...2)If possible produce a video of all key people. Photograph albums are, of course, a great supplement.
...4)It is vitally important to have patient still involved with friends and family and the community-at-large.
...8) Music does pierce through the 'fog' of Alzheimer's as reported in recent articles.
...19) Have patient join an appropriate Alzheimer's group for better cognitive functioning. I recommend a support group for you too!!
Doctors have said that my father's Alzheimer's was reversed by a year using these techniques.
I also reconfirm the idea that life's true meaning is centered on our relationships with one another, and in the memory of such relations, seen through the quagmire of sickness and death. I show that with the help of this caregiver's "companion and Battle Plan", this ravaging disease can be fought and won, thus allowing the patient to live with more dignity and less suffering. I show too that it IS possible to have a more eclectic and integrated approach to caregiving thus allowing the patient to live AT HOME (when at all possible), with the help of family, friends, and daycare/overnight centers; still fitting in and enjoying the bounty of this giant candy store we call LIFE.
The spotlight sometimes falls on our dark moods, and sometimes on those wonderful life-restoring, fun-filled days. More importantly, it brings into focus my father's personal feelings that so desperately had to be made clear. A quote from Dad after telling me some of his more repetitive, convoluted stories, "I want people to know who I was, that's why I tell my stories. What he's really saying was "I'm human just like you. Love me still!" It is a bid not only for appreciation of what the caregiver goes through but for what Alzheimer's patients experience told through touching poetry, prose and personal observances.
The reader will also realize what an important part music plays in the life of an Alzheimer's patient and how it's magic can reach deep into the human soul...
There are also side-splitting malapropisms from Dad himself, funny vignettes from fellow caregivers, heart-warming family pictures and "on-the-go" pictures. I also offer relevant and helpful information from "How to Manage Difficult Behaviors" to where to find the daycare and the overnight care centers, etc.
This is dedicated to the sometimes invisible members of our society and their unsung heroes who bring these patients to the Table of Life...just like everyone else, since INCLUSION is the main theme of the book.
I attempt to try to show most sides of the caregiver/patient relationship and hope that the reader may be lifted up, finding some comfort, a smile, or a cathartic release, easing frustrations during this life-altering journey!
I believe that my book has great human interest and would definitely appeal to a general audience. I was told by one reader that she was affected very viscerally by the book and that it simply blew her away.
