Happy Healthy Caregiver; Susie Singer Carters’ Love Conquers Alz; and Matthew Estrada’s Peace with Dementia Podcast.
Chris is the author of "What's The Deal with Caregiving?" a powerful and compelling book written from his own experience that informs caregivers about how to deal with the challenges they will encounter, regardless of sexual orientation, family situation, or age. The book is part memoir/part how-to, as he shares his and Richard’s stories and experiences from their caregiving journey.
He and Richard were fortunate to have their story chronicled in a 2015 Pulitzer Prize-nominated 3-part story “In Sickness and In Health: A Couple’s Final Journey” which told their journey of caregiving, the challenges LGBT partners have in dealing with the medical and legal system, and the love and joy his partner Richard's last years had on their relationship. Their story has been read by over 500,000 people world-wide since it was published in April of 2014.
In this episode we discuss the value storytelling podcasts bring to caregiving, walking into caregiving with eyes wide open, and the beauty of the extended family of caregiving.
After the Podcast
Read What's The Deal with Caregiving?" on Amazon.
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from books sales.
Read “Our Story - In Sickness and in Health: A Couple's Final Journey”
· In Sickness and in Health: A Couple's Final Journey http://interactive.sun-sentinel.com/lgbt-dying-couple/
· Life After Death: A Couples Story Sparks Change https://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-lgbt-caregiver-follow-20140615-story.html
· Saying Goodbye: Navigating the Change of Moving On https://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-lgbt-caregiver-goodbye-20140925-story.html
Watch When Dad Has Dementia on YouTube
Connect with Chris
The Whole Care Network
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please donate here.
We are a WCN Featured Podcast.
Proud to be on The Health Podcast Network
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Thanks for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Shop our Store
When his parents began to show early signs of dementia, independent documentary filmmaker Frank Silverstein captured their story with the camera on his iPhone. This resulted in a short film he titled Lousy: Love in the Time of Dementia. The film has gone on to receive positive reviews, was screened at London’s Global Health Film Festival and the New Haven Film Festival, as well as in support groups and classrooms for nursing, social work, and medical students.
Frank was a career network and cable TV producer at ABC-News 20/20, CNN, CBS News, and MSNBC. His stories have focused on the struggles and passions of people in the news and behind the scenes. He also produced several independent documentaries, including Canal Street River to River, which premiered on New York’s WNYC. He co-authored a book about entrepreneurship called “It’s Your Business,” published by Hachette. Currently, he is a consultant helping entrepreneurs and other professionals to find their voice and to tell their stories in video, text and still images for broadcast and social media.
In this episode, we discuss caring for two parents with dementia at the same time, supporting your caregiver sibling, and the value of support groups.
AlzAuthors Untangles 7 Years of Sharing Dementia Stories
As we celebrate seven years of sharing dementia stories written from personal experience to support others, members of our management team reflect on where we've been, where we're going, and what AlzAuthors means to each of us on a deeply personal level.
We are extremely proud of our accomplishments, in awe that we've managed to keep what was initially a one-month project chugging along for seven years, and inspired by the ideas, partnerships, and opportunities that motivate and inspire us to continue this mission.
We are grateful to you, our authors, friends, and followers, who make all of it not only possible but worth every minute.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Please stick around to see what's next.
AFTER THE PODCAST
Read our AlzAuthors Posts
Marianne Sciucco
Jean Lee
Vicki Tapia
Ann Campanella
Kathryn Harrison
Susan Landeis
Rosanne Corcoran
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Watch our Virtual Q&A Replays
Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Living with Dementia
Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care
Register for When Dad Has Dementia, June 7, 2022
Check out:
Traveling Libraries
Helpful Websites
Meet our Partners
Paulette Sharkey
Debra Tann, Ed. D
Judy Cornish, The Dawn Method
The Whole Care Network
The Health Podcast Network
HFC
Daughterhood
Kensington Senior Living
Caregiver Club
Connect with AlzAuthors
AlzAuthors.com
Facebook: Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resources
YouTube
Amazon
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Patti Davis is an actress, author, activist, advocate, and daughter of a United States president. She has written extensively about her father, Ronald Reagan, and his Alzheimer’s disease in both The Long Goodbye and now Floating in the Deep End. In 2011, she created a support group program for caregivers of people with dementia, called Beyond Alzheimer's. Floating in the Deep End is an extension of that support group — a handbook for those on the perilous and sorrowful journey of losing a loved one to this mysterious disease. It is also part memoir, as many of the memories of her own dementia journey have taken on a different resonance with time and reflection. She hopes that caregivers and readers find guidance and comfort in this book.
In this episode we discuss both the challenges and comforts of living your Alzheimer’s journey in full view of the world, her approach to building caregiver support groups, and the lessons and gifts that can be found in dementia care.
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
After the podcast
Read Patti’s AlzAuthors post:
Patti Davis Pens Heartfelt Memoir/Caregiver Guide, Floating in The Deep End
Start reading Floating in the Deep Endnow.
Purchase The Long Goodbye
Note: These links lead to Amazon.com. We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Discussion Points
Glen Campbell
Tony Bennet 60 Minutes
Connect with Patti Davis
Website
About the Podcast
Our podcast brings you the voices of authors who have lived the dementia journey and chosen to share their stories. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
About Christy Byrne Yates, MS
Christy Byrne Yates is the author of Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation, part-memoir, part caregiver guide, written from her experience caring for two parents with dementia.
In addition to being an author, she is a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP), a credentialed school psychologist, a speaker, and life coach. As the mother of two – now grown – children, she became an expert in navigating life’s challenges and opportunities, including living in the “Sandwich Generation,” those raising children while caring for aging parents.
In this episode, we discuss what it means to be in the Sandwich Generation, how to talk to family about end-of-life issues, and the value of connections for both caregivers and those living with dementia.
After the podcast
Read Christy’s AlzAuthors post:
Christy Yates Helps Caregivers Raising Children Ease the Squeeze
Start reading Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation
Purchase on Amazon now.
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Christy Byrne Yates
Website and blog
YouTub
About the Podcast
Our podcast features authors who share their dementia journeys, talk about what led them to tell their stories in whatever medium they’ve chosen, and offer unique and painfully earned insights into life with dementia. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors
Shop our store
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Lynda Everman
Lynda Everman has spent most of her adult life as a caregiver: for her mom who was paralyzed by a stroke, her dad with vascular dementia, and her late husband with Alzheimer’s disease. These experiences inspired her advocacy for increased Alzheimer's funding for care and a cure.
She and fellow advocate Kathy Siggins conducted a multi-year national campaign for a semipostal (awareness and fundraising) stamp for Alzheimer's research. As a result of their efforts, the first ever Alzheimer’s Disease Research Semipostal Stamp was released by the US Postal Service in November 2017 and may be purchased online at As of the end of January 2022, it has raised over $1.2 million for NIH funded research.
Lynda is a founding member of three national networks under the umbrella of Us Against Alzheimer’s and served as founder and convener of ClergyAgainstAlzheimer's. She is an editor and contributor to Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers. She and her husband, Dr. Don Wendorf, have served as editors for The Leader’s Guide for Seasons of Caring and Treasure for Alzheimer’s, both written by Dr. Richard Morgan. They served as Senior Editors for Dementia-friendly Worship: A Multi-faith Handbook for Chaplains, Clergy and Faith Communities, and co-authored Stolen Memories: An Alzheimer’s Stole Ministry and Tallit Initiative. Lynda has been recognized by Maria Shriver as a Woman of Influence in the The Women's Alzheimer's Movement (WAM) and included on her “Big Wall of Empowerment.”
In this episode, we discuss her 30-year journey as an Alzheimer’s caregiver and advocate, and how even the busiest of caregivers can help find a cure for Alzheimer’s simply by buying stamps.
After the podcast:
Read Lynda’s AlzAuthors posts:
Lynda Everman, Editor Of Seasons of Caregiving: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers
Stolen Memories: An Alzheimer’s Stole Ministry and Tallit Initiative
Welcome Back, Lynda Everman and Don Wendorf With Dementia-Friendly Worship
Read Lynda’s books:
Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers and the companion Leader’s Guide
Leader's Guide for Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregivers
Dementia Friendly Worship
Stolen Memories: An Alzheimer’s Stole Ministry & Tallit Initiative
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Purchase the Alzheimer’s Stamp
Connect with Lynda Everman
Other helpful sites
BeBrainPowerful.org
Due West UMC's website, "Loving Through Dementia" Scroll down to #9 on the Action Plan to see photos and read about the Alzheimer's Stole Ministry & Tallit initiative:
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Laurette Klier
Laurette Klier believes ENGAGEMENT + NOSTALGIA = JOY. She is the author of Nana’s Books, heart-centered pairings of nostalgic literature and art, modified to meet the needs of seniors living with brain changes.
Each book is carefully designed to bring you and your loved ones renewed connection, comfort, and joy. The books were inspired by her mother-in-law, Nana Mary, who loved big and passed with Lewy Body Dementia in 2021.
Laurette’s goal is to spearhead a national movement to create libraries within libraries of quality multimedia, multi-sensory engagement materials for people living with dementia.
With a background in creating literacy environments for students in urban and priority schools, this work came naturally to her as she believes that people are best engaged via a holistic, literature, and arts-based approach. Now, as ever, she is focused on underserved communities and inclusion.
Nana's Books are the winner of a 2021 MAUDE'S AWARD for Innovation in Dementia Care and are endorsed by ALZ SPEAKS, ALZ AUTHORS and the Neurocognitive Community for their utility in person-centered care.
In addition to creating these beautiful books, Laurette is also working on the Essential Caregivers Act of 2021 to ensure care partners unrestricted access to their loved ones in long term care, as COVID lockdowns and lack of uniform federal protections continue to devastate seniors and their families. Learn more here.
In this episode, we discuss, how books and reading can provide meaningful interactions between family members and those living with dementia, the need that drove her to create these books, and how dementia changed her relationship with her mother-in-law for the better.
Laurette Klier Creates Nana’s Books: Nostalgic Picture Books for Seniors
Preview Laurette’s books at Issuu.com
Purchase Nana’s Books now!
A sampling of titles:
· Nostalgic Picture Book of Irish Wit & Wisdom: Large Format for People with Alzheimer's / Dementia
· Love Poems for the Young at Heart: Large Format Book for People with Alzheimer's/Dementia
· Jewish Proverbs for the Young at Heart: Large Format Book for People with Alzheimer's/Dementia
· Nostalgic Picture Book of Babies
· Fine Art Picture Book; Mother & Child: Gift Book for People with Dementia/ Alzheimer's
· The Soul Remembers: Memory Care Spirituals
· Nostalgic Picture Book of Living Dolls
· Nostalgic Picture Book of Prayer
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Laurette Klier
Website
About the Untangling Alzheimer’s and Dementia Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Tony Copeland-Parker
When Anthony Copeland-Parker and his partner Catherine were in their 50’s, they found out that she had early-onset Alzheimer’s and he needed open heart-valve replacement surgery. They both had a history as endurance athletes, so, motivated by a love for running and travel, they sold their home, retired from their jobs, and became nomads, running marathons and half-marathons all over the world.
They’ve spent the last 7 years flying, running, walking, sailing, and sightseeing from Atlanta to Antarctica, finding joy in seizing each day and following their passions while trying to outrun Alzheimer’s.
Tony was a professional pilot/manager for 37 years, the last 27 with United Parcel Service. His last job had him managing pilots and flying B757/767-type aircraft all over the world. Since then, he and Catherine, whom he tenderly calls Cat, have traveled to 82 different countries. They have run at least a half-marathon in 35 countries and on all seven continents.
Tony shares his story on his blog, Running with Cat.com and in his book, Running All over the World: Our Race Against Early Onset Alzheimer’s.
In this episode we talk about the choice he made to keep an active lifestyle traveling the world instead of following the much often recommended advice to provide Catherine with a stable schedule and environment, how Catherine responds to having a new adventure in a new place every few days, traveling with a loved one with dementia, and how he’s had to come to terms with the fact that one day their travels will come to a natural end.
AlzAuthors co-founder and manager Jean Lee, author of Alzheimer’s Daughter, joins us.
After the podcast
Read Tony’s AlzAuthors post:
Anthony Copeland-Parker and Partner Catherine Become Marathon Nomads
Start reading Running All over the World: Our Race Against Early Onset Alzheimer’s, now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Tony appeared in our Virtual Q&A Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care
Watch on YouTube
Listen to the Podcast
Connect with Tony
Website and blog
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Lori La Bey
Lori La Bey is known as an international visionary when it comes to dementia care. Just ask Oprah, Maria Shriver, or Dr. Oz who have all recognized her for her work. Prior to becoming the founder of an international advocacy group and media outlet for dementia, she cared for her own mother who lived with the condition for 30 years. Confounded by the lack of resources available to caregivers, she decided there had to be a better way, and launched Alzheimer’s Speaks, providing a variety of platforms to connect people to services, products, and tools.
Lori’s goal is to raise the voices of all whose lives are touched by dementia. Her platform includes the Alzheimer’s Speaks Radio show, Dementia Chats, and Dementia Arts, and she is the co-founder of Dementia Map, a global directory that provides caregivers with resources to build their own roadmaps. She is a keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, and is considered a Maria Shriver Architect of Change. Follow Lori as she shifts dementia care from crisis to comfort around the world.
