Luckily for me, I was thirsting for knowledge when I discovered this gem. I began reading it in tandem with the Whitworths’ book, A Caregiver’s Guide to Lewy Body Dementia and found my brain ping-ponging between them.
This informational book is very straightforward. Ms. Leatherdale discusses all the main known forms of dementia, their definitions, their symptoms, treatments, and how to work with those as a caregiver, mostly with the three listed in the title, but you will discover they cover nearly everything.
As I progressed through the book I began to remember symptoms and incidents I had forgotten. There were triggers which warranted analyzing Mom’s early symptoms. Not that they would have made much difference, but how they were pushed aside in the belief it was simply age. Well, now we know, don’t we.
Unlike the Whitworths’ guide, this book takes us through the various diseases (Sundowning, Vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s, Lewy Body dementia, and a chapter on the other manifestations of dementia), the behaviors and changes, medical problems, understanding dementia, finding additional care, providing care as a family, and the list progresses. As I stated earlier, it is straightforward, leaving the case studies for another chapter for us to be able to understand the dilemmas.
While I find most people refer more to the Whitworths' as a reference, I cannot express my preference for this book more. It reinforced my finding that keeping Mom calm and just going along - as it will all be forgotten soon enough - is better than fighting a battle that never needed to be.
Ms. Leatherdale also takes us through the process of locating caregivers to help us. How to find them, what to ask, how to be sure you’re finding the correct match, etc. And then, she even goes further to provide more information - more for those in the UK than the US (she is a Brit, so this is justified) on finding a home, which still has tremendous value.
There is an appendix in which she also provides websites for more resources (which truly helps when you’re reading an e-book version; you simply tap on it and it whisks you away!
This book is a must-have! It is a viable and valuable resource for anyone who believes they may be dealing with dementia with themselves or others, and for those who are in the midst of finding more information. I have found it most useful in understanding issues and finding more resources in the process.
The book is available at:
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