Fading From Memory: what happens to a family when both parents have Alzheimer's? [Paperback]

Mike Pritchard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2011

‘Fading From Memory’ is a son’s personal journal covering the period 2006-2009, during which his parents are first diagnosed with, and eventually succumb to, Alzheimer’s disease. The journal follows the family’s responses to the progressively more desperate needs of their parents with humour, insight, compassion, exasperation, enterprise and, finally, resignation. This book paints a raw, honest, but at times also heartwarming, picture of what really happens when Alzheimer’s strikes - twice. The author exhibits a deep and natural curiosity about what is happening to his parents' minds, how they came to be as they are, what steps can be taken to alleviate their troubles, and what choices the family has available. As fast as problems come at them, the family put up solutions, until eventually they can do no more. Throughout this very testing time, suffered by all the family, the author's humour enables him, and the reader, to step back and take stock, refresh the spirit, and return to the battle renewed.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike Pritchard lives in Sydney with the two cats he inherited from his parents.

Product Details

• Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (January 10, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1456345982
• ISBN-13: 978-1456345983
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,360,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alzheimer's Squared, January 23, 2011

By 

Susan C. Schneider - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fading From Memory: what happens to a family when both parents have Alzheimer's? (Paperback)

I followed Mike's Fading From Memory blog with great interest in real time. I was taking care of two elderly parents with steadily increasing dementia, and my husband was dealing with his mother's dementia. Mike Pritchard's is the best writing I know of on the subject.

Through matter-of-fact detail and thoughtful reflection, Pritchard conveys the real experience of caregiving in the family context. He avoids the pitfalls of sentimentalizing or sugar-coating reality, and the opposite danger of over-dramatizing. Plain reality is dramatic enough. The revolution in family dynamics that this disease brings on is best confronted with open eyes, and Mike certainly does that.

There's a great deal of humor. Many mornings my husband and I sat at our breakfast table reading Mike's latest dispatches from Australia and actually laughed till we cried. Some of his observations have become part of our own family lore. I have a great temptation to quote here, but I'll resist.

The blog was a wonderful traveling companion on a very hard journey. I have just re-read it in book form and highly recommend it to everyone.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, smart and sad, March 14, 2011

By 

Mona Johnson (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fading From Memory: what happens to a family when both parents have Alzheimer's? (Paperback)

Even though I'd already read all of Mike's journal entries on his blog, I can't stop reading this book. Mike captures the surprise adult children feel when they're not able to "fix" everything for aging parents, and the sometimes surreal quality of day to day life with a person with dementia. If you're caring for a parent who has cognitive problems, you'll find comfort, sympathy and humor in Fading From Memory.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guidebook for a Difficult Journey, March 6, 2011

By 

Trish2010 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fading From Memory: what happens to a family when both parents have Alzheimer's? (Paperback)

Mike writes about a difficult situation with clarity, detail, and humor. I'm currently sharing the care of my father who is in the early to mid stages of dementia/Alzheimers, and this book illuminates the processes and decisions that will inevitably come. Certain passages made me laugh out loud. Others informed me of the strategies and options that must be weighed and evaluated.

I was most touched by the passages that Mike shared regarding how he reflected upon the relationships of husband/wife, parent/child, and even sibling/sibling brought to scruntiny in the light cast by Alzheimers. My brother and I have already found ourselves examining those relationships. I hope that we face the challenges as bravely and with as much consideration as did Mike and his family.

Thanks for the guidebook!