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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly amazing encounter.........., February 17, 2009
This review is from: Just a Word: Alzheimer's (Paperback)
This is a beautiful story, simply written, easily read, that will touch your heart and keep you turning the pages as the story unfolds. It touches on subjects and feelings all of us have had (or will have) at one time in our life.
Realizing that the material things of the "good life".....a beautiful suburban two-story colonial home of her dreams, member of the golf and country club....were leaving her empty, Rose decides to pursue a more meaningful life of love and compassion.
She moves from NY to FL, builds an ideal life of love and sharing with a dear friend, only to have it crash around her with the hearing of the word "Alzheimer's". Relive with her the many different lessons she learns as she deals with Alzheimer's for the next fourteen years.
A different slant, too, on the Alzheimer's caregiver, who is usually a spouse or family member; for the medical and legal professions do not acknowledge the rights and privileges of a caregiver, if not a family member. A lesson to be learned, considering how the number of Alzheimer's patients is increasing, especially with the large "baby boomer" group.
I found it hard to put this book down once I started reading it and the picture of the main characters, plus a poignant poem, were a perfect ending.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book to learn the personal side of Alzheimer's, October 14, 2009
This review is from: Just a Word: Alzheimer's (Paperback)
Rose Lamatt covers the progress of Alzheimer's disease very well in her book, Just a Word: Friends encounter Alzheimer's. It's easy to read and easy to follow the story line. This book should be of interest to any and all persons involved with, interested in, or curious about any type of dementia, especially the mentally and physically debilitating Alzheimer's disease that seems destined to become a future epidemic. This horrific disease leaves its mark indelibly etched on the soul. God help us all!
My reading was interrupted so many times by rushes of tears, a brief breather, and then cleaning the teary salt residue from my glasses before starting to read again. She covered so many things that resonated with my experience of caring for my Alzheimer's afflicted husband. Oh, yes, there were times I smiled and even chuckled. Frankly, I think she did a magnificent job of telling the reader what life can be like with Alzheimer's, for both Caregiver and Victim. I capitalize both words for I believe they deserve the category of "Proper Noun: a noun that designates a particular being or thing...." Of course, that's my personal opinion and unless an English critic has ever experienced being around AD, the words would immediately revert to common nouns.
Ms. Lamatt wrote her book in an easy to follow, easy to read manner. The protagonist characters were likable and believable. She was even rather gracious with her antagonists; more so than I would have been. As I read about the length of time her friend, Carol, had to endure the suffering and the indignities imposed throughout that time by understaffed and, at times, uncaring personnel, I shuddered. My heart ached for the long time endurance in caring for Carol, along with Ms. Lamatt's own personal health problems.
An enlightening, yet heartrending, story.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartwrenching & Inspiring Journey, August 17, 2009
This review is from: Just a Word: Alzheimer's (Paperback)
Thank you so much for your inspiring, heartfelt book, Rose, and for your courage in putting a real life face on the critical issue of understaffing and lack of specialized dementia training in most of our traditional nursing homes and dementia units. Many seniors with dementia are being robbed daily of their basic human rights to dignity, choice and quality of life as you described so precisely in Just a Word.
I could not put your book down and finished it all this past Saturday morning. I cried most of the way through it. You are an amazing woman and I praise your ability to put your feelings and emotions so effectively in words. Having also walked this journey, I recognize we have similar passions when it comes to the critical need to change the way our current system deals with this population of people with dementia and challenging behavior.
In my personal experience, as a caregiver for my own mother with Vascular Dementia and a label of aggressive behavior, I experienced, as you did, the lack of appropriate care options, that lead to her spending her last days overmedicated to "control" her behavior and make her "compliant" in her environment. This still remains vivid in my mind. In your book you describe with intensity the very real emotions of anger, frustration and eventual acceptance that you and Carol were prisoners of a broken healthcare system.
Under our current Healthcare Delivery System, The better care you provide,using appropriate higher staff ratios of specially trained staff including close RN supervision AND the more pro-actively you manage and "prevent" other acute medical emergencies that require high cost hospitalizations, ER visits and unnecessary testing, THE LESS YOU GET PAID. My continued experiences, doing potential resident assessments at nursing homes, fuels my ongoing personal mission to continue, alongside you, to advocate for these vulnerable people.
Together we CAN change the face of dementia care! Keep up the good work!
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