In this episode, we discuss what she learned through decades of caregiving, how she built her amazing global platform, the choice we all face when confronted with a dementia diagnosis, and the benefit of looking at dementia through the lens of safe, happy, and pain-free.
Read Lori’s AlzAuthors Post:
Lori LaBey, Founder of Alzheimer’s Speaks, Helps AlzAuthors Celebrate 100 Posts
Read the rest of Lori’s essay “A Caregiver’s Nightmare: Mirror Image” in Life Choices: Putting the Pieces Together
Free Download: Alzheimer’s Speaks Communication Tips PDF
Connect with Lori
Radio Show
Blog
YouTube
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Gincy Heins
Gincy Heins became caregiver to her husband at the age of 49 when he was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment, also known as MCI, a neurological condition that causes a slight but noticeable and measurable decline in cognitive abilities. Memory and thinking skills are primarily affected, and there is a very real possibility of future Alzheimer’s or another dementia. At the time, he was just 55.
At first disbelieving that such a diagnosis could befall them so early in life, Gincy set out to learn all she could about the condition and sought support through her local Alzheimer’s Association. She soon became the expert on her husband’s diagnosis and began advocacy work to help others on the dementia journey. This included creating and publishing the book Before the Diagnosis: Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia and becoming one of the co-authors of the series 365 Caregiving Tips: Practical Tips from Everyday Caregivers. She's a member of the AlzAuthors management team as an acquisitions editor and finance consultant.
Gincy is an advocate for a full, enriched life and keeps busy with a variety of activities and interests. She teaches classes for older adults at a community college, is a Senior Commissioner for Cypress, California, speaks at conferences and on panel discussions, and volunteers at her public library and with Alzheimer’s Orange County.
Gincy is a vibrant, uplifting speaker with a hopeful message and a smart approach to life with cognitive difficulties. In this episode we discuss how she and her husband grew to accept a diagnosis that typically affects older people, and the power of positivity and active engagement in the face of MCI.
After the podcast
Watch now!
Gincy appeared in AlzAuthorsLive! Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care
Read Gincy’s AlzAuthors posts:
Anthology, Before the Diagnosis, from Gincy Heins: Captures Lives Prior to Dementia
365 Caregiving Tips Series Offers Helpful Information for Carers Everywhere
Start reading Gincy's Books:
Before the Diagnosis: Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia
Before the Diagnosis: More Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia
365 Caregiving Tips: Practical Tips from Everyday Caregiver
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Gincy
Instagram: @gincyheins
Twitter: @GincyHeins
Facebook: @G-j Heins
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
This podcast is a replay of one that appeared last year with our friends Peter Berry and Deb Bunt. They’ve written a new book, a volume of poetry, musings, that Peter sent to Deb via text messages at the end of long days living with dementia. She transcribed his words and lovingly put them in a book called Walk With Me: Musings Through The Dementia Fog. Its pages are exquisitely illustrated with the work of Daniel Ruffles, a talented friend and photographer who captures the beauty of the Suffolk landscape and coastal areas where Peter and Deb live. In celebration of this vital new addition to dementia literature, we're replaying their podcast interview. After the podcast, you can read more about the book on our website, AlzAuthors.com. Enjoy!
About Peter and Deb
Peter Berry was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 50 and took an early retirement from his job working in the family’s timber business. After the devastating diagnosis, he became depressed but, being a ‘glass half full’ personality, battled through his depression and focused on his lifelong passion for cycling. He has used this passion to raise awareness of the condition, particularly in younger people.
Peter’s whole philosophy is to live well with dementia and to inspire others to do the same. He maintains an active lifestyle due to his love of cycling, which keeps him fit both below and above the eyebrows, he says. He rides a penny farthing, a single speed bike, a road bike, and a 1950's Claud Butler, although not all at the same time – he’s good, but not that good, he jokes.
Along with his friend Deb Bunt, Peter cycles nearly every day. Their travels throughout Suffolk, England have led them to have many serious heart-to-hearts about his disease, which Deb put together in a book called Slow Puncture: Living Well with Dementia.
“It's a book about me,” Peter says, “but a book I have never read and never will read as my short-term memory means I have forgotten the previous sentence as soon as I have started a new one.”
In this episode we discuss the difficulties encountered with a dementia diagnosis at age 50, the financial pressures he’s had to overcome, and how cycling has made life with COVID tolerable.
Read their AlzAuthors Posts:
Peter Berry Who Lives with Dementia Shares His Poetry in: Walk With Me, Compiled by Deb Bunt
Slow Puncture: a Memoir About Living Well with Early Onset Alzheimer’s by Peter Berry and Deb Bunt
So Much To Say: Peter Berry Tells His Story While He Can
Purchase Walk With Me: Musings Through The Dementia Fog on Amazon
Purchase Slow Puncture: Living Well with Dementia on Amazon
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Peter and Deb
Website
Facebook: Deb
Facebook: Peter
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care
Caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s or other dementia carries with it a lot of changes and uncharted territory. At the heart of these changes may be the very foundation of what makes you a couple: romance. New roles, a new lifestyle, and sometimes new living arrangements can take their toll on even the closest of couples.
On Wednesday, February 9th, 2022, AlzAuthors Live! presented Love Stories: Keeping Romance Alive in Dementia Care., a virtual Q&A. This one-hour program featured four of our authors sharing their personal stories of staying connected with their spouse in a variety of care situations. This is the audio replay of that event. You may also watch it on YouTube.
Meet Our Authors
Richard Creighton: Blogger at Living With Alzheimer’s, and an AlzAuthors Associate, caring for his wife, Kate, at home with Alzheimer’s
Anthony Copeland-Parker: Author of Running All over the World, Our Race Against Early Onset Alzheimer’s, traveling the world and running marathons with his wife, Cat, after she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s
Gincy Heins: Author of Before the Diagnosis: Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia, co-author of 365 Caregiving Tips: Practical Tips from Everyday Caregivers, and an assistant manager at AlzAuthors, caring for her husband, Steve, at home with Mild Cognitive Impairment
Sue Ryan: Author of Our Journey of Love, 5 Steps to Navigate Your Caregiving Journey, caring for her husband, Jack, in memory care
Areas of discussion included:
Seeing your partner (and yourself) in a new light
Maintaining spousal roles
Continuing a partnership
Maintaining equality
Dealing with a forever altered romantic relationship
Nurturing intimacy
Handling loss
Battling loneliness
Dealing with behavior changes
Managing guilt
Coping with grief
Moving to memory care
You will come away with fresh insights and ideas for your own dementia journey.
What participants said:
- I’m impressed with the positive attitude of the caregivers and the strategies they employ.
- I love how each couple has kept up their own ways of socializing or managing. It goes to show how unique each relationship is.
- This has been so rich and wonderful. I am grateful to all the presenters.
- All of the panelists are so inspiring! I'm so grateful to hear their stories.
- I love the way our panelists are so supportive of one another.
- You are all remarkable, and a great inspiration.
- Thank you for sharing so many honest thoughts.
Remember: You are not alone. 💜
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please subscribe to this podcast and leave leave a review. Sharing it with others on a dementia journey is much appreciated.
About Rosanne Corcoran
Rosanne Corcoran cared for her mother over a 12-year span, starting as a stealth caregiver, to full time caregiver, to in-home, sandwich caregiver for her mother’s final 6 years. Finding herself part of a growing caregiving community in need of both support and critical information, she has conducted exhaustive research into caregiving strategies for aging parents. To assist this community, share information and provide support, she started a regional Daughterhood Circle in the Philadelphia suburbs in 2019. In November of that year, she created Daughterhood The Podcast: For Caregivers to engage a dynamic group of subject matter experts to help others navigate these uncharted, and many times, tumultuous waters. She also blogs at HeyRoe.com. A member of the AlzAuthors management team, she assists with the technological side of our virtual events, and offers much appreciated guidance and support.
In this episode, we discuss the difficulties she encountered in getting a proper medical diagnosis for her mother, caregiving during COVID, the pitfalls in being a competent caregiver, how to survive life in the sandwich generation, and the grief that comes when dementia care reaches its natural conclusion.
Read Rosanne’s AlzAuthors Post:
Start reading Hey Roe!
Listen to Daughterhood, The Podcast
Connect with Rosanne Corcoran
Website and Blog
Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please subscribe and leave a review. Sharing this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey is much appreciated.
About Susan Landeis
Susan Landeis and her mother shared a difficult childhood, leading to abandonment issues, estrangement, and then a need for care on a dementia journey. Despite decades of abuse, Susan put aside her feelings and came to her mother’s aid, taking on not only the role of mom’s caregiver, but eventually the role of caring for her father.
This experience inspired her first book, Optimal Caregiving: A guide for managing senior health and well-being. And then a second, more personal memoir, called In Search of Rainbows: A daughter’s story of loss, hope, and redemption.
Susan is a certified nutritionist and certified senior advocate. Prior to this, she spent over twenty years working in the field of Health Information Management. She is also a member of the AlzAuthors management team, and is responsible for creating the beautiful graphics on our social media platforms.
In this episode, we discuss how she overcame her difficult childhood and rebuilt her relationship with her mother, her search for the rainbows in dementia care, and the unexpected gift she received from her mother’s Lewy Body disease.
Read Susan’s AlzAuthors Post: Susan Landeis Cares for Her mother with Lewy Body Dementia: In Search of Rainbows
Start readingIn Search of Rainbows: A daughter's story of loss, hope, and redemption
and Optimal Caregiving: A guide for managing senior health and well-being now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Susan Landeis
Website
Linked In
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Want to be on the podcast? Here’s what you need to know.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Helene Berger
Prior to assuming the role of dementia caregiver to Ady, her husband of fifty years, Helene Berger held major positions of leadership throughout her life, in her home community of Miami, Florida, and across the United States. She is recognized as a powerful and inspirational speaker, and has used her voice and influence to marshal help for large and diverse groups of people with a wide variety of needs.
Choosing Joy, Alzheimer’s: A Book of Hope is her first book. It was inspired by the unanticipated, positive results that her husband Ady achieved after his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. It is a comprehensive guide, combining the concrete methodologies learned over the following six years, as well as inspirational examples and philosophy.
Although written about her experience with Alzheimer’s, her guidance applies to a loved one with any type of debilitating disease – as well as to all the meaningful relationships in our lives. It is a rare book of hope, providing practical and emotional support to both the caregiver and the patient. And all the while, it is a love story, and an honest retelling of a lifetime journey.
In this episode, we discuss many of the strategies Helene learned to help Ady thrive despite Alzheimer’s. Her techniques, delivered with patience and love, allowed him to maintain his dignity and individuality. These include her belief that it is better to ask questions rather than make demands, the difference between “not now” and “never,” and the wisdom that 50 years of marriage brought to their dementia journey. Helene acknowledges that her techniques may not work for everyone and may not produce the results she achieved with Ady, but they are certainly worth a try.
Read Helene’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/08/04/helene-berger-alzheimers-memoir/
Start reading Choosing Joy, Alzheimer’s: A Book of Hope now! https://amzn.to/3akdkat
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Helene
Website: https://heleneberger.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helenerberger
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeleneRBerger
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helenerberger/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helene-berger
About AlzAuthors Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Debra Tann, Ed. D.
As a young child, Debra Tann encountered what she later learned to be dementia in her beloved great grandmother. At the time, the condition was known as “senility.” This encounter had a significant impact on her young heart and mind. Many years later, after a 14-year career as a professor in Political Science, and another 14 years operating an independent Christian school, she has taken her professional skillset and transitioned her platform to that of dementia education. She is a certified Dementia Educator, certified Dementia Friends Champion, and a certified Virtual Dementia Tour facilitator. And she’s now the CEO of Reminiscent, an organization offering Alzheimer’s and dementia education in her community.
She is also the author of The Race of Dementia, part memoir, part guide to assist caregivers on the dementia journey with humor, insight, and practical advice. This book explores the racial disparities in dementia care as well as the race to find a cure.
Debra advocates on behalf of dementia from a three-pronged position:
· Locally, she is CEO at Reminiscent, in her hometown, Valdosta, Georgia;
· At the state level she is active with GARD (Georgia Alzheimer’s & Related Dementias); and
· Nationally, she advocates for AIM (Alzheimer’s Impact Movement). She is appointed to Senator Jon Ossoff.
Originally from Sacramento, Debra is married to a retired United States Naval service member. Together they have three young adult sons, three daughters-in-law, one granddaughter, and two grand dogs. She loves traveling, reading, Bible study, strolling the shoreline, theatrical plays, and stand-up comedy.
In this episode, we discuss how to help children understand a dementia encounter, how confusion begets confusion, how dementia adversely affects people of color, and how caregivers can empower themselves.
We are joined by my friend and AlzAuthors co-founder Jean Lee, author of Alzheimer’s Daughter, who is the acquisitions editor that introduced Debra to our organization.
Read Debra’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2021/07/20/debra-tann-race-of-dementia/
Start reading The Race of Dementia now! https://amzn.to/2Nd78f3
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Connect with Debra
Linkedin.com
Website and Podcast Library
About the AlzAuthors Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
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Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Kimberly Best RN, MA
When a family member is diagnosed with dementia, a number of complicated issues may arise: family conflict, the re-emergence of old slights and misunderstandings, disagreements on how to provide care or navigate the journey, and more. Mediator and conflict coach Kimberly Best is passionate about helping others resolve such conflicts in a productive, non-litigious way, and in finding optimal solutions to problems for all parties involved.
