Transcript Treating Alzheimer’s Disease—Where We Stand We are all looking for the magic pill that slows down or stops Alzheimer’s in its tracks. We even have research that seeks to reverse some of the brain damage from Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers are making good progress, but unfortunately, we aren’t there yet. Medical treatment for people with…
Transcript Day Care About a year after his diagnosis, Bob and I started casually talking about day care. The idea was planted in my mind by our care manager, Stephne, who had started preparing us for the time at some point in the future when Bob might benefit from spending part of the day socializing…
Transcript Leaving Home Is it the right time to move your loved one with dementia to a care facility, or would they be better off living at home? This is one of the most difficult questions facing caregivers and their families—a question that usually doesn’t arise until the caregiver reaches a critical point managing their…
Transcript Moving Forward On the way to work one sunny Tuesday morning, I suddenly felt my steering pull sharply to the left and slowed into the breakdown lane—sure enough, my rear tire was flat. My call to my husband, Mike, went to voicemail, so I left a message telling him where I was, and that…
Transcript Clinical Trials: An Inside Story My husband, Steve, and I liked to say that we hit the lottery of love when we met each other. And our love rewarded us with blessings that we embraced with joy and gratitude: two children, a home, careers that we enjoyed, a life rich in activities, the gift…
Transcript The Triadic Model: Shedding Light on Challenging Behaviors If you care for someone with dementia, you’ve probably seen the individual change over time, and start to behave in ways that can be confusing or even distressing. They might wander, wake at night, seem agitated, or act aggressively. On the other hand, they may resist…
Transcript Sheltering Walls: Palliative and Hospice Care The suggestion of palliative or hospice care for a loved one with dementia can be scary: It means their health has declined significantly. Although we know that change is a natural part of life, accepting it is a different story. Grief, anger, disbelief, and fear are just some…
Transcript I Repeat Loss of short-term memory is often one of the first changes that affect people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias—and the resulting repetitive behavior can be among the most difficult to handle. I tend to break repetitive behavior into four categories: Questions regarding the schedule: “What are we doing today?” Questions related to…
Transcript Daily Routine It is fair to say that few people know me better than my therapist, Kathy. Over the years, I’ve sat on the couch in her office, often with Bob, always with fresh flowers on the coffee table, and confided my fears and my hopes as a person, as a caregiver, and as…
Transcript Care Team Moments before Bob’s memorial service, looking over the crowd of family and friends, I caught sight of my daughter, Andrea, with her two children and her husband, Steve, who was watching the door. Suddenly, Steve shot from his seat to greet a new arrival. It was Thomas, one of Bob’s most beloved…
Transcript Cognitive Fitness As clinicians, we are often asked by patients and families what they can do to help support cognitive health and improve day-to-day functioning. There are, in fact, some proven strategies. People can make lifestyle changes such as being physically and socially active, eating a Mediterranean diet, and managing sleep difficulties. They can…
Transcript Still Bob When the movie about Alzheimer’s “Still Alice” debuted in Palo Alto, Bob and I had reached a sweet spot in the course of his disease: We were somewhat acclimated to the diagnosis, settled into our new routine, and enjoying a period of relative peace and equilibrium. I had read and enjoyed the…
Transcript Family People often move to California for the beautiful weather. It’s usually a comfort, but on the day we received Bob’s diagnosis of dementia, it felt like the opposite. As we stumbled out of the neuropsychologist’s office, the sun glared with the shock we were feeling. It was the final blow after a punishing…
Transcript Choosing Kindness Hi, I’m Alex Morris, and over decades of experience as an Alzheimer’s care coach, I’ve seen that caregivers can have a difficult time keeping up with their loved one’s changes. It requires a change in the way we approach our loved ones, as well as a new set of skills rooted in…
Transcript Friends Two months after Bob’s passing, I attended an annual conference for professionals in my industry and met up with a colleague who had reached out about working with me on a project. Over the years, Arlene, which is not her real name, had become more than just a business acquaintance—I considered her a…
Transcript Self-Care for the Caregiver Bob and I were at the orientation meeting of a support group for newly diagnosed patients and their families. I could relate to my fellow caregivers in the room. We were bewildered, already weary from dealing with the diagnosis, and struggling to keep up with the relentless changes. At that…
Transcript Feeling Sure – Katie Brandt’s Story In the summer of 2011, my 2-year-old son Noah and my 31-year-old husband Mike were the same. What I mean is, they had more in common than most fathers and sons. They were entertained by many of the same things, they were bad at following directions, they both…
Transcript Denial One winter day, Bob and I found ourselves at the local Department of Motor Vehicles in a modestly furnished office. Stainless steel desks. Filing cabinets, vinyl chairs. On the wall was a piece of Chinese art. We were speaking with a supervisor—I’ll call her Ms. Chan. She was Chinese, like me. She had…
Transcript Five Key Elements of Dementia Care It was the fall of 2013, a year after Bob was diagnosed; I’d just started coming to terms with his illness. We had gotten a few things into motion—a support group and connecting with the Alzheimer’s Association—and we were trying to figure out what lay ahead. A routine…