Faces of Alzheimer's Archives - Alzheimers Support

Two Videos to Share Today

Tremendous Videos – Both of them

I just watched this Video and it brought tears for me. A stunning reminder that the Caregiver suffers right alongside the person with Alzheimer’s. Sometimes I forget that, especially when I’m on a crying binge. So many things are so confusing when you have Alzheimer’s. Dark is Scary. Silence is ominous. Touch is fearful. I could go on and on.

In the morning I’m usually renewed, but when the dark falls, the world changes. When I saw this video this morning, I knew I had to share it. I’m so thankful for the Intuitive folks out there who can make a movie catch a mood, feeling, thought. This one does.

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On this holiday, I’d like us to share a moment of remembrance with a few of our most well known who have suffered through Alzheimer’s

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Thank you for visiting our website. We’re always glad to share and visit and see you here!

Take care of yourself this holiday weekend.
~Sandy

Alzheimer’s Care : 4 Ways to Save Big as Caregiver

03/17Leave a Comment

Alzheimer’s Care: 4 Effective Ways to Save Big Bucks

Medical treatments, prescription pills, personal care supplies—these are just some of the common expenses that make up the cost of Alzheimer’s disease. However, it does not stop there. Family members and loved ones also have to contend with home modification costs, facility care fees, and insurance claims.

Understandably, many family caregivers get overwhelmed and frustrated with the situation. After all, so many of them are struggling to build a stable retirement fund for themselves. And on top of that, the rise in the costs of living has already overtaken income growth. It is a difficult circumstance to be in, and yet it is impossible to say no to Mom or Dad when one of them needs help.

On a bigger scale, the cost of Alzheimer’s also delivers a significant blow to the nation’s finances. In fact, Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia are expected to cost the nation $259 billion in this year alone.

With this in mind, family caregivers can surely benefit from all the budgeting tips they can get their hands on (we certainly would).

Long Term Care Tax Deductions

Family caregivers are no stranger to the financial weight that comes with caring for a parent. This is why they can certainly gain from tax breaks. In order to do so, adult children must be able to claim their parents as their dependents. Qualifications are detailed on the IRS website, but here are the preliminary criteria:

• Family caregiver must not be a dependent of another tax payer
• The dependent must be a resident of the US, Canada, or Mexico
• The dependent cannot file a tax return with his or her spouse

Take Advantage of Apps and Devices

Assistive technology can improve both the person with Alzheimer’s and the family caregiver’s the quality of life. Not only does it help maintain independence and autonomy, it can also help reduce the risk of accidents and falls.

Instead of paying for an extra pair of hands or adult day care services, you can make use of devices and apps that monitor the activities at home. Some are designed to track medications and detect falls. Having these gadgets installed in your home not only feels like you have an extra pair of eyes but they can also help you save more money in the long run.

Track All Costs of Alzheimer’s

Setting a budget and sticking to it can save household substantial money. However, you must have a good overview of all your expenses and income to make the budget you set realistic.
Remember never to underestimate the importance of a well-organized overview of all your expenses.

Equip Yourself for the Aftermath

Often, the cost of Alzheimer’s is not just financial. Family caregivers sacrifice their emotional, physical, and social well-being to meet the demands of care. Studies show that caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s or other dementias are 3.5 times more likely to say that the greatest challenge of their task is that it creates or aggravates their own health problems.

Once the dust settles, family caregivers can end up needing long term care services themselves. However, those who have provided financial support to their loved ones with Alzheimer’s are likely to have depleted nest eggs. This makes covering the high costs of long term care close to impossible.

This situation is why family caregivers are called to invest in long term care coverage as early as possible. After all, the aftermath of caregiving for a loved one with Alzheimer’s can be devastating.

Author: Samantha Stein is an online content manager for ALTCP.org. Her works focus on key information on long term care insurance, financial planning, elder care, and retirement. In line with the organization’s goal, Samantha’s work highlights the importance of having a good long term care plan, which includes requesting a long term care insurance quote online to securing comprehensive coverage.

Some Favorite Authors Write about Alzheimer’s

11/146 Comments

Authors Write about Alzheimer’s

Some of our favorite authors, including Five Authors who write about Alzheimer’s have banned together and determined to inform others about Alzheimer’s. They are discussing what keeps folks silent when they need help and how to raise the awareness about the plight of so many Caregivers.