She spent most of her career as a Registered Nurse in intensive care, trauma, and emergency medicine, where she cared for people in extreme need, and gained valuable experience in the healthcare system. This inspired her to become a Civil and Family Mediator. She is the owner of Best Conflict Solutions, where she provides conflict coaching and civil, family, healthcare, and elder mediation in Franklin, Tennessee. She serves on the board of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators. She is a speaker and trainer on conflict management, transitions, and difficult decisions including end of life issues.
Kim is the author of How to Live Forever, A Guide to Writing the Final Chapter of Your Life Story.
In this episode, we discuss the value of professional mediation in dementia care, why your story is your legacy, how to control the final chapter in your life, and the fine line in caregiving between hope and regret.
Read Kim’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2021/04/13/kimberly-best-how-to-live-forever/
Start reading How to Live Forever: A Guide to Writing the Final Chapter of Your Life Story now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Kim
Website
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Sue Ryan
The caregiver journey can either make us or break us. Sue Ryan experienced dementia for more than 30 years with several loved ones, including her father, and now her husband. These journeys have opened her heart and mind to greater possibilities, to understand herself better, and to create opportunities to share her hard-earned knowledge with other caregivers, who may be lost and unsure of their way.
A speaker, storyteller, educator, coach, and mentor, Sue has spent her life working with both professionals in the corporate setting and with dementia caregivers, helping them find new ways to live and work better. Over the course of her work, she says, she became the master of transitions, and she’s here to help you become the master of yours.
She founded the online course, Our Journey of Love, which teaches caregiving lessons, tips, strategies, videos, and exercises to help caregivers move from feeling frustrated and overwhelmed to feeling supported and balanced as they care for a loved one.
She is the author of the international best-selling book, Our Journey of Love: 5 Steps to Navigate Your Caregiving Journey, which offers readers lessons, tips, and tricks she learned from decades of caregiving.
In this episode, we discuss dementia care during COVID, how to attain massive acceptance and radical presence for your caregiving journey, the Scarlett O’Hara approach to caregiving, and the value of V8 moments.
Read Sue’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/09/01/sue-ryan/
Start reading Our Journey of Love, 5 Steps to Navigate Your Caregiving Journey now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Sue
Website
Facebook Page
Facebook Group
Email: sue@ourjourneyoflove.net
About AlzAuthors Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you, please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Support AlzAuthors at https://alzauthors.com/donate
Please leave a review and share this podcast with a caregiver or loved one on a dementia journey.
About Dr. Barbara Ella Milton, Jr., LCSW
Caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s can be difficult. Compound that with your own cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as 90 miles between you, and the experience borders on impossible. But Dr. Barbara Ella Milton Jr. heeded her mother’s call to step in and offer her support throughout her journey. She asked herself three important questions when she got the call: Could I? Should I? Would I? The answers were yes, yes, and yes.
So began their dementia journey, after lifelong relationship struggles and difficulties encountered due to poverty, racism, and homophobia. She tells her story in her memoir, Heeding the Caregiver Call: The Story of Barbara Ella Milton, Sr. and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Barbara is a disabled, retired clinical social worker who, for forty years, worked on behalf of children and communities and for progressive causes. She writes about her life, her social work career, and her research on African American resilience. Her goal is to use her energy for personal healing, advocacy, and to put love and hope into the world. She was born in Camden, New Jersey as the only child of Barbara Ella Milton Sr., who died from Alzheimer’s in January 2019. Barbara lives in North Jersey with her wife, Kay. They enjoy a life rich with family and friends.
In this episode, we discuss how she managed her mother’s care while managing her own, dealing with deep-rooted trust issues, becoming the conductor of an orchestra of help, and the 40 first dates of iterative grief.
Read Barbara’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2021/09/07/battling-cancer-while-caring-for-mom-with-alzheimers/
Start reading Heeding the Caregiver Call: The Story of Barbara Ella Milton, Sr. and Alzheimer’s Disease now! https://amzn.to/2X6fOJa
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Connect with Barbara
YouTube
Personal website
Book Website
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Jennifer Fink is the daughter, granddaughter, and great granddaughter of three women who have succumbed to Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairments. Her quest to discover how not to become the fourth generation in her family with this condition, while also seeking ways to better connect with her mother, led her to her new passion, podcasting. She is the producer and host of Fading Memories, a podcast that listens, hears, and offers wisdom and hope from caregivers who have lived the experience.
Jennifer discovered long ago that podcasts are an easily accessible way to learn new things. She could walk the dog or do housework while learning about a variety of topics. But when she searched for shows that might help her find answers to her many questions about Alzheimer’s, she did not find what she was looking for, so she decided to create one herself.
In its fourth season, Fading Memories focuses on conversations with people who offer resources and ideas for whatever stage of dementia your loved one is in. It’s part helpful information and part true stories from caregivers like you and is for anyone caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
In this episode, we discuss the importance of estate planning sooner rather than later, dealing with a difficult sibling in caregiving, and how cycling kept her sane.
You can also “read” the podcast on her blog, which is available on the FadingMemories.com website.
Read Jen’s AlzAuthors Post
https://alzauthors.com/2021/08/12/jennifer-fink-sh…podcast-and-blog/
Start reading and listening to Fading Memories Podcast now! https://fadingmemoriespodcast.com/
Connect with Jennifer Fink
Website and Podcast: https://fadingmemoriespodcast.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlzheimersPodcast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jennifer_Fink
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alzheimerspodcast/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-fink-338957/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Edie Weinstein is the youngest of the AlzAuthors. She published her illustrated children’s book, Grandpa and Lucy: A Story About Love and Dementia, at the tender age of 16! But today, at 18 and a college student, she may be one of our wisest contributors.
Unlike most of our authors, Edie did not write her book because of a personal experience with dementia. She wrote it as a Girl Scouts Silver Award Project because her grandpa did not have dementia.
After learning about the condition at a Dementia Friends meeting, she realized that for many kids, dementia is a barrier to a happy relationship with their grandparent, which prevents them from enjoying the kind of loving relationship she enjoyed with her Grandpa.
So, she wrote a heartwarming story and seven of her teen friends collaborated with her on the illustrations. Their goal was to help other kids understand the condition, and to show them that their relationship with Grandpa (or Grandma) need not change after a diagnosis.
Edie is an inspiring, intelligent young woman who is clearly going places. You will enjoy this delightful interview, where we explore what sparked her interest in dementia, what happened after she published her book (hint: theater is involved), and how the experience of publishing a book about dementia at such a young age has enhanced her life.
Read Edie’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/03/10/12299/
Start reading Grandpa and Lucy now! https://amzn.to/2TOPhuo
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Watch the play, Grandpa and Lucy, on CLIMB Theater https://tinyurl.com/grandpaandlucydigital
Connect with Edie
Website: www.inkypuppypaws.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inkypuppypaws/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/InkyPuppyPaws
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkypuppypawsmn/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Huling Hummel is an Alzheimer's artist, author, and advocate. She is the author of "UnMasking Alzheimer's: The Memories Behind the Mask,” a collection of photos of the 36 masks she created as a participant in an arts program called "Art Reflects" for those living with memory loss and their care partners. Cynthia says she started with one mask and couldn't stop! Each one reveals a story that speaks to her experience of living with early onset Alzheimer’s. She hopes that her mask collection will travel around the country and provide a better understanding of the challenges of living with a cognitive disorder. She also hopes that it will reduce the stigma of a dementia diagnosis and serve as a catalyst for opening discussions about the condition.
Cynthia was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment in 2011. This changed to clinical Alzheimer's in 2016. She does not let her diagnosis stop her. In fact, she does everything she can to raise awareness and funds for research and support services for those living with memory conditions. She’s enrolled in several clinical trials and urges everyone to learn more at Trialmatch.alz.org. She loves public speaking and has given more than 50 talks to community groups. A former pastor, she especially enjoys speaking to faith communities on how to be more dementia friendly.
In this episode, we discuss how life doesn’t stop after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, her new ministry as an advocate for those living with dementia, and her exhaustive schedule of activities, filled with the arts, education, and many surprising adventures.
Read Cynthia’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2019/09/03/cynthia-huling-unmasking-alzheimers/
Start reading UnMasking Alzheimer’s: The Memories Behind the Masks now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Cynthia:
View Cynthia’s YouTube message about COVID-19
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Pam Ostrowski was the first to recognize her mother’s Alzheimer’s symptoms and spent 14 years with her on her journey. This led her to become a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)®, a Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP®), and Certified in Dementia Care® (CDC®). She is passionate about educating families on dementia care, to help them attain peace of mind while caring for a loved one.
Pam pulled together her caregiver experience and her skills in marketing and promotion to write It's Not That Simple: Helping Families Navigate the Alzheimer's Journey, the book she wished for during her caregiving years, and created Alzheimer's Family Consulting, an agency that provides caregivers with one-on-one dementia guidance.
She now works directly with Alzheimer’s and dementia families to help them navigate the difficult conversations and the many processes, decisions, and emotions they encounter on their journeys.
In this episode, we discuss the many levels of dementia care, the difference between loving and caring, and debunk the many myths that surround the dementia journey.
Read Pam’s AlzAuthors Post:
https://alzauthors.com/2021/05/26/pam-ostrowski-its-not-that-simple/
Start reading It's Not That Simple: Helping Families Navigate the Alzheimer's Journey now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Pam Ostrowski
Website: https://itsnotthatsimple.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pam_AlzSupport
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pam-ostrowski-ma-56159717/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamatsos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pam_alzsupport/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
James Russell is a man caring for his daughter with early onset Alzheimer’s in assisted living. Lynn was diagnosed in 2017 at the age of 51. She represents the fourth generation of the Russell family affected by dementia. In the early days of her diagnosis, Jim, her dad, and her mother, Karen, relocated from their home to be closer to Lynn, and to assist with the care of her three growing sons. Eventually, Karen succumbed to cancer and Jim carried on, moving to an apartment two blocks from Lynn so he can be involved daily in her life. He tells their story on his blog, Nevertheless Dementia, We Persist, where he recounts the daily struggles, joys, and epiphanies of life with Alzheimer’s.
In many ways, Lynn’s condition has brought them closer together, especially as Jim is researching and writing a memoir about their experience which has allowed him to enter parts of his daughter’s life he had not ventured into before. His research has given him the privilege of interviewing many of her friends and work colleagues across her lifespan and he now sees his daughter in a whole new light, appreciating accomplishments he knew nothing of and seeing her through others’ eyes.
In this episode, we discuss the wonders of the village that emerged to help him care for Lynn, how he goes about documenting her life, and how we can support someone in assisted living.
Read James’ AlzAuthors Post
https://alzauthors.com/2020/09/10/james-russell-blogger-younger-onset-alzheimers/
Start reading Nevertheless Dementia We Persist now!
https://neverthelessdementiawepersist.com/
Connect with Jim
Jim on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/james.s.russell.3
Twitter: https://twitter.com/james_s_russell
Connect with Lynn
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynneru
Find Jim’s COVID-19 Videos of Support here: https://alzauthors.com/covid-19/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Bobbi Carducci is a national speaker on Alzheimer’s and dementia, how it affects entire families, and how to prepare to care – what adults need to know about these diagnoses before and after they strike home. Taking on the role of caregiver for her father-in-law, Rodger, for seven years ultimately inspired her to embark on a new path in life, where she is a caregiver advocate, support group leader, Certified Caregiving Consultant (CCC), Certified Caregiving Educator (CCE), author, blogger, and podcaster. Her personal experience on the dementia journey allows her to connect with and educate caregivers as she speaks with honesty, compassion, and humor about caring for an aging family member.
She is the author of Confessions of an Imperfect Caregiver and Caregiver – You Are Not Alone.
In this episode, we discuss the challenges that a history of mental illness brings to a dementia diagnosis, the differences between being an inadequate caregiver vs. an imperfect caregiver, and the many ways dementia is a “family disease.”
Read Bobbi’s AlzAuthors Posts
Bobbi Carducci’s Alzheimer’s Journey Caring for Father-in-law: Confessions of an Imperfect Caregiver
Bobbi Carducci Shares Dementia Caregiver Stories in Anthology: You Are Not Alone
Start reading The Imperfect Caregiver and Caregiver - You Are Not Alone now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Bobbi
Website
Podcast: Rodger That
Email: info@bobbicarducci.com
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Alex Winstanley is a best-selling author and award-winning social entrepreneur from Wigan, England. Through his books, he raises awareness of a range of long-term health conditions, in a positive and supportive way, for children and young people. He is extremely passionate about promoting a diverse and inclusive society, where every person is valued and celebrated. Each of his books are inspired by real people, as Alex believes nothing is more important than giving a voice to those with lived experience. His first book, My Grandma Has Dementia, inspired by his own grandmother, won a Dementia Hero Award in 2021.
In this episode, we discuss his work with the disabled, what happens when we don’t shield children from confusing medical conditions such as dementia, and how to find support services to help care for a loved one.
All book sales directly support the work of Alex's not-for-profit training organization, Happy Smiles Training CIC, which is led by disabled young adults. See more about their nationally recognised work on their website or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Read Alex’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2021/09/01/alex-winstanley-…dma-has-dementia/
Start reading My Grandma Has Dementia now! https://amzn.to/3usNZWf
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Alex Winstanley
Website: https://www.happysmilestraining.co.uk/our-books/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alexwinstanleyauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/alexwauthor
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/alexwinstanleyauthor
Happy Smiles Training CIC: http://www.happysmilestraining.co.uk/
See Alex talking about his second book, 'My Uncle Has Depression', on ITV News here.
