Inside Aging Parent Care

Ebooks for Caregivers of Alzheimer’s Patients

By Carol September 27th, 2011

Reviewing Hope for Helpers and More Help for Helpers by Michael Byrd

Bill recently posted his response to Pat Robertson’s remarks on Alzheimer’s disease and caregiving. Bill and many others have expressed another side of the caregiving experience in the wake of Robertson’s suggestion that a man should divorce his wife in advanced stages of the disease. No one denies that caring for someone with dementia is a tough road, but caregivers know that the journey can bring us more than just pain and sacrifice.

Chaplain Michael Byrd has written two timely ebooks for caregivers who want to keep on caregiving and save their sanity. Michael draws on his more than fifteen years experience working with elders and their caregivers to create these helpful companion electronic resources.

While he brings his generous spirituality to …

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Loss and Love

By Bill September 1st, 2011

I am writing fairly brief posts because I am a bit busy caregiving. My wife Carol is recovering nicely from surgery and her son Steve will have surgery Friday. I am caregiver for both.

This story ran in Sunday’s Denver Post newspaper. It is a story about the tragedy of Alzheimer’s and the enduring magic of love. Do read it all. I would insert it here, but copyright laws prevent my doing so.

Alzheimer's

The story is one of someone slowly being robbed of her mind, and her husband’s witness to her decline. She always recognized him, and some elements of her personality stayed with her. This is similar to what happened to Frank and Audrey, Carol’s parents. Frank had significant memory loss, but his personality was intact until he died of other …

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Viki Kind on Super Caregiver Syndrome

By Carol July 17th, 2011

Viki Kind is one of my favorite authors. She is a source of immense comfort and help to caregivers as well as providing great information. Recently she very “kindly” consented to write a guest post for Inside Aging Parent Care as soon as she had a moment in her busy schedule. Her chosen topic turns out to be about one of my favorite recommendations to caregivers: Never stop reaching out for help! Thanks, Viki, for your great advice and counsel.

Are You Suffering from “Super-Caregiver Syndrome”?

by Viki Kind

Do you think that only you can do what it takes to make sure that your loved one is taken care of? Are you not comfortable leaving your loved one with someone else because the other person won’t do it …

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Dad’s Independence Day Redux

By Carol July 3rd, 2011

Here it is–another 4th of July and Dad has been gone more than one full year. We had our quiet remembrance of his passing on Friday. I decided to re-post a piece from last year because it still says it best.

Dad didn’t quite make it to the Fourth of July, but “independence” was his rallying cry. Maintaining his independence was his first concern when he moved to Denver two years ago. Assisted living enabled him to secure the level of independence that he craved. He had his own apartment there, and that became home to him. He made the choice to engage hospice care only when he was assured that he could preserve his independence by remaining in his home.

In the final week of his 91years my father was still …

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Deep Inside Aging Parent Care One Year Later

By Carol June 28th, 2011

We were both blessed and cursed with the chance to travel with my father Frank down the long road toward the land of death. We went as far as we could with him. Then we turned back to make the return trip without him. We were changed and our lives were changed by the experience of his dying and by losing him.

In just a very few days it will be the first anniversary of Dad’s death. Last year at this time, the hospice nurses thought he had another two weeks or more remaining to him. On what turned out to be the last day of Dad’s life, Bill and I consulted with the hospice chaplain. I was trying to prepare myself for our last days together and to find the words to say …

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