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      Inside the Dementia
     Epidemic: A Daughter's
     Memoir

     
     
      On Wall Street Journal best seller
      list (May 1, 2015)
     


    One     of Alzheimers.net's 2014 Top Alzheimer's Books for Caregivers

    Winner of the Memoir category of the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

    Winner of a Silver Medal in the Health/Medical category of the 2013 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards (and finalist in the Memoir category)

    Finalist, 2013 Eric Hoffer Book Award for Excellence in Publishing

    Winner of an Honorable Mention in the Life Stories category of the 20th Annual Writer’s Digest Book Awards 

    Finalist, 2013 Indie Excellence Book Awards

    Finalist, 2013 Santa Fe Writer's Project Literary Awards Program, Non-fiction category

     

       

     

     

    Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter's Memoir shares the lessons I learned over 8 years of caregiving at home and in a range of dementia care facilities. I describe not only what I learned about navigating the system, but how I learned to see Alzheimer's disease differently—not as a "long good-bye," as it's often called, but as a "long hello." Through caregiving, my challenging relationship with my mother was transformed, and I learned to enjoy and nurture her spirit through the last stages of dementia.

    Appendixes share facts about dementia that I wish I had known years ago, such as how to get a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; what medications are approved to lessen the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease; lesser-known risk factors for dementia; and possible antidotes. I include my favorite resources for caregivers, my source notes, and an index.

    Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter's Memoir is available in paperback and hardcover, as an e-book for Apple devices, the Nook, and Kindle, and on Kobo.

    Reviews and Testimonials

    Order the Book

    ______________________________________________________

    PHOTOS:

    The photo at the very top of this page is of my mother, Judy, in 2010, smiling up at Suzanne, a massage therapist I hired who specializes in bodywork for elders.  Suzanne massaged her hands, arms, upper back and legs, talked to her, and played music for her.  [photo by Jason Kates van Staveren]

    Right: My mother at her 75th birthday party in 2007, three years after she could no longer live alone. A few days after this picture was taken she fell, fractured her pelvis and needed more care than her assisted living facility could provide. I had to quickly research alternatives.









    In 1996, Judy and her grandson, Andrew, age 1, on the shale beach outside the cottage on the lake in Upstate New York where she lived by herself for 25 years. It's his first visit, and she's showing him the "big lake water" and how to draw on the flat rocks with pencil-shaped pieces of shale. Her worrisome behavior starts around this time, but as her daughter I don't realize what is going on until much, much later.

    Above: My mother, age 74, and I at the cottage in 2006 with her old miniature Schnauzer, Trinka. I can see the stress of those early caregiving years in my face and in my extra weight. Little did I know how much I would learn over the coming years.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Above: Judy, age 79, and me in early 2012 at the nursing home Judy moved into in 2010. Mom lived with advanced Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia until she passed away in late 2012, but until the end she often shared her lovely smile. 

     

    Join the fight to stop Alzheimer's by 2020:

        

     

    For caregiver support and resources, visit the Caregiver Action Network. (Membership is free if you are a current family caregiver):

                        

        The Purple Angel--a symbol of hope and dementia awareness

    Monday
    Oct202014

    Advice for Dementia Caregivers: My Podcasts on Lifestyle Improvement Radio 

    DateMonday, October 20, 2014 at 06:19PM

    Download the podcasts below to listen to an interview about my book, "Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter's Memoir," with Lifestyle Improvement Radio. Rebeca, above, asked me lots of interesting questions about my eight-year journey caring for Mom, and recorded our discussion as two 30-minute podcasts. Here are the links and the topics we discuss:

    Part one:

    • How I got to the place where I accepted that my mother needed help and that I needed to provide that help
    • What it was like for my mother to live with me and my family, and why we decided that assisted living was the best option 
    • Overcoming the guilt I felt moving my mother into a facility
    • Some of the things that Mom taught me over my years of caring for her
    • How writing was a way to address the frustrations of caregiving and to heal some of those feelings

     Part two:

    • How caregiving affected my health
    • Some lesser-known risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (such as sleep apnea and high blood sugar)
    • Why exercise is the best antidote for Alzheimer's (although there is no proven way to prevent the disease
    • Why I was a reluctant caregiver
    • How caregiving brought us closer and helped us overcome our challenging relationship as mother and daughter
    • Key advice I would give anyone who is just beginning to be a caregiver for a person with dementia

    I hope you have a chance to listen to these recordings and that you enjoy them. Feel free to leave a comment below.

    Have a great week!

     

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