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Donna Thomson and Dr.Zachary White are co-authors of The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation of Loved One to Caregiver (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).
Donna Thomson is a caregiver, author, and activist. The mother of two grown children, one who has severe cerebral palsy and medical complexity, she also helped care for her mother who lived with dementia until she passed away in the summer of 2018 at the age of 96.
She is also the author of The Four Walls of My Freedom: Lessons I've Learned from a Life of Caregiving (McArthur and Co., 2010 and The House of Anansi Press, 2014), and blogs regularly at The Caregivers' Living Room. She is a board director of the Kids Brain Health Network and is a leader and instructor in family engagement in health research. She also teaches families how to advocate for care at The Advocacy School and at Huddol.com.
Dr. Zachary White Zachary began living, researching, and exploring the caregiver experience in 2002 during his mother's diagnosis with brain cancer. His research and teaching focus on helping people manage meaning and communicate life experiences amidst high levels of uncertainty and stress. He is the founder of the award-winning blog and resource for caregivers called "The Unprepared Caregiver."
He earned his Ph.D. in communication from Purdue University and is an Associate Professor in the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte. He has researched a range of care experiences, including birth (parental NICU experiences), chronic caregiver experiences, and end-of-life caregiving (hospice care). His academic articles have been published in Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Family Communication, Communication Research Reports, OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, Health Communication, and Volunteering and Communication: Studies from Multiple Contexts.
In this episode, we discuss the delicate relationship between caregiver and care receiver, the multiple roles caregivers fulfill, authenticity in caregiving, and the value of silence.
Read Thomson and White’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/02/04/unexpected-journey-caring-thomson-white/
Start reading The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation from Loved One to Caregiver now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Donna Thomson
Blog: The Caregivers' Living Room
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donnathomsonauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Thomsod
Connect with Zachary White
Blog: The Unprepared Caregiver
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZMWhite
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unpreparedcaregiver/
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors.com
Susan Cushman cared for her mother during her dementia journey and considered it a blessing. One of the upsides to Alzheimer’s, she says, is that she got a new mother. After a lifetime of abuse, her mother “forgot” to be cruel to her, and their relationship improved. About her book, Tangles and Plaques: A Mother and Daughter Face Alzheimer’s,” she says, “The tangles and plaques that destroyed Mother’s brain weren’t only in her brain, but also in our relationship.”
She is also the author of John and Mary Margaret, a novel that explores interracial relationships and the complexities of reconnecting with a lost love when your spouses wind up in the same memory care center.
Much of her writing is infused with elements of her own life, including the very mystical spirituality of her Orthodox Christian faith and the personal demons she has been chasing since childhood. Her essays, short stories, memoir, and novels all reflect what she has learned through many dark nights of the soul, but also contain elements of hope and healing, and honor her Southern roots.
In this episode, we discuss how she discovered an unexpected upside to Alzheimer’s, the downside of being a long-distance caregiver, and the healing power of forgiveness.
More about Susan
Susan was co-director of the 2013 and 2010 Oxford (Mississippi) Creative Nonfiction Conferences. She was director of the 2011 Memphis Creative Nonfiction Workshop. She was a panelist at the 2017 Decatur Book Festival, the 2012, 2017, and 2018 Southern Festival of Books, the 2017 and 2018 Mississippi Book Festival, the 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Louisiana Book Festival, the 2018 Mississippi Writers Guild Conference, the 2018 Alabama Writers Conclave Conference, the 2018 Pat Conroy Literary Center Visiting Author Series, the 2019 Southern Literary Festival, and the 2020 AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Professionals) annual conference.
Her published books include four she has written: John and Mary Margaret (novel), Friends of the Library (short stories), Tangles and Plaques: A Mother and Daughter Face Alzheimer’s (a memoir), and Cherry Bomb (a novel). She has edited three collections of essays: A Second Blooming: Becoming the Women We Are Meant to Be, Southern Writers Writing, and The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate 20 Years! In addition, she has over a dozen essays published in four anthologies and various journals and magazines.
Purchase Tangles and Plaques and John and Mary Margaret now!
Read Susan’s AlzAuthors posts
Susan Cushman Reveals Alzheimer’s Caregiving Struggles with Mom: Tangles and Plaques
Three AlzAuthors Featured in Chicken Soup for Soul Book
Susan Cushman Explores Interracial Relationships and Dementia in New Novel
Connect with Susan
Website: http://susancushman.com/
Blog: http://susancushman.com/author/susan/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sjcushman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sjcushman/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SusanCushman
YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmK08WUEuxQ
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Leah Stanley is the author of Goodnight, Sweet: A Caregiver’s Long Goodbye, the memoir she wrote years after caring for her beloved grandparents, both diagnosed with dementia. At the time she was a 29-year-old newlywed with no clue about elder issues, dementia, or caregiving. She had to learn fast! When her dementia journey ended, she realized she wanted to take her hard-earned lessons and share them with others so they would not be as unprepared as she was when duty called. Her degree in journalism gave her the confidence to start writing and she began a memoir, and then put it on hold for years while she raised her children. When they were teens and no longer needed her full-time, she got back to writing and published her book in 2019. This led to her becoming a caregiver advocate and a well-known speaker in the Houston area.
In this episode we discuss the challenges of becoming a caregiver at a young age, how to continue a loving relationship with elders after a dementia diagnosis, and the sweet story behind the title Goodnight, Sweet.
Read Leah’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2019/05/21/meet-leah-stanley-author-of-goodnight-sweet/
Start reading Goodnight Sweet now! https://amzn.to/3fXCeme
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Leah Stanley
Website: http://www.leahstanley.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LStanleyBooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OneCareVoice
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahstanleybooks/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Joy Johnston is a digital journalist, author, and caregiver advocate based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her collection of personal essays on caregiving, titled The Reluctant Caregiver, received a gold medal at the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards. She also writes about dementia and caregiving on her blog, The Memories Project, which was honored as one of the “Best Alzheimer’s Disease Blogs of 2020” by eMediHealth, and she is a featured author on The Caregiver Space.
An only child, she assisted her mother as a long-distance caregiver to her father with dementia for ten years. A few years after his passing, she left her career and home to move across country to care for her mother when she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. This was not a role she wished for as their relationship had always been challenging.
In this episode we discuss the difficulties of managing your parents’ health care needs as an only child living hundreds of miles away, the shortcomings of rural health care, and why paid caregivers need recognition for the value they bring to family caregiving.
Read Joy’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2016/09/21/meet-author-joy-johnston/
Start reading The Reluctant Caregiver now! https://amzn.to/38jsVZs
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Joy Johnston
Website: http://joyjohnston.com/
Memories Project: https://memoriesproject.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMemoriesProject/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/joymemories
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyjohnstonatl/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Tracey Shorthousewas diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and Posterior Cortical Atrophy in 2015 at age 45. A staff nurse in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, she had to retire due to her diagnosis.
Not being one to give up, she started to write short stories but found writing poetry was easier for her brain to contend with. Although at first her poems were about how she coped with her dementia, she then started writing about life, nature, and other things. In 2017 she published a book of poetry named I Am Still Me.
She stays active on social media, Facebook and Twitter, and is a well-known speaker on dementia in her community.
In this episode we discuss her life after being diagnosed at such a young age, what she’s lost and gained, how she came to write poetry post-diagnosis, and her hopes for the future.
Read Tracey’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2017/05/24/meet-poet-tracey-shorthouse/
Start reading I Am Still Me now! https://amzn.to/3xQuBnw
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Tracey Shorthouse
Website:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracey.shorthouse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TraceyShorty28
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
This is the third and last in our Summer Book Series with HFC, aka Hilarity for Charity, for 2021. In this session Loretta Woodward Veney joined us for a discussion of her book Being My Mom’s Mom: A Journey Through Dementia from a Daughter’s Perspective. We talked about her work as a LEGO Ambassador and how that fits into her dementia care for her mom, and discussed other activities to help caregivers connect and engage with their loved ones.
About Loretta Woodward Veney
Loretta Woodward Veney is a special friend to AlzAuthors and was one of the first authors to appear on our blog in July, 2016. Her mission is moving caregivers from "I give up" to "I've got this"! She recently retired from a 35-year career in security management and corporate training and is embarking on a new full-time career as a motivational speaker and trainer for those caring for a loved one with dementia. She is also a LEGO Ambassador, sharing her lifelong love for the little plastic building blocks with strategies to nurture creativity, communication, and connections between those with dementia and their loved ones.
In 2006, when Loretta's beloved mom Doris was diagnosed with dementia, she began learning everything she could about the disease, and hoped to share that information so others could be better prepared than she was for this diagnosis. In 2013, that hope turned into her first book, Being My Mom's Mom, which highlights the first six years of the family's dementia journey. An updated version was published in December 2019 and includes a new chapter that picks up at the end of the first book until late 2019.
Soon after publishing Being My Mom’s Mom, Loretta began receiving requests for presentations on her caregiver experience, and since that time has given more than 275 presentations and keynote addresses to audiences across the United States.
She has published two additional books for caregivers: Refreshment for the Caregiver's Spirit, a motivational photo book, and Colors Flowing from My Mind, an easy-to-use coloring book for those with dementia.
Read Loretta’s AlzAuthors posts:
Meet Loretta Woodward Veney, Author of Being My Mom’s Mom, July 7, 2016
Loretta Woodward Veney Updates Her Memoir, Being My Mom’s Mom, May 26, 2020
Start reading "Being My Mom’s Mom: A Journey Through Dementia from a Daughter’s Perspective": https://amzn.to/2BCS18s
Connect with Loretta Woodward Veney
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/lwveney
Conquering
Life Blog: https://lwveney.wordpress.com
Website:
https://lorettaveney.com
About the Podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
This is the second in our Summer Book Series with HFC, aka Hilarity for Charity. In this session Daniel Potts, MD, FAAN, and his wife Ellen Potts joined us for a discussion of their helpful book A Pocket Guide for the Alzheimer’s Caregiver.
Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN is a neurologist, author, educator, and champion of those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and their care partners. Selected by the American Academy of Neurology as the 2008 Donald M. Palatucci Advocate of the Year, he also has been designated an Architect of Change by Maria Shriver. In 2016, he was chosen by the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association as a recipient of the Martha Myers Role Model Award, which honors physician alumni whose lives epitomize the ideal of service to their communities.
Along with his wife, Ellen W. Potts, MBA, he co-authored A Pocket Guide for the Alzheimer’s Caregiver, which is recommended by the Alzheimer’s Association, the American Academy of Neurology and Maria Shriver.
Inspired by his father’s transformation from saw miller to watercolor artist in the throes of dementia through person-centered care and the expressive arts, Dr. Potts seeks to make these therapies more widely available through his foundation, Cognitive Dynamics.
Additionally, he is passionate about promoting self-preservation and dignity for all persons with cognitive impairment. He practices neurology at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center.
Read Dr. Potts’ AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2017/02/21/meet-daniel-c-potts-physician-author-and-dementia-advocate/
Listen to Dr. Potts podcast on Untangling Alzheimer’s and Dementia: https://alzauthors.com/podcast
Start reading “A Pocket Guide for the Alzheimer's Caregiver” with Ellen Potts now! https://amzn.to/3nP2IIB
Additional books by Dr. Potts:
“Finding Joy in Alzheimer’s: New Hope for Caregivers,”with Marie Marley, https://amzn.to/2KIAi4h
“Treasure for Alzheimer’s: Reflecting on experiences with the art of Lester E. Potts, Jr,” with Richard Morgan, Ph.D., https://amzn.to/3mBxjYr
“Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers,” https://amzn.to/2LVFySH
“The Unlatched Door: A Collection of Poetry,” https://amzn.to/37AZe6L
“A Heart That Knows Your Name: Poetry Inspired by Persons Living with Dementia and Care Partners,” https://amzn.to/3nDWRFB
“The Second Crossing: A Poetry Anthology,” https://amzn.to/3r8Ngc6
“At End of Day,” https://amzn.to/2KFznkX
“Verses of Recovery,” https://amzn.to/2LOtFh7
“Soul Fire: Celebrating life and creation through word and image,” https://amzn.to/3p862i2
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Dr. Potts
Blog: https://danielcpotts.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.potts.92372
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielCPotts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielcpotts/
Cognitive Dynamics: www.cognitivedynamics.org
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
AlzAuthors has again partnered with HFC, (Hilarity for Charity) to present a Summer Book Series for Alzheimer’s and dementia families and caregivers. Each month one of our authors meets with readers and caregivers online to discuss their book. The authors talk about their own dementia journeys and why they chose to write about them. They also answer questions from the attendees. It’s a wonderful way to learn more about dementia and caregiving.
Peter Berry kicked off the first in our series on June 8th. Peter’s book, “Slow Puncture: Living Well with Dementia,” was written by his friend, Deb Bunt. Peter and Deb both participated in the book club, and it is a lively discussion. Peter discussed the deep depression that engulfed him after his diagnosis and shared how he managed to not only climb out of it but learned how to live well with dementia, and to inspire others to do the same. He is an important voice in dementia world and one can learn a lot from him about positive living.
About Peter Berry
Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 50, Peter took an early retirement from his job working in the family’s timber business. After the devastating diagnosis, he became depressed but, being a ‘glass half full’ personality, battled through his depression and focused on his lifelong passion for cycling. He has used this passion to raise awareness of the condition, particularly in younger people.
