Courage is the thing you need most and the hardest thing to get when you’re faced with Alzheimer’s Disease. Jordan, my partner of 17 years has younger-onset Alzheimer’s. His father and several grandparents had memory problems, so the diagnosis was not totally unexpected, but it is still hard to grasp that someone so young and vital is facing such a ravaging illness. Since Jordan’s diagnosis four years ago, we’ve both experienced the stigma that is [...]
We spoke with Shirley Sillman, wife and caregiver of Bob Sillman, who was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s in 2007. Have you noticed stigma or jokes about Alzheimer’s in pop culture? Of course. But we (society) tend to mask our fears and misunderstanding though humor. I do it every day. If I didn’t joke or laugh about it — especially with Bob — I would probably be a wreck. Do jokes marginalize and ultimately stigmatize the [...]
Caregiving blogger Sherri Snelling spoke to actors Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker about their journey in caring for Jill’s mother who has dementia. At the heart of their story is family and how “eat, pray, love” may be their new catchphrase when it comes to caregiving. What struck me the most when I spoke to Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker – her partner in marriage, career and life – was that in all things they [...]
Today is the longest day of the year — and as evening sets, Alzheimer’s advocates across the globe are pushing themselves to the finish line of a 16-hour endurance relay to raise awareness and funds for the fight against Alzheimer’s. This event, Alzheimer’s Association The Longest Day™, and the dedication it requires holds such significance for those who have been affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It symbolizes the endurance, love, patience and strength it takes to [...]
Whether your musical tastes run to the 70s television show with the Partridge family singing their theme song, C’mon Get Happy, or the 1950s song that inspired it, Get Happy, made famous by Judy Garland, the message is that happiness is in our hands — not something we are handed. When it comes to caring for a loved one, happiness may not be the first emotion that you would associate with a life role that [...]
I’m Valerie Ferrero, wife, mother and care partner. My husband Lee was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s (also known as early-onset Alzheimer’s) in November 2008. This is the beginning of my story….. It is difficult to know what action to take, what plans to make, or what the future holds when you don’t have the answer to the “elephant in the room.” It took more than seven years for us to get Lee’s diagnosis of younger-onset [...]
Last month, close to 1,000 Hollywood luminaries came together to raise fun and funds for Alzheimer’s at the Alzheimer’s Association’s annual A Night At Sardi’s. During the last 20 years, A Night At Sardi’s has generated more than $20 million to support important research, develop programs to support family caregivers, and create campaigns to bring awareness to this disease. This year, I was on the “purple carpet” in Beverly Hills to interview celebrities attending the [...]
In the fall of 2008, I wrote a screenplay I intended to film entirely in an Alzheimer’s Unit. After many weeks of rehearsals, I arrived at a troubling realization: I was not just making a challenging film—I was making the wrong film. Writing a fictional Alzheimer’s narrative—creating a neat and orderly plot whose course I could control, from a disease by nature chaotic and nonlinear—was impossible. In the way that a son or daughter doesn’t [...]
But she does a pretty good job of making me feel like she does. I believe she knows there is a connection. She keeps it very simple when she talks to me. Partly I think because she knows that she can’t quite remember but is still witty enough to know that she doesn’t want to make it any more confusing than it already is for her. I think she is past the most scary part— [...]
This post originally appeared on the ChicagoNow blog, “Ask Dr. Chill: Practical Answers to the Toughest Caregiving Questions.” It is being reposted here with the author’s permission. Almost eight years at the Alzheimer’s Association — five at the Utah Chapter and close to three at the National Office right here in Chicago — left equally enduring imprints on my mind and heart. The mental imprint is analytical, bridging science and people in the shape of a fervent belief [...]
