Pfeiffer - Caregiving in Alzheimers and Other Dementias

Caregiving in Alzheimers and Other Dementias

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS HEALTH & WELLNESS

A Yale University Press Health & Wellness book is an authoritative, accessible source of information on a health-related topic. It may provide guidance to help you lead a healthy life, examine your treatment options for a specific condition or disease, situate a healthcare issue in the context of your life as a whole, or address questions or concerns that linger after visits to your healthcare provider.

For a complete list of titles in this series, please consult yalebooks.com.

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James W. Hicks, M.D., Fifty Signs of Mental Illness:
A Guide to Understanding Mental Health

Steven L. Maskin, M.D., Reversing Dry Eye Syndrome:
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Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., and Carol V. Wright, Ph.D.,
A Womans Guide to Menopause and Perimenopause

Arthur W. Perry, M.D., F.A.C.S., Straight Talk about Cosmetic Surgery

Eric Pfeiffer, M.D., Caregiving in Alzheimers and Other Dementias

Eric Pfeiffer, M.D., Winning Strategies for Successful Aging

Madhuri Reddy, M.D., M.Sc., and Rebecca Cottrill, R.N., M.Sc.C.H.
Healing Wounds, Healthy Skin:
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Eric Pfeiffer, M.D.

FOREWORD BY

Gayle Sierens

The information and suggestions contained in this book are not intended to replace the services of your physician or caregiver. Because each person and each medical situation is unique, you should consult your own physician to get answers to your personal questions, to evaluate any symptoms you may have, or to receive suggestions for appropriate medications.

The author has attempted to make this book as accurate and up to date as possible, but it may nevertheless contain errors, omissions, or material that is out of date at the time you read it. Neither the author nor the publisher has any legal responsibility or liability for errors, omissions, out-of-date material, or the readers application of the medical information or advice contained in this book.

Copyright 2015 by Eric Pfeiffer, M.D.

All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.

Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please e-mail (U.K. office).

Designed by James J. Johnson.
Set in Swift type by Integrated Publishing Solutions.
Printed in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pfeiffer, Eric, 1935

Caregiving in alzheimers and other dementias / Eric Pfeiffer, M.D. ; foreword by Gayle Sierens, News Anchor, NBC-TV, Tampa, Florida.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-300-20798-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Alzheimers disease--Patients--Care. 2. Caregivers. I. Title.

RC523.P436 2015

616.8'31--dc23

2014033323

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.481992
(Permanence of Paper).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

by Gayle Sierens

Nearly thirty years ago I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Dr. Eric Pfeiffer. As a television news reporter and anchor, it was my job to share with our viewers the latest breakthroughs in medicine. Here in Florida, a great deal of that news deals with our aging population, of which I am now a part. I had the good fortune to meet and interview this brilliant man whose passion it is to better the lives of the elderly, and help the rest of us understand what they are facing and in many cases, already dealing with. Little did I know that I would be one of those people.

I am the only child of a mother who has now moved through all the stages of Alzheimers. Its hard to understand that world unless you are in the middle of it. But Dr. Pfeiffer has given us not only a glimpse into that world with his book Caregiving in Alzheimers and Other Dementias; he has taken us by the hand and given us a step-by-step guide for how to walk that path. He has equipped us with courage and armed us with information. I am grateful that this most useful tool is now available as other caregivers make their way through such a puzzling disease. I am thankful as well for the fact that Dr. Pfeiffer continues his compassionate efforts on behalf of those who have the disease, and those who care for their loved ones.

On April 6, 2014, my mother breathed her last breath, as my daughter and I hovered over her hospital bed. It had been a four-day vigil (actually, a ten year and four-day vigil) that ended with both tears and relief. I have a sense of relief that she is no longer trapped in a body that still worked in many ways, but a mind that didnt. I do say that every single day I miss her sweet smile and the tight grip she was still able to muster around my hand each day. Now instead of a schedule that revolved around being by her side every day, I find a void. I can fill the time easily with my crazy, busy life, just not the caregiving experience that made me feel so needed. As Dr. Pfeiffer so eloquently describes in his final chapter of this book, entitled Recovery from Caregiving, I did indeed learn how strong and resourceful I can be. Alzheimers taught me many things. Mostly it taught me we must find a cure. Recovering and redefining my worth is now my work in progress, after more than a decade of planning every day around my mothers disease.

Gayle Sierens, News Anchor,

NBC-TV, Channel 8, Tampa, Florida

IF YOU are a caregiver of someone with Alzheimers disease or another form of dementia, or if you are considering becoming a caregiver of someone afflicted with Alzheimers disease, this book is for you. It is intended as your personal guide to a journey the likes of which you have never before experienced. Even if you have raised children, taught school, supervised employees, or have in other ways taken on responsibility for someone else, becoming an Alzheimers caregiver will challenge you in ways you could never have imagined. If you have never been charged with caring for someone else, you will find that caring for someone with Alzheimers disease creates demands and opportunities of an entirely different order than anything else you have ever encounteredsimply because Alzheimers is a disease like no other. Its manifestations will change continually and progressively before your very eyes, and before you know it, you too will be changed forever by having been a caregiver to someone with this disease. You may even be changed for the better, in ways that I will explain throughout the book.