Peter’s philosophy is to live well with dementia and to inspire others to do the same. He maintains an active lifestyle due to his love of cycling, which keeps him fit both below and above the eyebrows, he says.
Along with his friend Deb Bunt, Peter cycles nearly every day. Their travels throughout Suffolk, England have led them to have many serious heart-to-hearts about his disease, which Deb put together in Slow Puncture.
“It's a book about me,” Peter says, “but a book I have never read and never will read as my short-term memory means I have forgotten the previous sentence as soon as I have started a new one.”
Read Peter’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/12/29/early-onset-alzheimers-bunt-berry/
Listen to Peter’s AlzAuthors Podcast: https://alzauthors.com/podcast
Start reading Slow Puncture now! https://amzn.to/3tbDsis
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Peter and Deb
Website:
https://peterberrylwa.wixsite.com/peterberry/the-book
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/DebBuntAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeterBerryLivingWithAlzheimers/
Twitter:https://twitter.com/PeterBe1130
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterberry8/
Join us on August 10th for the third and last session in the series with Loretta Woodward Veney, author of Being My Mom's Mom. Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwqfuCqrTsqH9V-vyV2F3ydmnLrY6BgRbzH
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
On June 15, 2021, 5 of our authors came together for our first Virtual Q&A called “Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Living with Early Onset Dementia but Were Afraid to Ask.” We talked about their diagnoses, and they answered questions regarding their daily lives, how they cope with their condition, how they manage to keep a positive attitude, and so much more. You will learn a lot!
For a transcript, please email marianne@alzauthors.com. Let’s get started!
Our Panelists:
Michael Ellenbogen was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 49, after experiencing symptoms for 10 years. This led to an early retirement from his career in information technology. Following his diagnosis, he has become an outspoken advocate for those with dementia and has written articles and blog posts in addition to his book, From the Corner Office to Alzheimer’s. He has appeared on podcasts and television and has testified before the United States Congress.
Gerda Saunders was the Associate Director of and taught in the Gender Studies Program at the University of Utah; she also taught gender and literature courses in the English Department. At the age of 61, she was diagnosed with cerebral microvascular disease, a precursor to dementia. She retired a year later. She maintains an active lifestyle, writing and speaking about the disease in a variety of settings. She is the author of Memory’s Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia, and blogs at Living With My Dementia.
Wendy Mitchell started a blog, Which Me Am I Today? after being diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia in 2014. She was 58. Her blog eventually became a memoir, Somebody I Used to Know. Wendy remains active in the dementia community, participating in workshops and lectures across England. She has a very active Twitter presence, which she calls her lifeline.
Dr. Jennifer Bute, FRCGP worked in Africa as a doctor before working as a GP (Family Doctor) for 25 years and was involved in medical education. She was diagnosed with dementia ten years ago. She speaks at conferences and on radio and has been involved in television programs raising awareness and understanding of dementia. She passionately believes more can be done to improve both the present and the future for those living with the disease. Her book Dementia from the Inside: A Doctor’s Personal Journey of Hope is her story and explains these principles. Her website GloriousOpportunity.org includes many videos where she discusses different aspects of the condition, and she also blogs on Facebook at Glorious Opportunity.
Peter Berry ran the family’s timber business for decades before being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 50. He immediately stopped working and fell into a deep depression. After some time, he realized that he still had a life to live, overcame his depression, and now fills his days with cycling across the English countryside with his friends, and advocating for those with dementia in his community and on social media. To date he has raised more than £20,000 for dementia charities through cycling challenges. He tells his story in Slow Puncture: Living Well with Dementia, with Deb Bunt.
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Australian Kate Swaffer, a humanitarian and activist for disability rights in dementia and aged care. She is the Chair, CEO and co-founder of Dementia Alliance International, a global advocacy and support group for people living with dementia. Kate is also living with younger onset dementia, diagnosed in 2008 at age 49.
She has won many awards for her work, including the 2018 Australian 100 Women of Influence Global Leader, and the 2017 South Australia Australian of The Year. Kate is an elected board member of Alzheimer’s Disease International, and a current PhD candidate at the University of South Australia. Her first dementia book, What the Hell Happened to My Brain? Living Beyond Dementia, and her second book, Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, co-authored with Associate Professor Lee-Fay Low, were released in 2016. She has also written and published a book of poetry, Love Life Loss - A Roller Coaster of Poetry Volume 2: Days with Dementia.
Since 2010, Kate has given many keynote presentations on dementia, human rights, disAbility, discrimination, stigma, the lived experience of dementia, dementia-enabling design principles, language, Prescribed Disengagement®, Information Technology for people with dementia, dementia policy, and loss and grief.
In this episode we discuss how she managed to complete two master’s degrees and part of a PhD post diagnosis, her life as an “accidental activist,” and how to break down the wall of silence that surrounds a dementia diagnosis.
Read Kate’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2016/07/19/meet-kate-swaffer-author-of-what-the-hell-happened-to-my-brain/
Start reading What the Hell Happened to My Brain? now! https://amzn.to/3xuIqZG
Start reading Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another dementia now! https://amzn.to/2VtmQ9K
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Kate Swaffer
Website: https://kateswaffer.com/
Dementia Alliance: https://www.dementiaallianceinternational.org/
Blog: https://kateswaffer.com/daily-blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kate.swaffer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateswaffer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateSwaffer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-swaffer-502a5b13/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZZQitZb0pttEpGxNLwldjg
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Judy Cornish is the founder of the Dementia & Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network (DAWN®) in Moscow, Idaho. Through her hands-on work with dementia, she developed a proprietary method for working with people who have dementia—one that helps them develop and retain a sense of security and wellbeing. She is the author of Dementia with Dignity and The Dementia Handbook.
The DAWN Method® is simple enough to be used by caregivers in the home and works in care facilities as well. It targets the emotional distress that accompanies cognitive decline so that behaviors are avoided, and caregiver stress is minimized.
Judy is an attorney licensed in Idaho and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). Before becoming a lawyer, she worked in vocational rehabilitation with people who have brain injuries and as a Qualified Mental Health Associate with the mentally ill. With her background in traumatic brain injury, mental illness, elder law and disability law, Judy brings a distinctive set of abilities to her work with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
In this episode, we discuss the importance of intuitive thinking skills, which Judy calls “the seat of our souls,” the medical model of dementia care vs. the experiential model, and how her desire to help a neighbor with dementia remain in her home launched a philosophy and program that helps families dealing with dementia worldwide.
Start reading Judy’s books now: https://amzn.to/3hwN7eq
(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)
Read Judy’s AlzAuthors Posts:
Judy Cornish, Author of Dementia with Dignity, Offers Tools and Techniques for Home Care: https://alzauthors.com/2019/07/30/welcome-back-judy-cornish-author-of-dementia-with-dignity/
The Dementia Handbook: Judy Cornish Answers How to Care at Home: https://alzauthors.com/2017/06/27/meet-judy-cornish-author-of-the-dementia-handbook/
Connect with Judy at the DAWN Method!
Website: https://thedawnmethod.com
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/DAWN-Method-1684106525201898/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudyCornishDAWN
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judycornish/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Elizabeth Miller is the creative genius behind Happy Healthy Caregiver, a community built for caregivers who may be overwhelmed with their responsibilities and long to find others to connect with as well as resources to make life easier. Her mission is to help caregivers become happier and healthier while caring for others. “We can do hard things,” she says, “but we don’t need to do them alone.” Her years as a former caregiver for both parents and a certified caregiver consultant have given her a wealth of experience which she shares on the Happy Healthy Caregiver website and podcast, as a caregiver consultant, and much more. She is a sought-after speaker at caregiver conferences nationwide and coordinates a Daughterhood Circle in Atlanta. She’s also the author of Just for You: A Daily Self-Care Journal.
In this podcast, we discuss juggling caregiving with a full-time job, commuting, and raising children, finding time for self-care, and the beauty of life after caregiving.
Read Elizabeth’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/11/10/elizabeth-miller-just-for-you-self-care-journal/
Start journaling now with Just for You: A Daily Self-Care Journal! https://amzn.to/35MWvW9
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales
Connect with Elizabeth
Website: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/
Podcast: https://happyhealthycaregiver.com/podcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happyhealthycaregiver/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyhealthycaregiver/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HHCaregiver
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HHCaregiver/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethbmiller
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAcYkpMK6I3Y0ep-kyvrZaQ
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
What happens when two dementia advocates from opposite sides of the Atlantic who have each written books and blogs and host podcasts on the condition get together for a chat? The conversation flows and grows into a wealth of storytelling and sharing. This is what happened when Pippa Kelly joined me for a Zoom call.
Pippa is the author of Invisible Ink, a novel that explores a man’s relationship with his mother who has dementia. She also blogs on all things dementia, and hosts the popular podcast, “Well I Know Now,” featuring a variety of guests sharing their dementia stories.
Her dementia journey started when her father became ill and she needed to step in to care, not only for him, but for her mother, who had dementia. She was thrust into caregiving unexpectedly and says she felt ill-equipped for the role. Like most caregivers she had to learn everything on the spot and tackled such issues as moving her mother out of her home against her will and convincing the National Health Service to provide services for her father at home. A journalist, she soon began writing about their experiences, won an award for her writing, and became known across England as a campaigner and trusted speaker on the subject.
In this discussion we touched on all of these topics, as well as the emotional chaos of dementia, and what you can get back from dementia care.
Read Pippa’s AlzAuthors Posts:
Meet Pippa Kelly, Dementia Writer and Advocate https://alzauthors.com/2016/06/16/meet-pippa-kelly-dementia-writer-advocate/
Meet Pippa Kelly, Author of Invisible Ink
https://alzauthors.com/2017/04/12/meet-pippa-kelly-author-of-invisible-ink/
Start reading Invisible Ink now! https://amzn.to/3pYpXSh
(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)
Connect with Pippa
Website https://pippakelly.co.uk/
Blog https://pippakelly.co.uk/blog/
Podcast https://pippakelly.co.uk/blog/
Twitter https://twitter.com/piponthecommons
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Richard Creighton began his blog, “Living with Alzheimer’s: A Real-Time Account of Dementia Caregiving,” the day his wife Kate was diagnosed in 2011. His goal was to keep a record of their experience for their children. He and Kate cared for family members together for 24 years, which included both his parents and his in-laws throughout various illnesses. Now he cares for her, deep into her dementia, at home with the assistance of paid caregivers.
Richard and Kate recently made a major life change, leaving their home of many years to start anew at a Continuing Care Retirement Community, where they can age in place. Richard made this decision to make life easier for himself and for Kate, and to make sure their children’s responsibilities for their care would be minimal. He wanted a plan for an easy transition to the last chapter of their lives.
In addition to his blog, which he writes under a pseudonym, Richard is also an AlzAuthors Associate, creating videos for our Dementia Caregiving During COVID video series.
In this episode we talk about making a residential move late in life, their traumatic bout with COVID-19, how he keeps himself active and busy while caring for his wife at home, and what he’s got in his “Caregiver Toolbox” that may also be helpful to other caregivers on the dementia journey.
Read Richard’s AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2019/01/15/meet-blogger-richard-creighton-living-with-alzheimers/
Watch Richards’s Dementia Care During COVID videos: https://alzauthors.com/covid-19/
Start reading “Living with Alzheimer’s: A Real-Time Account of Dementia Caregiving” now! http://livingwithalzheimers.com/
Connect with Richard Creighton
Blog: http://livingwithalzheimers.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LivingWthAlz
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Dr. Jennifer Bute who lives in a dementia inclusive retirement village in Somerset, west of London. Previously she worked in Africa as a doctor before working as a GP for 25 years in England and was involved in medical education. Her career was cut short when she was diagnosed with young onset dementia ten years ago. She speaks at conferences and on radio and has been involved in television programs raising awareness and understanding of dementia. She passionately believes more can be done to improve both the present and the future for those living with the condition. Her book Dementia from the Inside: A Doctor's Personal Journey of Hope is her story and explains these principles. Her website GloriousOpportunity.org includes many videos where she discusses different aspects of dementia, and she also blogs on Facebook at Glorious Opportunity.
In this episode we discuss the Japanese Memory groups she runs at her retirement village, how to find someone in their dementia, why she insists on always telling the truth to those with dementia, and the wonders of Alexa.
Read Jennifer’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/09/15/dr-jennifer-bute-dementia-from-inside/
Start reading Dementia from the Inside Out now! https://amzn.to/2Qm36mg
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Jennifer
Website: https://www.gloriousopportunity.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gloriousopportunity
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/
Thank you for listening.
We’re doing something a little different on the podcast today. It’s AlzAuthors 6th anniversary, and we’re celebrating by bringing the entire team together to talk about what goes on behind the scenes of this global organization of authors. We’ll talk about upcoming events and projects and plans for the coming year. You’ll learn about our acquisitions process, which is how we find the great books and blogs in our collection, how to become an AlzAuthor, our new book club with Amazon, and how you can help to support our mission to bring quality resources to caregivers and others concerned about these conditions. Be sure to check the show notes as they are packed with information on how to get more from AlzAuthors.
Follow AlzAuthors:
Website: https://alzauthors.com
Blog: https://alzauthors.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlzAuthors/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alzauthors/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alzauthors
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alzauthors
Volunteer: https://alzauthors.com/volunteer/
Submit Your Book: https://forms.gle/oTaGH1S3b52VHdTB6
Donate: https://alzauthors.com/donate/
Purchase an Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/AlzAuthors/e/B07K8YDZZB
Join our Amazon Book Club:
https://www.amazon.com/amazonbookclubs/detail/amzn1.club.bookclub.96bc133f-1784-0992-c0b0-cdead946f145?
