It was my first backpacking trip abroad, a one-year trek through Central and South America, and I did a very bad thing. For the first six weeks I was ...
As a person's illness progresses, these episodes tend to occur less often, and so when they do occur, it's all the more striking and precious.
For individuals with memory loss, mealtimes provide social engagement, sensory stimulation and enjoyment, and can add structure and routine to their day. However, mealtimes can also present some challenges for caregivers, especially as their loved ones' memory loss progresses.
My grandmother, Nora Jo, moved in with my family when her Alzheimer's disease advanced to the point where it was dangerous for her to live alone. That's when "chaos" of ultra-farcical proportions began.
My wife was glancing at the obituaries in today's newspaper and started to read aloud about the passing of an old, dear friend of mine. And then the goosebumps started and the memories came cascading.
A concert by the Unforgettables, a unique singing group, makes it clear that there can be a life worth living for people with dementia and their caregivers, and that music and other forms of art have much to contribute to making it so.
Informing people that you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's can be painful and exceedingly difficult.
I've always had a really bad memory. So when my mother got Alzheimer's disease, I knew that I had to record what was happening to her and to our famil...
I would like to share one small thing I have discovered with my mother, that's made a huge difference in how I feel about living so far from her.
What is the single most intense, fraught, infuriating and rewarding relationship in your life? For many women, the answer is a no-brainer: the one we have with our mothers.
One evening Leeza Gibbons, the celebrated radio and TV personality, was out to dinner with her mother. When they went to her home, which her mother had visited hundreds of times, she said, "This is such a beautiful place. Is there a room for me here?" Her mother had dementia.
My mother may not know my name, but she knows my voice, and it triggers something within. She giggles girlishly. Then, I start a song, one from the old days, and she joins in. We have our own routine, our Alzheimer's Rag.
Do you think that there is such a thing as "suffering from life"? Do you think that people should be able to make their own decision as to whether or not to end their life?
If we all put aside the ten minutes it takes to take action, we can collectively implement change.
Every time news hits about Pat Summitt -- not about her victories with the University of Tennessee women's basketball team, but about her fight with dementia -- it's a win for the cause.
I'll never forget the moment when I realized my mother no longer knew who I was. For every child of a parent with Alzheimer's, that reality is a devastating one. How could she not recognize me?
