The Long Road Called Goodbye [Paperback]

Charlotte A. Akin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1881871347 | ISBN-13: 978-1881871347 | Edition: 2

Part clinical case study, part family journal, The Long Road Called Goodbye is a powerful and moving account of one family's thirteen-year struggle with Alzheimer's. This engaging informative book is a closly documented clinical study that reads like a novel, filled with all the fellings, crises, and conflicts experienced by patient and family. It is a story of love, loyalty, perservance, strength, and dignity. The Long Road Called Goodbye makes a major contribution to the care of AD patients and their families. The book will be of interest to professionals who work with Alzheimer's patients, including physicians, staff at care-giving facilities, and state agencies, as well as to families who struggle with this disease.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"The Long Road Called Goodbye is not just another book about Alzheimer's disease. It is a story about individuals, professionals, families, and friends -- how the disease becomes a part of their lives and how they help each other. We are enriched by the day-to-day details of managing care and preserving the rights of the person. We are introduced to the philosophical and spiritual questions that challenge us to decide what is best so that we honor the person and his or her wishes. Thanks for sharing your journey, Charlotte. We knew that people suffered. But you show us how they laugh, they cry, they learn, they grow, they fall and get up again. The Long Road Called Goodbye: Tracing the Course of Alzheimer's is a story about finding and living the courage to love." --- Howard Gruetzner, M.Ed., author of Alzheimer's: A Cargiver's Guide and Source Book.

About the Author

Charlotte A. Akin holds a B.A. from the University of Washington in sociology and a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Portland. When her mother first received a tentative diagnosis of Alzheimer's, the author became the family researcher and began a case study. From then until the end of her mother's life, she charted the course of this disease.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Fordham University Press; 2 edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881871347
• ISBN-13: 978-1881871347
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute must for anyone dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, August 1, 2001

By 

Robert (Phoenix, AZ. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Road Called Goodbye (Paperback)

A very informative book written without the medicinal coldness of medical terminology. A truly real life journey of a beloved family member and the family through the anguish, confusion, sorrow, and most of all the challenges faced with the oncoming and changing stages of Alzheimer's Disease. As a spouse of an Alzheimer's victim, I wish this book had been available 6 years ago, It would have helped even more than it has today. The author has given us all a new insight and awareness to this disease and shines a new more hopeful light on how to deal with this terrible disease. Even Medical Professionals could learn something from this book this book is a precursor to the delema we will be facing in ten years when some 14,000,000 boomers will be on the Alzheimers journey.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An emotional and thoughtful look at caregiving, November 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Long Road Called Goodbye (Paperback)

This book looks at some of the hard decisions caregivers, esp. of Alzheimer's patients, "get" to make. How much social contact should a person with Alzheimer's have at various stages of the disease? What is "life support" for Alzheimer's patients? What type of care (nursing home, foster care, assisted living, live-in help) is best for someone battling dementia? And does a caregiver get through these decisions guilt-free? If you know anyone with Alzheimer's Disease, read this book. If you are a caregiver, it will help you make your own decisions; if you are a friend of a caregiver, it will help you support the caregiver; if you are a friend of the Alzheimer's patient, it will help you "find" your "lost" friend.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Support & Hope for Families & Friends of Alzheimers Patients, July 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Long Road Called Goodbye (Paperback)

The Long Road Called Goodbye is a chronicle of the progress of Alzheimer's in the life of a elderly woman. I must admit I had a hard time putting the book down and read it in only two days. This book was invaluable to me, because my mother also has also been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. About five years ago I was certain something was wrong with my mother. When I tried to discuss it with my siblings they acted as if I was off my rocker! My siblings couldn't see it. How Alzheimer patients can put on a front at times and seem perfectly disease free is discussed in the book.

Alzheimer’s feels like a journey into a black hole—a wide expanse of unknown, uncharted territory. This book sheds some light on what we can expect in the years to come, ways to help out, loving options for patient care, and ways to cope. It has also helped me identify where my mother is in the process at this time. This book gives hope and understanding. If you know anyone or any family suffering from this disease I recommend you read this book. The Long Road Called Goodbye is written in plain language (not medical jargon) and is a wonderful step in getting the disease out into the open, so it can be understood rather than just feared.