Dementia Caregiving During COVID Videos: https://alzauthors.com/covid-19/
Podcast: https://alzauthors.com/podcast
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Katya De Luisa, an artist, expressive arts program designer, freelance writer, and author with 20 years’ experience working with those living with dementia and their families. She firmly believes that when we change the way we look at something what we look at changes.
Katya’s experience working in long-term care facilities as both a caregiver and as an art director has given her a wealth of insight into the dementia diseases, family dynamics, communication, miscommunication, and more.
Her passion is communicating with people in late-stage disease using the visual arts, collage in particular. She believes that no matter how advanced a person’s dementia may be there is still a person inside who is reachable if we use the right tools and methods.
She is the founder and director of the non-profit The Infinite Mind Dementia Project in Costa Rica, and the author of the book Journey Through the Infinite Mind: The Science and Spirituality of Dementia.
In this episode overflowing with practical advice and much to think about, we discuss how to connect with those who have dementia, why we should “move into the now,” tips on how to evaluate a nursing home, and why dementia instills such paralyzing fear in all of us, as individuals and as societies.
Read Katya’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2021/02/02/katya-de-luisa-alzheimers/
Start reading Journey through the Infinite Mind: The Science and Spirituality of Dementia now! https://amzn.to/3nB6zcC
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Katya De Luisa
Website: https://www.theinfinitemind.org
Blog: https://www.theinfinitemind.org/category/katyas-blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katya.deluisa.37
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheInfiniteMin1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katya-de-luisa-5a789319/
Info on MP3 players for those with dementia:
The Purple Angel (UK): https://purpleangel-global.com/mp3-players/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Renée Brown Harmon, MD, author of the teaching memoir “Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer's: Principles of Caregiving That Kept Me Upright.” She and her husband Harvey created, developed, and shared a thriving family medicine private practice in Birmingham, Alabama, for more than twenty years. In 2010, Harvey, at age 50, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and forced to retire. Renée became “The Queen of Everything” at work and at home. She was a solo physician at their practice as well as Harvey’s primary caregiver, and primary parent to their two teenaged daughters. With reluctance and resentment, she also took on the role of head of household. It was a lot, but she managed to “surf the waves,” which she shares in her insightful book. Harvey’s dementia journey ended in memory care in 2018. Renée retired in 2019 and uses her time and talents to write and speak on Alzheimer’s and dementia while advocating for caregivers.
In this episode we discuss how being a physician affected her caregiving journey, how she tried to do it all herself but learned to reach out for help, and the creative ways her friends helped her and Harvey.
Read Renée’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/06/16/renee-harmon-earlyonset-alz-blog/
Start reading "Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer's: Principles of Caregiving That Kept Me Upright" now! https://amzn.to/3atH7jU
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Renée
Website: https://www.reneeharmon.com/
Blog: https://www.reneeharmon.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reneeharmonauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reneeharmon_writes/?hl=en
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Ann Campanella is a former magazine and newspaper journalist, the author of two memoirs and four collections of poetry, and an AlzAuthors manager and director. Her award-winning writing has appeared in literary journals, newspapers and magazines across the country and around the world, and she has discussed her work on numerous podcasts.
Ann’s first memoir, Motherhood: Lost and Found, was twice named “One of the best Alzheimer’s books of all time” by Book Authority. In 2018, she was recognized by her hometown newspaper as one of the Most Influential Women in her community. She has a degree in English Literature from Davidson College and lives with her family and animals in North Carolina.
In this episode, we discuss her heartbreaking journey to become a mother while losing her own mother to dementia at the same time, the healing power of horses, and the “season” of caregiving.
Read Ann’s AlzAuthors Posts:
Motherhood: Lost and Found https://alzauthors.com/2017/01/18/meet-ann-campanella-author-of-motherhood-lost-and-found/
The Beach Poems https://alzauthors.com/2017/11/08/what-flies-away-poetry-byann-campanella/
What Flies Away
https://alzauthors.com/2019/09/17/meet-ann-campanella-alzauthors-manager-and-author-of-what-flies-away/
Start reading Ann’s work now!
Motherhood Lost and Found: https://amzn.to/3eC5izw
The Beach Poems: https://amzn.to/3lsFPu1
What Flies Away: https://amzn.to/3clNBSi
Celiac Mom: https://amzn.to/38VsV
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Ann Campanella
Website: http://anncampanella.com/
Blog: https://fieldsofgrace22.wordpress.com/author/awcamp/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ann.campanella.7
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awcampanella/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorAnnC
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Vincent Zappacosta has been a writer and photographer ever since he was a little boy back in Catholic school. His professional background has been in theatre, yoga, and graphic design. All of these skills came to be a blessing when his mother, Mama, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he and his husband Douglass became her caregivers.
“Mama was a ham,” he says, and loved being the focus of attention. She was thrilled when he began sharing their dementia journey with the world through his blog, Dementia Mama Drama. The blog became a play, and then a book, all by the same name.
In this episode we discuss how Vincent and Douglass coped as caregivers to the dramatic Mama with daily doses of humor, always keeping Mama in the spotlight, and maintaining their own sanity with The Three W’s: writing, walking, and wine.
Read Vincent’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/12/15/a-daily-dose-of-dementia-mama-drama/
Start reading Dementia Mama Drama now! https://amzn.to/3rZiwdS
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Vincent Zappacosta
Blog: https://www.dementia-mama-drama.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Mama.Drama
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_mama_drama/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DementiaMama
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Carol Bradley Bursack, an author, columnist, consultant, and speaker who provided care to a neighbor and six elderly family members over the span of two decades. This experience led her to write Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories, a portable support group for caregivers that is also used as a college text for gerontology and nursing home administration classes. Her websites Minding Our Elders and Minding Our Elders blog, include links to helpful agencies, articles rich with information and comfort, links to support groups, and resources for caregiver, boomer and elder needs.
Carol also works as a consultant on aging and caregiving issues. Her newspaper column Minding Our Elders has run weekly for over 15 years, both in print and online. She is the spokesperson and writer for Egosan Products, where she writes the column “Ask Carol” on their EgosanCares.com website and manages their social media. She also moderates a paid forum for Dr. Leslie Kernisan’s website Better Health While Aging. She has written for HealthCentral.com for over 14 years and for Agingcare.com for 10 years.
Carol is frequently interviewed on national radio shows, including NPR's Talk of the Nation; Senior Solutions, produced by Detroit Area Agency on Aging; and Wisconsin Public Radio. She’s routinely interviewed by newspapers, magazines and on major websites, including Reader’s Digest (Digital), Next Avenue, Salon.com, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The USA Today Network, the Chicago-based Make It Better magazine, The Upside of Aging, Booming Encore, US News &World Report, Market Watch, and more.
She is a co-moderator on the Facebook sites USagainstAlzheimers and Caregivers Committed to Wellness, as well as a contributor to Caregivers Companion and Joining the Dots on Alzheimer’s.
Carol is currently working on a book that will include her signature support for caregivers and elders. The book will also delve into the many changes that have occurred in caregiving over the last two decades. She plans to include chapters on living well until we die, death with dignity, with more revealed as the book evolves.
In this episode we discuss caring for our loved ones with dementia by entering their world, managing medications, and the trials and tribulations of long term care.
Read Carol’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2016/06/10/meet-carol-bradley-bursack-author-of-minding-our-elders/
Start reading Minding Our Elders now! Link https://amzn.to/3ahhW3a
(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)
Connect with Carol
Website: https://mindingourelders.com
Blog: https://www.mindingoureldersblogs.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MindingOurElders/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MindingOurElders/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mindingourelder
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mindingourelder/pins/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindingourelders/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
In this podcast, we’re turning the tables on podcast host and producer Marianne Sciucco. She is the guest and Jean Lee of AlzAuthors is the interviewer. Marianne is a co-founder and manager of AlzAuthors and is the author of Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story. She’s also a registered nurse who has cared for hundreds of dementia patients and their families over her 20+ years career.
In 2015 she became a dementia daughter when her stepfather was diagnosed with mixed dementia: frontotemporal, Alzheimer’s, and vascular, and she became his long-distance caregiver. She soon took on the care of her mother. as well. Her caregiving journey ended in 2018.
Marianne continues to work as a nurse in college health, is working on a prequel to Blue Hydrangeas, and is dedicated to making AlzAuthors an information hub for caregivers.
In this episode, we discuss the many losses Marianne has recently endured, her new blog project “The Grief Diary: Exploring the Aftermath of Love and Loss,” the lessons she learned as a long distance caregiver, and how she wrote and published the book that launched AlzAuthors.
Read Marianne’s AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2018/05/02/meet-marianne-sciucco-alzauthors-admin-and-author-of-blue-hydrangeas-an-alzheimers-love-story/
Start reading Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story now! https://amzn.to/3suzfVv
We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Marianne:
Website and blog https://mariannesciucco.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marianne.sciucco.1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarianneSciucco
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-sciucco/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more, supporting our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening!
Lauren Dykovitz knew nothing about Alzheimer’s when her mother was diagnosed at the age of 62. Just 25, with a new career and recently engaged, Lauren took a crash course in caregiving which changed her life, and eventually led her to candidly share her story on Facebook. This soon grew into the blog, Life, Love, and Alzheimer’s, which grew into the book, Learning to Weather the Storm: A Story of Life, Love, and Alzheimer’s. Her goal was not only to share her story and the lessons she’s learned but to let others know they are not alone.
In the beginning, she says, she had a difficult time coping with her mom’s disease and felt she had nowhere to turn for advice and support. As a younger caregiver, it was difficult to find anyone who could relate to what she was going through.
In many ways, the blog serves as her online journal. She finds it therapeutic to write down her thoughts and feelings as she navigates her way through life with this horrific disease and the aftermath of her mother’s death. The name of the blog says it all: She tells stories of life, love, and Alzheimer’s, and warns that she might make you cry at times, but she promises to make you laugh, as well. And, to always, always, always keep it real.
“I’m not an expert on Alzheimer’s,” she says. “I’m an expert on loving someone who has it.”
In this episode we discuss the particular difficulties of being a millenial caregiver, how connecting with other caregivers via social media makes it easier, and why her mother’s forgetting her wasn’t the worst thing that happened.
Read Lauren’s AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2018/01/24/meet-lauren-dykovitz-author-of-learning-to-weather-the-storm-a-story-of-life-love-and-alzheimers/
Start reading Learning to Weather the Storm: A Story of Life, Love, and Alzheimer's now: https://amzn.to/3aetvbl
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Lauren
Website: https://lifeloveandalzheimers.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeloveandalzheimers/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeloveandalzheimers/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Peter Berry. Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 50, Peter took an early retirement from his job working in the family’s timber business. After the devastating diagnosis, he became depressed but, being a ‘glass half full’ personality, battled through his depression and focused on his lifelong passion for cycling. He has used this passion to raise awareness of the condition, particularly in younger people.
Peter’s whole philosophy is to live well with dementia and to inspire others to do the same. He maintains an active lifestyle due to his love of cycling, which keeps him fit both below and above the eyebrows, he says. He rides a penny farthing, a single speed bike, a road bike, and a 1950's Claud Butler, although not all at the same time – he’s good, but not that good, he jokes.
Along with his friend Deb Bunt, Peter cycles nearly every day. Their travels throughout Suffolk, England have led them to have many serious heart-to-hearts about his disease, which Deb put together in a book called Slow Puncture: Living Well with Dementia.
“It's a book about me,” Peter says, “but a book I have never read and never will read as my short-term memory means I have forgotten the previous sentence as soon as I have started a new one.”
In this episode we discuss the difficulties encountered with a dementia diagnosis at age 50, the financial pressures he’s had to overcome, and how cycling has made life with COVID tolerable.
Read Peter’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2020/12/29/early-onset-alzheimers-bunt-berry/
Start reading Slow Puncture now! https://amzn.to/3tbDsis
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Peter Berry
Website: https://peterberrylwa.wixsite.com/peterberry/the-book
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/DebBuntAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeterBerryLivingWithAlzheimers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeterBe1130
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterberry8/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Paula Spencer Scott is a long-time journalist and health and family-life specialist focusing on self-care, eldercare, and baby care. She's the author of the bestseller “Surviving Alzheimer's: Practical Tips and Soul-Saving Wisdom for Caregivers” and the recently released “When Your Aging Parent Needs Help: A Geriatrician's Step-by-Step Guide to Memory Loss, Resistance, Safety Worries, & More” with Dr. Leslie Kernisan
Paula experienced dementia in five of her immediate family members, including her live-in father-in-law, and took on a variety of caring roles. This gave her the precious insight and advice that flows throughout her caregiver guides.
Paula’s work may be familiar to you. She’s been published in a variety of mainstream magazines and online platforms, including Woman's Day, Parade, AARP Bulletin, Newsweek, PBS Next Avenue, Glamour, Reader's Digest, USA Weekend, Caring.com, and WebMD, to name a few.
She has earned writing awards from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Arthritis Foundation, the National Political Women's Caucus, and the Western Publishing Association.
Her other books include “Momfidence” and a series of interactive journals for Peter Pauper Press: Pregnancy Journal, An Oral History: Preserve Your Family's Story, Mother and Son, and Like Mother, Like Daughter: A Discovery Journal for the Two of Us (written with her daughter, Page).
