I am an avid reader and have read numerous books offering practical advice for caregivers, medical advice etc etc
as many of you have , I think I have read every website imaginable on dementia
I am so OVER that kind of thing....none of it changes what is actually happening. they all say the same things.
what I really need to read now are biographies by AD sufferers
I need to understand what actually the mental processes are, how she was thinking and feeling up until the point where her brain became a scarsely functioning organ....yes I know they stop writing way prior to that point
it wil help me understand her perspective and cope with our current situation and our future ]
read anything good that will help?
please let me know...kind regards,
Jo
If you do a search on Amazon using the name Hazel
Hawke there are several books listed. One, not by
her, looks like interesting reading.
Dancing With Dementia: My Story Of Living
Positively With Dementia (Paperback) by Christine
Bryden but there are others both by her and about,
at least mentioning, her.
Beatrice
My librarian couldn't find it and I couldn't find it on Amazon either.
Hazel Hawke is an aussie and there are numerous copies of her book in my regional library..
All I have to do is log on...reserve a copy for $2.00 ...by next week i will have read it
has anyone read or seen "the Notebook?" apparantly it is about AD but I have not read it or seen the movie.
I read the book and was annoyed by it - I found their description of the Alzheimer victim TOO POSITIVE. Even in the late stages she knew her husband and reacted in loving ways. Nice for him, if it really happened. It bothered me because at the time I read it my Mom was so irrational I just couldn't believe anything in that story could be real. But I have since learned that there is NO norm in this cruel disease ...
A man named Thomas DeBaggio, who has Altzheimer's, has written two books. The first is Losing My Mind, An Intimate Look at Life with Altzheimer's, which he started right after being diagnosed. Its hard to read because it's sad as he tries to explain what is going on in his head, but I think it's worth reading. I cannot remember the exact name of his second book, and I didn't get as much out of it as I did from the first, but you may still want to read it. I read the first one almost two years ago and still have not found another one that gave me as much insight.
I have watched the Move "The Notebook" and found it lovely, but not realistic in the sense that we should never expect our loved one to have those lucid moments where 'normal' comes back, even for a short while.
It does happen, but not like that, and not with everybody, and not very often.
Its a love story .. and they have a true bond with each other, but in this day and age, those bonds are few and far between.
I know of a bloke who is in a locked facility. He used to have VERY lucid moments quite often, and it would be explained to him that he has Dementia, and he's safe, and his wife is happy he's safe .. and he would apologise if he was a pain when he wasn't 'here' .. and it would be lovely but scary for everybody. I know it blew me out of the water when he had a lucid moment with me once. I never expected it. Within moments, he was no longer 'here' and was psychotic and agitated, terrified and angry.
But now-a-days, his lucid moments are few and far between. He hasn't had one in months and months. He still get's psychotic and paranoid, but the frightening behaviour doesn't show up very often anymore either.
I don't know what was worse, coping with the behaviour AFTER a lucid moment, or dealing with the constant behaviour now.
There is another book "Into the Mist" which is by an American Author Deborah Uetz. I know it's on Amazon.
Cheers
The following user gives a hug of support to angel_bear: luyingjie (01-24-2012)
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Re: recommended reading 
