Showing results for "memoir" in Alzheimer's & Dementia

What happened to the kind, lighthearted gentleman whose strong faith had grounded him for eighty years? When I was growing up, Dad was a playful, happy man who enjoyed bringing pleasure to his loved ones. Constructing a skating rink in the barnyard, planning trailer trips to Disneyland or Montana, building a wakeboard to tow us behind his boat were gifts. Hard-working and ingenious, his whimsy disguised the changes taking place. Dads mission to protect and care for others, while seeking his childhood dream of owning a farm, triggered a slow slide into the current of dementia.

Anthea Rowan writes about her mother's struggles of living with Depression and Dementia, while interpreting our understandings of this life-changing illness. Grounded in observations, A Silent Tsunami aims to prepare others for what to expect when this tide changes by recounting the lessons learned from experiences and challenges.

At six years old, Terry was told by his headteacher that he would never amount to anything. He spent the rest of his life proving that teacher wrong. At 66, Terry had lived a life full of achievements: becoming one of the UK's best-selling writers, winning the Carnegie Medal and being awarded a knighthood for services to literature. Following his untimely death from Alzheimer's disease, the mantle of completing Terry's memoir was passed to Rob Wilkins, his former assistant, friend and now head of the author's literary estate.

In 2003, England won the Rugby World Cup. Steve Thompson was there, in England's front row, at the heart of the match and at the heart of the scrum—one of sport's most destructive, repetitive impacts. But the triumphs came at a cost. When rugby union turned professional, Steve was plunged into a game where raw power meant everything. Today, he remembers nothing about playing in that final. In his words, watching the tape back is like watching a ghost.

How do you build a life when all that you know is changing? How do you conceive of love when you can no longer recognise those who mean the most to you? A phenomenal memoir, Somebody I Used to Know is both a heart-rending tribute to the woman Wendy Mitchell once was, and a brave affirmation of the woman dementia has seen her become.

From the challenges of navigating disorientation to the moments when guilt and resentments creep in, listeners are guided gently through slow-burning grief. Along the way, Davis shares how her own fractured family came together, and how her father revealed his true self - always kind, even when he couldn't recognize his own daughter. The result is an achingly beautiful work on the fragile human condition from a profoundly wise and empathetic writer.

Regarded as one of the finest journalists of her generation, Mamie Baird Magnusson's whole life was a celebration of words - words that she fought to retain in the grip of a disease which is fast becoming the scourge of the 21st century. Married to writer and broadcaster Magnus Magnusson, they had five children of whom Sally is the eldest.

Many know Kimberly Williams-Paisley as the bride in the popular Steve Martin remakes of the Father of the Bride movies, the calculating Peggy Kenter on Nashville, or the wife of country megastar Brad Paisley. But in 2014, Williams-Paisley revealed a tragic secret: Her mother had been diagnosed with a rare form of dementia called primary progressive aphasia at the age of 61.

Pat Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history and best-selling author of Reach for the Summitt and Raise the Roof, tells for the first time her remarkable story of victory and resilience as well as facing down her greatest challenge: early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Pat Summitt was only 21 when she became head coach of the Tennessee Vols women's basketball team. For 38 years, she has broken records, winning more games than any NCAA team in basketball history.

Mom loved adages, quotes, slogans. There were always little reminders pasted on the kitchen wall. For example, the word THINK. I found THINK thumbtacked on a bulletin board in her darkroom. I saw it Scotch-taped on a pencil box she’d collaged. I even found a pamphlet titled THINK on her bedside table. Mom liked to THINK.

Carl Hayman, All Black #1000, once the most highly prized player in world rugby and a giant of the game in every sense—someone who was always respected, even feared. But at the end of seventeen years as a professional rugby player, the last eight played with the sole aim of setting up his family's future, Hayman's life began to unravel in nightmarish fashion. Head On is about the pressures on the modern athlete, where physical performance and commerce collide, and players become victims of their own success.

Kim Campbell was a fresh-faced 22-year-old dancer at Radio City Music Hall when a friend introduced her to Glen Campbell, the chart-topping, Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated entertainer. The two performers from small Southern towns quickly fell in love, a bond that produced a 34-year marriage and three children. In Gentle on My Mind, Kim tells the complete, no-holds-barred story of their relationship, recounting the highest of highs - award shows, acclaimed performances, the birth of their children, encounters with Mick Fleetwood, Waylon Jennings, and others.

In 1992, Franziska Thomas had her first seizure and her whole world was turned upside down - literally. In Fits and Starts, Franziska gives a compelling personal description of living with epilepsy, an illness shrouded in secrecy and antiquated myths. Laden with self-deprecating humor, she describes her own coming of age - as an epileptic, a teacher, and ultimately, a mother.

After a near fatal stroke in 1995, Robert McCrum has gained an intimate understanding of his own mortality. Twenty-two years on, his friends have joined him in experiencing Prospero's 'every third thought' of death as a dominating theme of life. McCrum asks: can we make peace with what Freud calls 'the necessity of dying'? Searching for answers leads him to brain surgeons, psychologists, cancer patients and writers for advice and wisdom.

At the age of 53, Tony walks away from a life of journalism and into an unknown future dogged by self-doubt and financial worry. June is 48 years old then, a writer and a teacher, and over the following nine years she watches as her husband gradually changes - in interests, goals, and behavior - until Tony has a sudden fall, ending their life as they have known it.

Der Bestseller aus den Niederlanden: Ein junger Altenpfleger über das Leben im Pflegeheim: Jeder fünfte von uns wird am Ende seines Lebens an Demenz erkranken - und womöglich in einem Pflegeheim landen. Wie aber werden wir dort leben? Dieser Gedanke trieb auch Teun Toebes, 22, um. Er ist gelernter Altenpfleger, der auf Menschen mit einer Demenzerkrankung spezialisiert ist. Seit er seinen Beruf gewählt hat, fragt er sich, wie alte Menschen möglichst würdevoll ihren Lebensabend verbringen können.

From New York Times best-selling author, Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, and leading Alzheimer's advocate Meryl Comer comes a profoundly intimate account of her husband's battle with Alzheimer's disease, one of today's most pressing - and least understood - health epidemics.

Leaving London to return home to rural South Wales, Robyn finds that it's her old life - same teddy bears resting on her pillow, their bodies tucked under the duvet; same view of the garages behind which she'd had her first cigarette and first kiss - but so much has changed. Her dad, the proud, charmingly intelligent self-made man who made people laugh, was in the grip of early onset Alzheimer's. His brilliant mind, which saw him building power stations and literally bringing light into the lives of others, had succumbed to darkness.

In this highly personal account, Dr Gibbs documents the effect his diagnosis has had on his life and explains his advocacy for improving early recognition of Alzheimer’s. Weaving clinical knowledge from decades caring for dementia patients with his personal experience of the disease, this is an optimistic tale of one man’s journey with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

When Simon McDermott first noticed his dad Ted's sudden flares of temper and fits of forgetfulness, he couldn't have guessed what lay ahead. Then came the devastating, inevitable diagnosis. As Ted retreated into his own world, Simon and his mum, Linda, desperately tried to reach him until at last: an idea. Turning the ignition in his mum's little run-around, Simon hit 'play' on Ted's favourite song, 'Quando Quando Quando'.