In this episode we discuss the Cardinal Rules of Dementia Care, three things you can change about your dementia journey, and how knowledge can be a form of self-care.
Read Paula’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2016/12/28/meet-paula-spencer-scott-author-of-surviving-alzheimers-practical-tips-and-soul-saving-wisdom-for-caregivers/
Start reading Surviving Alzheimer’s https://amzn.to/3uXlpxk and When Your Aging Parent Needs Help https://amzn.to/3ecYsQW now!
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Paula Spencer Scott
Websites:
Surviving Alzheimer’s…Together: https://www.survivingalz.net/
Paula Spencer Scott: https://www.paulaspencerscott.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/survivingalz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSpencerScott
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forpaulaspencerscott/
Paula’s Recommended Resources
Better Health While Aging: BetterHealthWhileAging.net.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Colorado State University: https://courses.online.colostate.edu
Mindspan: Stay Sharp All Your Lifetime Through Better Brain Health
Dementia Together: dementiatogether.org
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Susan Straley, author of the dual memoirs "Alzheimer's Trippin' with George" which memorialize her 10,000-mile cross-country trike trips after her husband’s dementia diagnosis.
When Susan and George semi-retired from their machine design and manufacturing business in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 2008, they moved all their belongings into storage except for what they needed for a long bicycle trip on their recumbent tricycles, and pedaled around Wisconsin for 40 days. Throughout their travels, Susan uploaded pictures and stories to an online journal to keep family and friends informed of their whereabouts. This journal began her writing career.
Born with an urge to wander, Susan thought it only natural to want to run away when dementia entered their lives in 2015, so she and George took off on their trikes for a three-month trip around the States. She again kept an online journal of their adventures, but this time she included the deepest, most personal details of the progression of George’s disease. Her readers, followers, friends, and family encouraged her to tell all.
"It will be so helpful to others who have loved ones with dementia," they said.
This became her first book.
When Susan and George arrived home she was encouraged to continue writing about their experiences, and the second half of their dementia journey turned into a love story, the love between the two of them, but also the wonderful outpouring of love and support they enjoyed from friends, family, and their community.
In 2018, George succumbed to Alzheimer’s. Susan still enjoys riding her recumbent tricycle and traverses the country in her camper, sharing her travels and adventures online all the way.
In this episode we discuss life after Alzheimer’s caregiving, the value of support groups, and turning a travel blog into a book.
Read Susan’s AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2019/10/01/susan-straley-alzheimers-trippin-george/
Start reading "Alzheimer’s Trippin’ with George" now! https://amzn.to/38RDt39
Available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook.
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Connect with Susan Straley
Website: https://www.susanstraley.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrippinwithSusan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanStraley
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
When both of her parents were diagnosed with dementia, Vicki Tapia, a lactation consultant who had coached around 10,000 mother-baby pairs, found her energies redirected to the other end of life. A lifelong writer, she soon began journaling as an outlet for the stress and strain she encountered as their long-distance caregiver. Over time, this journal became a book-length work, a memoir detailing her family’s rocky road through this devastating disease.
She was inspired to seek publication after many friends told her that reading her words helped them on their own dementia journeys. Her story was then published by Praeclarus Press as Somebody Stole My Iron: A Family Memoir of Dementia. It became a finalist in the 2015 High Plains Book Awards and was named "One of the best Alzheimer's books of all time" by Book Authority.
Vicki is a co-founder and manager of AlzAuthors, happily serving as treasurer, acquisitions editor, and whatever else is needed. She’s a lifelong traveler and has been all over the globe and the United States. When she’s not busy writing, you’re apt to find her out walking her dog or off on an adventure with her husband on their tandem bicycle.
In this episode, we discuss the dilemma of being a long-distance caregiver to two parents with dementia at the same time, the trauma of moving her parents not once but twice, and how journaling helped her keep her sanity.
Read Vicki’s AlzAuthors blog post: https://alzauthors.com/2018/05/15/meet-vicki-tapia-alzauthors-admin-and-author-of-somebody-stole-my-iron/
Purchase Somebody Stole My Iron: A Family Memoir of Dementia: https://amzn.to/38dsl0o
Purchase Maggie https://amzn.to/3hO80BW
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Connect with Vicki
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomebodyStoleMyIron/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vicleetap
Website: https://vickitapia.com/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Gerda Saunders, author of the mesmerizing memoir Memory’s Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia, in which she describes in great detail her descent into cerebral microvascular disease, a precursor to dementia. A gifted writer, she is also a woman of many talents and has had a remarkable career in higher education.
She grew up in South Africa during apartheid, the child of a farmer in a family of six children. In spite of her family’s lack of resources, she succeeded in earning a B.S. in Math and Chemistry from the University of Pretoria. She then worked as a research scientist at the South African Atomic Energy Board for three years and left that to become a teacher. She taught Science and Math at Kempton Park (Afrikaans) High School, and Math and Physics at the Kempton Park Technical Institute. In 1984, she emigrated to the United States and settled in Utah with her husband Peter and their two children.
She continued her education at the University of Utah and earned a PhD in English while teaching Business and Creative Writing. After graduation, she worked for seven years in the business world as a technical writer and program manager. In 2001, she became the Associate Director of Gender Studies at the University of Utah. In addition to her administrative role, she taught classes in gender studies and English Literature.
In 2002, SMU Press published her first book, Blessings on the Sheep Dog, a collection of stories about which Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee said, "With cool intelligence, laconic wit, and deep feeling, Saunders explores the moral chaos of South Africa and the pain of a new generation of...exiles."
In this episode we discuss what led to her seeking a diagnosis for the peculiar and worrisome behaviors that surfaced at the age of 61, how she’s lived joyously for almost a decade with the d-word, and her carefully crafted end-of-life plan.
Start reading Memory’s Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia now! https://amzn.to/2LdZuQ8
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Read Gerda’s post on AlzAuthors: https://alzauthors.com/2017/10/31/meet-gerda-saunders-author-of-memorys-last-breath/
Read Gerda’s article in Slate: My Dementia - Telling who I am before I forget
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/family/2014/03/dementia_and_aging_diary_of_a_sufferer_of_microvascular_disease.html
Connect with Gerda Saunders:
Website: https://www.gerdasaunders.com/
Blog: https://www.gerdasaunders.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gerda.saunders
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16645330.Gerda_Saunders
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerda-saunders-a85381100/detail/recent-activity/shares/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/gerdasaunders/my-dementia-my-fashion/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GerdaMSaunders
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort, and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Daniel C. Potts, MD, FAAN is a neurologist, author, poet, educator, and champion of those living with Alzheimer's and other dementias and their care partners. His professional life collided with his personal in 2002, when his father, Lester, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He soon found himself on his own dementia journey, and like many other care partners, became adrift in despair, confusion, grief, and helplessness as he watched his father decline.
Soon after Lester started attending a day care program for people with cognitive impairment, he began to show a previously unknown talent for painting watercolors. This not only delighted him and his family but also others at the center, and he obtained some local notoriety for his colorful artwork. Not long after, Daniel’s own creativity with words emerged, and his poetry became a necessary outlet to release his sorrow over his father’s illness. The transformations he and Lester experienced through their work inspired him to create his foundation, Cognitive Dynamics, which brings the expressive arts to person-centered care, enabling those with cognitive impairment to find new ways to express themselves.
Daniel believes his dementia journey has made him a better physician, and he brings his personal insight and the lessons he’s learned to his practice, where he is passionate about promoting self-preservation and dignity for all persons with cognitive impairment. He is the author of several books of poetry and with his wife, Ellen, has written “A Pocket Guide for the Alzheimer's Caregiver.” He lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with Ellen and their two daughters.
Daniel was selected by the American Academy of Neurology as the 2008 Donald M. Palatucci Advocate of the Year; he also has been designated an Architect of Change by Maria Shriver. In 2016, he was chosen by the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association as a recipient of the Martha Myers Role Model Award, honoring physician alumni whose lives epitomize the ideal of service to their communities.
In this episode we discuss confronting dementia from the unique perspectives of both son and physician, how his father’s dementia almost brought him under and the self-care methods that helped him regain and maintain his physical and emotional balance, and how the expressive arts can bring comfort, peace, and joy to those living with a dementia diagnosis.
Read Dr. Potts’ AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2017/02/21/meet-daniel-c-potts-physician-author-and-dementia-advocate/
Start reading “A Pocket Guide for the Alzheimer's Caregiver” with Ellen Potts now! https://amzn.to/3nP2IIB
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Connect with Dr. Potts
Blog: https://danielcpotts.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.potts.92372
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielCPotts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielcpotts/
Cognitive Dynamics: www.cognitivedynamics.org
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Florrie Munat, author of the memoir “Be Brave: A Wife’s Journey Through Caregiving,” in which she shares the story of caring for her husband, Chuck, during their 6-year ordeal with Lewy Body disease due to an ischemic stroke. "Be Brave" was selected as one of the Top 100 Indie Books of 2017 by Kirkus Reviews, who described it as, "A beautiful, richly panoramic book that should reassure caregivers and delight memoir readers."
Already a published author when their journey started, Florrie began chronicling their new story right away with honesty, humor, compassion, and a desire for self-discovery. After Chuck succumbed to complications from Lewy Body disease, she sifted through her random notes, journal entries, and written observations and wove them into this moving memoir, a tribute to a loving marriage tested by unanticipated and transformational challenges.
Florrie is the author of numerous children’s books, nonfiction articles, short stories, and poems. She worked as a reference and young adult librarian, taught high school English, and worked for a university press. She and Chuck raised four children, and her family hosted four foreign exchange students. She is currently a volunteer radio reader and Young Adult book reviewer; and writes and edits for the Lewy Body Dementia Association and several community groups. She lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where she enjoys photography, the New York Times crossword puzzle, hiking, reading, and following Seattle’s underdog sports teams.
Read Florrie’s AlzAuthors post: https://alzauthors.com/2019/01/29/meet-florrie-munat-author-of-be-brave/
Start reading “Be Brave” now! https://amzn.to/3oSap0w
(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)
Connect with Florrie
Website: https://florriemunat.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/FlorrieMunat
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.florrie.munat
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/fmunat/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, and marketing expenses to promote our authors, expand our content, improve our reach, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Krysten Lindsay Hager, who writes funny, charming, irresistible dramas for tweens and teens. Her stories are about friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, frenemies, crushes, fame, first loves, and values. She also writes about dementia, especially Lewy Body, in the teen novels “Competing with the Star,” a Readers' Favorite Book Award Finalist, and “Dating the It Guy.”
Krysten’s experience with dementia started in her sophomore year in high school when her grandfather was diagnosed with “hardening of the arteries.” She helped her parents provide care for him, which affected her college years and led her to write “Competing with the Star.” Many years later her father was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia which inspired “Dating the It Guy.”
In this episode we discuss why fiction is an excellent medium for educating teens about serious topics, why Robin Williams’ story helped her understood her father’s illness, how the vulnerability of dementia affects loving relationships, and the positivity to be found in saying “the long goodbye.”
Read Krysten’s AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2017/02/01/krysten-lindsay-hager-how-young-adult-fiction-helps-heal-and-educate/
Start reading “Competing with the Star” https://amzn.to/2JJjIAs and “Dating the It Guy” https://amzn.to/33CEcCk now!
(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)
Connect with Krysten Lindsay Hager
Website: https://www.krystenlindsay.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KrystenLindsayHagerAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krystenlindsay/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KrystenLindsay
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/krystenlindsay/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClIQCsRcKc97-25oXvabZ8A
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to promote our authors, improve our reach, expand our content, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Jean Lee is a co-founder and director of AlzAuthors. and author of the brave, inspirational memoir "Alzheimer’s Daughter," written from a journal she kept during her years of caring for both parents diagnosed with Alzheimer's on the same day. At the time, she was working full-time as an elementary school teacher and took over their care. Throughout her caregiving years she experienced the heartbreak, confusion, and exhaustion common to all dementia caregivers. Readers of her deeply personal and painfully written memoir travel a journey beginning with a sweet WWII romance through family life, aging, and a daughter’s first suspicions that something’s not right with Mom and Dad, ending with her parent’s final breaths. “I wrote the book I needed to read while caregiving for my parents,” she says. "Alzheimer’s Daughter" is a beautiful but poignant tribute to her parents and a source of support for caregivers everywhere. Jean is also the author of a delightful series of children’s books based upon the family dogs: "Lexi’s Triplets," "Lexi’s Litter of Three," and "Julia’s Journey to her Forever Home."
Read Jean’s AlzAuthors blog post: https://alzauthors.com/2018/05/08/jean-lee-author-of-alzheimers-daughter/
Purchase Alzheimer’s Daughter: http://.to/2rVqJjm
(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)
Follow Jean Lee
Alzheimersdaughter.com: https://jeanllee.blogspot.com/
Alzheimer’s Daughter on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlzheimersDaughter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeanLee18
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanlee18/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-lee-629b88180/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jeanleeauthor/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/770111.Jean_Lee
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Robin Perini is an award-winning author of heart-stopping suspense and poignant romance novels. When not writing she works for an advanced technology corporation. When not writing or working she helps care for her mother who has Alzheimer’s and lives just across the street with Robin’s father. An advocate for Alzheimer’s education, Robin has woven the topic into two of her novels, “Forgotten Secrets” and “Forgotten Legacy,” books one and two in her Singing River Series. Her goal was to both entertain and educate her readers about the disease, and to raise needed funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. She happily donates a portion of the royalties from these books to the organization.