Since November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Caregiver Appreciation Month, these Five authors have taken the challenge to raise awareness about the disease and the Caregivers who help our loved ones.

They each want others to know the importance of memory checks and awareness about Alzheimer’s. Most of all they want others to understand and know the contribution that the Caregiver makes in the lives of those who have Alzheimer’s.

Each of the Authors, including: Marianne Sciucco, Jean Lee, Vicki Tapia, Shannon Wierzbitsky present Five Stories about Alzheimer’s and offer the opportunity for others to Enter a giveaway to win a paperback copy of each of their books: Alzheimer’s Authors Giveaway

Meet the authors on Facebook: Alzheimer’s Authors Ending the Isolation of Alzheimer’s

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12 Ways to Reach Out to Caregivers During National Caregivers Appreciation Month

by Marianne Sciucco, author of Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story

Chances are you know someone caring for an ill or disabled loved one.

This could be due to an illness such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, stroke, or a variety of other conditions. Some provide live-in care, others visit daily or weekly, and some oversee care from a distance or care provided by hired aides or a nursing facility.

No matter how the caregiver performs his or her role, caregiving is a tough job, requiring resources that are often scarce: time, money, support, and assistance.

The CDC tells us that more than 34 million unpaid caregivers provide care to someone age 18 and older who is ill or has a disability, and an estimated 21 percent of US households are impacted by caregiving responsibilities.

Almost all of this work is unpaid, typically provided by family members, and often performed around the clock with no breaks. In addition, many caregivers juggle other responsibilities such as jobs, raising children, and managing their own households.

November is National Caregivers Appreciation Month, and a great time to reach out to those providing care and help lighten their load.

In recognition of those who work tirelessly and selflessly to care for a loved one, here are 12 ways to reach out to caregivers, to offer assistance and let them know you care. These people need support, and often that support doesn’t cost much, if anything, and takes little time.

Ask if you can sit for them a little while so they can run errands, take a break, see the doctor, or attend church or a caregiver’s support group, whatever they need to do to take care of themselves.
Going to the grocery store? Call and ask if there’s anything you can pick up for them.
If your employer allows, donate paid sick time, vacation days, or personal time to a coworker caring for a relative who is hospitalized or needs post-hospital care.
Volunteer to mow the lawn, weed the garden, rake the leaves, or shovel the snow.
Share the bounty, whether from your vegetable or your flower garden. Fresh produce and fresh flowers are cheerful.
If you have the skills and tools, offer to change the oil in their car and rotate the tires.
Again, if you have the skills and tools, offer a free haircut to the caregiver and/or their loved one.
Walk their dog.
Ask if they’d like you to wash and clean out their car.
Volunteer to take out the trash and bring the barrels out to the curb on trash day.
Double cook a meal, preferably one of their favorites, and send over a dinner.
Include them in your prayers.

For more information about caregiving and caregivers please follow #AlzAuthors during National Caregivers Appreciation Month, November 2015, or find us on Facebook.

About the Author

Marianne Sciucco is not a nurse who writes but a writer who happens to be a nurse. A lover of words and books, she dreamed of becoming an author when she grew up, but became a nurse to avoid poverty. She later brought her two passions together and writes about the intricate lives of people struggling with health and family issues. Her debut novel, Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story, is a Kindle bestseller, IndieReader Approved, a BookWorks featured book, and winner of IndieReCon’s Best Indie Novel Award, 2014. A native Bostonian, she lives in New York’s Hudson Valley, and when not writing works as a campus nurse at a community college. She can be reached via her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

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World Alzheimer’s Day

10/14Leave a Comment

World Alzheimer’s Day: September 21

How Close Are We to Finding a Cure?

World Alzheimer’s Day is an annual, international event held yearly on September 21. On this day, different Alzheimer’s organizations around the globe concentrate their efforts on both educating and raising awareness of this disease – which affects approximately 5.3 million Americans. Because family members provide a whopping 80% of the care and supervision required (the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that friends and relatives of Alzheimer’s patients provided 17.9 billion hours of unpaid care last year alone) it is often referred to as a “family disease.”

Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and today we continue to lack a comprehensive cure.

Symptoms of Alzheimer’s include memory loss, confusion, and a declining ability to perform daily tasks.

In its early stages, it is often mistaken for other conditions like depression or Parkinson ’s disease. As a result, only 10% of Alzheimer’s patients typically receive an early diagnosis – an unfortunate statistic, because treatments are most effective when implemented as soon as possible.

