dementia awareness
Seeking Status Quo
Family Caregiver ChallengesSo this happened a few years ago: I wrote a novel about my personal experiences being a caregiver for my father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in his early 80s.
The novel genre usually means fiction, but everything within my book depicts either my personal experience or those of caregivers with whom I supported as an Alzheimer’s Association group facilitator.
I don’t think enough positive attention is given to the phrase status quo. When you are caring for someone with a health condition, boy oh boy do you hope and pray for a return to the pre-caregiver status. Being a caregiver for a loved one creates the desire to enter back into a time when illness or upheaval were not present, both for the caregiver’s sake and that of the person for whom they provide care.
Perhaps you, too, have been or are currently a caregiver, or you are hoping for a return to a time devoid of chaos and uncertainty, and you need a diversion from this, that, or the other that permeates your purview. Maybe my novel will plant a seed of hope in you that you thought had dried up forever.
That is my hope for you. That is my prayer for you.
Alzheimer’s: am I next?
Your parent is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia and as their biological child you wonder, “Will that be my fate?”
In 2019, an article of mine, Me Worry? Not on your Life was published on the CogniHealth website, a company that in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, developed a caregiver aid for those – especially family members – providing care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. (Please note that the linked post references an extraordinary non-profit that I am still a part of but no longer serve in a managerial capacity, having retired from doing so.)
I chose the topic of whether or not dementia might be passed along to biological family members because as a daughter who witnessed the decline of her father as a result of dementia, I certainly had an opinion on the matter. Does one need to worry their entire life about the chance of acquiring Alzheimer’s disease?
I hope you will read my article that while transparent and painfully clear, also provides many rays of hope and encouragement for those in similar circumstances.
At the very least, I am certain you will come away with a clearer understanding of how little value worry contributes to ones’ life.
The limited value of worrying.
Your parent is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia and as their biological child you wonder, “Will that be my fate?”
An article of mine, Me Worry? Not on your Life was recently published on the CogniHealth website, a company that in partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, developed a caregiver aid for those – especially family members – providing care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia.
I chose the topic of whether or not dementia might be passed along to biological family members because as a daughter who witnessed the decline of her father as a result of dementia, I certainly had an opinion on the matter. Does one need to worry their entire life about the chance of acquiring Alzheimer’s disease?
I hope you will read my article that while transparent and painfully clear, also provides many rays of hope and encouragement for those in similar circumstances.
At the very least, I am certain you will come away with a clearer understanding of how little value worry contributes to ones’ life.
Living: the ultimate team sport 