As a writer, Robin is devoted to giving her readers fast-paced, high stakes adventures with a love story sure to melt their hearts. Her strong characters and tightly woven plots made her a seven-time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® finalist. In 2011, she won the Golden Heart®, and that title became her first Harlequin Intrigue novel, “Finding Her Son.” There are now ten. She’s written two other series, including Montgomery Justice and Carder Texas Connections, as well as several stand-alone novels.
Robin resides in the southwestern United States. In her spare time, you might find her giving one of her many nationally acclaimed writing workshops or training in competitive small-bore rifle silhouette shooting. She’s a voracious reader and a die-hard fan of the T.V. series, BONES. She’s also an AlzAuthors Associate, bringing her advanced tech skills to cataloguing our bookstore, a work-in-progress.
In this episode we discuss how her mom’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis changed her life, the challenges of caring for her mom at home while balancing work and writing, thankfulness, and the joys of finding the best home healthcare provider you can find.
Start reading “Forgotten Secrets” https://amzn.to/3fUX30a and “Forgotten Legacy” https://amzn.to/3muikQW now.
(Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.)
Read Robin's AlzAuthors blog post: https://alzauthors.com/2016/12/07/meet-robin-perini-author-of-forgotten-secrets-more-than-a-romantic-mysterythriller/
Connect with Robin
Website: http://www.robinperini.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RobinPeriniAuthor/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4900163.Robin_Perini
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/robinperini/_saved/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobinPerini
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Michael Ellenbogen was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 49. Prior to his diagnosis, Michael was a network operations manager for a Fortune 500 financial institution until difficulty with work-related tasks led to an unwanted early retirement. He is a passionate, outspoken dementia advocate who pulls no punches. In this episode we discuss the trials of seeking a medical diagnosis, living with early onset Alzheimer's, and his advocacy work that brought him to the halls of Congress and the World Health Organization.
As a world-renowned International Dementia Advocate and Connecter, Michael has been featured in nationally syndicated TV, radio, and other media outlets. He has written for blogs, newspapers, journals, and websites.
He served on the Pennsylvania Alzheimer's Disease Planning Committee and other advisory councils. He was a regular speaker at the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care and Services and has been featured in the Alzheimer's Disease International's 2012 World Alzheimer's Report. He represented the U.S./World for people living with dementia at the World Health Organization. He is a world-renowned speaker and has shared his personal perspective with Alzheimer’s and dementia advocacy groups and research organizations, including medical students at Harvard and the United States Congress.
He is interested in motivating those with Alzheimer’s to raise their voices and reduce the stigma surrounding the disease. He believes his diagnosis is not the end for him, because he has so much more to give to the world. Michael wrote about his journey in his latest book entitled “From the Corner Office to Alzheimer's.”
Read Michael’s AlzAuthors blog post: https://alzauthors.com/2016/06/07/meet-michael-ellenbogan-author-of-from-the-corner-office-to-alzheimers/
Purchase From the Corner Office to Alzheimer’s: https://amzn.to/2UMsRKU
Note: We are an Amazon Associate and may receive a small commission from book sales.
Read “Dementia is Not the Problem, it’s the People Around Us,” in
EC Psychology and Psychiatry: https://www.ecronicon.com/ecpp/pdf/ECPP-09-00662.pdf
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/
Thank you for listening.
Lisa Skinner is the author of "Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost,," a caregiver guide full of real-life stories and practical advice.
Her dementia journey started when she was a teen and her grandmother displayed bizarre behaviors, diagnosed as senile dementia. At the time, resources for families were practically nonexistent and she dedicated her life to becoming an advocate and ally for those on the dementia path. She has witnessed 8 family members succumb to Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and with her husband served as a “relief caregiver” for his mother. She also provided dementia care for her beloved cockapoo, Oliver, who was diagnosed with Canine Dementia.
Professionally, she is a Behavioral Specialist devoted to helping families understand the stages and related behaviors that are associated with dementia illnesses. She considers her career in elder care a calling and has more than 25 years’ experience starting up memory care programs, counseling patients and their families on dementia care, training caregivers, and working in sales and marketing.
In this episode we discuss dealing with dementia behaviors, how to understand and communicate with those who have dementia, and canine cognitive dysfunction.
Start reading "Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost" Now! https://amzn.to/2EC5iA3
Read Lisa's AlzAuthors Post: https://alzauthors.com/2016/10/19/meet-lisa-skinner-author-of-not-all-who-wander-need-be-lost/
Connect with Lisa Skinner
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notallwhowanderneedbelost
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaSkinner2015
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Irene Frances Olson writes both fiction and non-fiction, the latter of which can be found on her personal blog "Baby Boomers and More," also known as "Living: the ultimate team sport." Ms. Olson is also a feature writer for "Grandparents Day Magazine," where she has her own byline: IN YOUR CORNER
Much of Irene's early non-fiction pieces found on her personal blog focus on a family caregiver's journey, especially as that journey relates to taking care of a family member with a terminal illness such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias.
She started her fiction-writing career five years after her father's 2007 death from Alzheimer's disease. "Requiem for the Status Quo" is inspired by her years of dedicated caregiving during her father's dementia journey. If ever there were an occasion to make lemonade out of lemons, the author's caregiver experiences certainly qualify.
"Requiem" was a Finalist in the prestigious 2018 National Indie Excellence Awards contest.
Irene also served on the Board of Directors for AlzAuthors where she steered the organization toward their 501(c)(3) status. She also served as Coordinator of Global Outreach, connecting it with caregiving and dementia-care organizations that support the much misunderstood and underappreciated unpaid caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer's or other dementias.
Ms. Olson lives in Washington state with her husband, 3 daughters, and two grandchildren.
For more information about the author's projects, please go to www.irenefrancesolson.com. Her ebook and 2019 2nd edition paperback are available through Amazon and your favorite bookstores.
Start reading “Requiem for the Status Quo” now! Available in Kindle, audiobook, and paperback on Amazon: https://amzn.to/34BjHXj
Connect with Irene Frances Olson:
Blogs: Baby Boomers and More https://babyboomersandmore.com/, Grandparents Day Magazine http://www.grandparentsdaymagazine.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedmondWriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Boomer98053
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irene-frances-olson-59b86648/
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Today’s guest is Kathryn Harrison, who is not only an AlzAuthor but our Creative Director and a member of our management team.
Kathryn was compelled to create her award-winning children’s book "Weeds in Nana’s Garden" following her mother’s passing from frontotemporal dementia in 2010.
During her family’s journey with the disease, Kathryn noticed how much involving her two young children in caregiving added value to the experience, so she decided to create an engaging picture book that could reach many children, enhance their understanding of dementia, and perhaps encourage them to connect more with those on this journey. The enchanting illustrations in Kathryn’s beautiful book enhance the poignancy of the loving story.
What’s more, Kathryn has collaborated with Dementia Care Expert, Jaclyn Guenette, to launch another book for children about dementia, "I Smile For Grandpa."
Start reading "Weeds In Nana's Garden" now! https://amzn.to/3mrKvPS
Read Kathryn’s AlzAuthors Post https://alzauthors.com/2016/09/07/childrens-book-alzheimers-kathryn-harrison/
Follow Kathryn on social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathHarrisonArt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathryn.harrison.art/
Website: http://weedsinnanasgarden.com
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
When her beloved mother, Doris, was diagnosed with dementia in 2006, Loretta Woodward Veney began learning everything she could about the disease and hoped to share that information so others could be more prepared than she was for this devastating diagnosis. In 2013, that hope turned into Loretta's first book, "Being My Mom’s Mom: A Journey Through Dementia from a Daughter’s Perspective," which highlights the first six years of the family's dementia journey. This book was recently updated to include the second half of her family’s dementia journey.
Loretta is a trainer, author, and motivational speaker. She’s a retired 35-year security management professional who spent the first 15 years of her career managing security personnel before starting her own training company offering topics including security management and operations, leadership, conflict resolution and communication skills. By mid- 2013, Loretta began receiving requests for presentations on her caregiver experience, and since that time has given more than 275 presentations and keynote addresses.
Loretta and her family’s story have been featured in a PBS special called "Alzheimer’s: The Caregiver’s Perspective," and in articles in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and AARP’s feature page on caregivers. She was selected as the 2019 Trailblazer of the Year by Johns Hopkins Medicine. She has also authored a coloring book for seniors entitled "Colors Flowing from My Mind," and an inspirational photo book entitled "Refreshment for the Caregiver’s Spirit."
Read Loretta’s AlzAuthors posts:
Meet Loretta Woodward Veney, Author of Being My Mom’s Mom, July 7, 2016
Loretta Woodward Veney Updates Her Memoir, Being My Mom’s Mom, May 26, 2020
Start reading "Being My Mom’s Mom: A Journey Through Dementia from a Daughter’s Perspective": https://amzn.to/2BCS18s
Connect with Loretta Veney
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lwveney
Conquering Life Blog: https://lwveney.wordpress.com
Website: https://lorettaveney.com
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Gincy Heins became caregiver to her husband at the age of 49 when he was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment, also known as MCI, a neurological condition that causes a slight but noticeable and measurable decline in cognitive abilities. Memory and thinking skills are primarily affected, and there is a very real possibility of future Alzheimer’s or other dementia. At the time, he was just 55.
At first disbelieving that such a diagnosis could befall them so early in life, Gincy set out to learn all she could about the condition and sought support through her local Alzheimer’s Association. She soon became the expert on her husband’s diagnosis and began advocacy work to help others on the dementia journey. This included creating and publishing the book "Before the Diagnosis: Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia" and becoming one of the co-authors of the series "365 Caregiving Tips: Practical Tips from Everyday Caregivers." She is also an AlzAuthors Associate, volunteering her time and skills as an acquisitions editor and producer of helpful, hopeful videos for caregivers.
In addition, Gincy is an advocate for a full, enriched life and keeps busy with a variety of activities and interests. She teaches classes for older adults at a community college, is a Senior Commissioner for Cypress, CA, speaks at conferences and on panel discussions, and volunteers at her public library and with Alzheimer’s Orange County.
Gincy is a vibrant, uplifting speaker with a hopeful message and a smart approach to life with cognitive difficulties. In this episode we discuss how she and her husband grew to accept a diagnosis that typically affects older people, and the power of positivity and active engagement in the face of MCI.
Purchase "Before the Diagnosis: Stories of Life and Love Before Dementia" https://amzn.to/3oBAaTy
Purchase "365 Caregiving Tips: Practical Tips from Everyday Caregivers"
https://amzn.to/31Mt5FZ
Read Gincy's post on AlzAuthors: https://alzauthors.com/2019/01/23/meet-gincy-heins-editor-of-before-the-diagnosis/
Follow Gincy on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gincyheins/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GincyHeins
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gj.heins
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia in 2014 at the age of 58. At the time she worked for Britain’s National Health Service as a non-clinical team leader. Her diagnosis led to an early retirement. Post diagnosis, she was shocked by the lack of awareness surrounding young-onset dementia in both the community and the clinical world, and started a blog, Which Me Am I Today? to document and share her dementia journey. This led to her travelling around the country as a respected speaker, raising awareness and encouraging others to embrace her passion for research. She eventually published a memoir, Somebody I Used to Know, with the help of author and journalist Anna Wharton, which became a national bestseller. Reviewers call it “Revelatory” (The Guardian), “A Miracle” (Telegraph), and “A Landmark Book” (Financial Times). She is the recipient of two honorary doctorates ( Hull University, “Doctor of the University” and Bradford University, “Honorary Degree of Doctor of Health”) and playfully refers to herself as “Doctor Doctor Wendy Mitchell.”
Purchase Somebody I Used to Know on Amazon https://amzn.to/3dmxTWh
Interview: How Do You Write a Memoir When You Can’t Remember? By Wendy Mitchell & Anne Wharton, published in Granta https://granta.com/how-do-you-write-a-memoir-when-you-cant-remember/
Wendy Mitchell on AlzAuthors.com:
Which Me Am I Today? https://alzauthors.com/2017/12/12/meet-author-wendy-mitchell/
Somebody I Used to Know https://alzauthors.com/2018/05/29/welcome-back-wendy-mitchell-author-of-somebody-i-used-to-know/
COVID-19 Video of Hope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4azNld5CBI&feature=youtu.be
Follow Wendy on Twitter https://twitter.com/WendyPMitchell
Each season our podcast brings you six of our authors sharing their dementia journeys. Please subscribe so you don’t miss a word. If our authors’ stories move you please leave a review. And don’t forget to share our podcast with family and friends in need of knowledge, comfort and support on their own dementia journeys.
AlzAuthors is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization totally reliant on donations to do what we do. Your generosity will help cover our many operating costs, which include website hosting and maintenance fees, service charges to keep things running smoothly, marketing expenditures to improve our reach, expand our content, and promote our authors, and more. Our ongoing work supports our mission to lift the silence and stigma of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. To sustain our efforts please visit https://alzauthors.com/donate/ .
Thank you for listening.
In our inaugural episode of Untangling Alzheimer's & Dementia, an AlzAuthors Podcast, Christopher MacLellan welcomes podcast host Marianne Sciucco for a preview. The podcast is featured on the Whole Care Network and will showcase a new author each week who shares their personal story to help those living with the disease, or who are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia.