DEMENTIA DIARY: A Care Giver's Journal (Paperback)

~ Robert Tell (Author)
Key Phrases: Happy Hollow, Minnie Sweet, Gloria Gelman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

PAPERBACK & DOWNLOAD EDITIONS------WHAT'S IT LIKE to be the only son of a widowed mother who is rapidly sinking into the opaque fog of dementia, and who lives alone half a continent away? ROBERT TELL tells this tale with compassion and humor. DEMENTIA DIARY reads like fiction and covers the fifteen year period from his father's shocking death in a department store to his mother's 92nd birthday. It is meant to be a "portable support group." If you have watched helplessly as your parent, spouse or friend's identity disappeared into the sinkhole of Alzheimer's Disease (or another dementia), this heart-wrenching memoir will touch you deeply

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (December 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1411665775
• ISBN-13: 978-1411665774
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,459,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sensitive and well written semi-autobiography, January 19, 2006

By	Dr. Seth Goldsmith - See all my reviews

Robert Tell presents an account of his mother's slow descent into
dementia and its impact on him as the only son. Although the author
suggests this is not a "how to" book it definitely educates the reader
about many significant issues such as geriatricare management, driving
and preneed funeral planning--to mention a few. This book is unusal for
its male (son) caregiver perspective and a must read for all who are
going through the chalenging years of caring for an elderly parent.
Although I am now an adult orphan I read the book and garnered insights
about the journey that I and my family recently completed with the
passing of my 94 year old mother several years ago.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Neil Simon laugh and cry scenario..., January 18, 2006

By	Tom Cranshaw - See all my reviews

As a CEO of a mental health agency and as the bereaved family member of an
Alzheimer's victim I found this book to be OUTSTANDING-entertaining-
informative......a primer on the family implications of the deadly and devastating impact of dementia on the afflicted and their loved ones. Other books focus on the
technical and miss the emotional and personal reality that engulfs both the afflicted and the caregiver. Dementia Diary fills this gap with dignity and warmth. Every reader will benefit greatly, as did I.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dementia Diary Good Medicine For Caregiver Isolation, September 5, 2006

By	CAROL B. BURSACK "Carol Bradley Bursack: Mind... (Fargo, North Dakota) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Dementia Diary: A Caregiver's Journal," is personal, warm and witty. It's also heartbreaking. Tell is open with the pain one suffers watching the personality changes dementia brings to a beloved parent. He is an only child. This brings a unique loneliness in handling the sometimes slow, often startling changes dementia can bring. There is a deep feeling that no one can truly understand. Tell brings this home powerfully in his memoir. I have already recommended it to readers of my column and by email, when I coach people through their personal caregiving pain.

Tell's story about his mother's watch had me laughing out loud, as I experienced the same thing with my mother, my mother-in-law and my dad. There is no logical need for a watch battery to be replaced immediately, when an elder is in a nursing facility. There are clocks all over and people to take the elder wherever they need to go. But they must have their watch. My dad couldn't even see the extra large face of his, but he somehow knew if the battery quit. The watch story is just one of the many - nearly universal - stories Tell offers the reader.

There are many dementias other than the well-known Alzheimer's. I had three elders with dementia. Each was different. It's good to get the word out that all dementia is not Alzheimer's.

I will continue to recommend Robert Tell's book to anyone feeling the isolation of a caregiver - especially an only child.

Carol Bradley Bursack
Author/Speaker/Columnist
Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories www.mindingourelders.com