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About Not All Who Wander Need Be Lost
A renowned entertainer once said that magic is “just spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” He was talking about creating magic in the entertainment industry. I work in a far less glamorous business — the eldercare industry.
But I smile when I read the quote because a client of mine once remarked to me, marveling at how much better equipped he felt to manage his father’s dementia symptoms, “What are you, some kind of Alzheimer’s wizard?”
The truth is, I’ve just spent a lot of time working with families facing Alzheimer’s and dementia related illnesses. I know what works and what doesn’t. I’ve also lost family members to the disease. My years of experience are distilled into the chapters in this book.
Each story contains a “further thoughts” section that explains how the symptoms, behaviors, and solutions from my experiences can apply to yours. Learning to cope with brain disease is a lot like learning sign language if your loved one loses their hearing. At first you may feel overwhelmed and fearful that you’ll never be able to communicate with them again. But with a little education, diligence, and practice you find a new way.
The solution didn’t involve your loved one getting their hearing back. Rather, it involved learning a new set of tools that allowed you to return to what mattered, enjoying your time spent with them. My hope is that this book will vastly improve your ability to manage the challenging symptoms and behaviors associated with brain disease.
Losing a loved one to Alzheimer’s or dementia is one of the biggest challenges you’ll ever face, but there is hope. The journey will be tough, and you’ll have to learn some new skills. But by utilizing the tools in these chapters, you can resume spending quality time with your loved one — and that’s the real magic.
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