New imaging technologies, which are now able to identify deposits amyloid beta – a substance that has been linked to the progression of the disease – do provide a glimpse of hope for improved diagnosis and prognosis of Alzheimer’s, but there is still a long way to go.

While the exact cause of Alzheimer’s is unknown, doctors and researchers do know it is associated with two types of nerve damage: amyloid plaques that build up in the brain and tangled nerve cells called neurofibrillary tangles (tau). When neurons die off and can no longer communicate, brain tissue begins to atrophy, further impairing various mental functions. Research has also found that people with certain conditions like high blood pressure and stress are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. In fact, cardiovascular problems in general tend to increase the risk of developing dementias in general, simply because the brain needs the nourishment provided by blood.

It’s important to remember that Alzheimer’s is an international problem – as such, research is being carried out all over the world to help influence the success of future treatments. Many scientists look for treatments to improve vascular health in order to stop the degeneration of the nervous system. Australian scientists, for example, have been working with an ultrasound technology that can clear away the amyloid plaques. They have tested it on mice, and it has so far completely restored the memory function in 75% of them. After more animal trials, they plan to test it on humans in 2017.

English scientists have been working on a drug called “solanezumab”, which has delivered some success in slowing Alzheimer’s symptoms. However, recent announcements around the medication have stated that this drug will may truly assist those who receive an early diagnosis. Like the Australian ultrasound, it targets the amyloid plaques in the brain. Current Alzheimer’s treatments help nerve cells communicate more efficiently, but they lose their effectiveness as the nervous system continues to deteriorate. Treatments that slow or halt the degeneration itself could keep the patient healthy and independent for a longer time – but we are still working our way towards such discoveries.

A team of American researchers attempted to make a vaccine that would stimulate the patient’s immune system into attacking the plaques, Scientists stopped, however, when some participants developed acute brain inflammation. Today, most immunization studies focus on administering antibodies against beta-amyloid from outside sources instead of via an individual’s own immune system.

This year in May, the American government announced that the National Alzheimer’s Project Act intends to find a cure for Alzheimer’s by 2025. This is all well and good of course, but most families are eager to learn what they can do to help their family member right now. Looking on the bright side, there are numerous developing technologies that help Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers stay on top of the debilitating effects of this disease. Location services, provided by wearable tech with GPS functions, can help caregivers find family members who are lost and disoriented. Companies like Bay Alarm and ADT have made home alert systems tailored to seniors, which provide security, smoke and fall detectors — and they can call a doctor in the event of an emergency. These systems, in and of themselves, cannot provide medical treatment or prevent the disease from worsening, but the can help cut back on the cost of a full-time care home while keeping an Alzheimer’s patient comfortable in their familiar surroundings.

As more baby boomers enter their “golden years”, experts expect the number of Alzheimer’s patients to triple to 13.8 million by 2050. These individuals will need daily assistance, and their caregivers will need all the help they can get. For those whom Alzheimer’s “Day” is a year-round endeavor, finding a cure will change everything.

Author: Beth Kelly is a technology and security blogger, who primarily covers topics pertaining to healthcare tech, energy efficiency, and home security. You can follow her on Twitter at @bkelly_88

The Famous Faces of Alzheimer’s

02/244 Comments

The Famous Faces of Alzheimer’s

We often feel alone if we have symptoms of Alzheimer’s or we Care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s. Many folks hideaway or become reclusive while caring for some one with these odd symptoms. But, seeing the Famous Faces of Alzheimer’s gives us a sense of camaraderie, somehow.

For many years in the past, family members would hide those with Alzheimer’s dementia.

When my mom began showing odd symptoms of forgetfulness, Alzheimer’s never entered my mind. I didn’t know the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, nor anyone else in our family who had ever been ill with Alzheimer’s.

The odd part of that is that since my Mom passed away with Alzheimer’s I have learned that my Grandmother and Uncle also passed with Alzheimer’s many years before.

But currently, more folks are coming forward with their relatives or their own symptoms of this disease. And it’s a blessing to associate with others and learn from their own past experiences of coping with this illness.

Publicly, more celebrities have come forward with their story of Alzheimer’s; Barry Petersen with wife Jan, Glenn Campbell, Tennessee Basketball Coach Pat Summit and a few others.

But there have been many more who preceded these few and Toni Wombaker has created a stirring video of even more famous folks who succumbed to Alzheimer’s.

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