For Deb Wells, walking her dog honors her late husband John. John Wells died 3 months ago from Alzheimer's disease. Deb explained, "I didn't really understand before he was diagnosed what was happening to him but his personality was changing." Deb says words from a book she read helped her persevere. She said, "I'm no longer dismayed that he doesn't recognize me or himself in the picture or that he doesn't know who I am standing next to him."
Author of that book, Liz Van Ingen poured her heart out writing the memoir "Kismet: From the Joy of Romance to the Agony of Alzheimer's." Van Ingen said she had a little help coming up with the idea. "My mother had saved all my letters and I incorporated all that," she told us. She added journal entries and long forgotten memories.
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Van Ingen shares honestly how she survived the life and death of her husband by giving advice on simple things like keeping a charged cell phone with you all the time and writing everything down in a journal so you don't forget. She learned not to correct, criticize or argue with her husband. She also started making decisions for her own benefit, not only his. She planned time away and got a helper for a few hours a week. She also went to a support group and when things got really tough, she took anti-depressants. "I loved it from the very first page to the very last. What a story, what a life," Van Ingen said.
Cost can also be a burden. In fact, last year caregivers provided almost 18-billion hours of unpaid care to those with Alzheimer's. Put a dollar sign on that and it works out to be 220-billion dollars, which is nearly eight times the total revenue of McDonald's last year.
"Kismet: the Joy of Romance to the Agony of Alzheimer's" was a finalist in the Colorado Book Awards in 2014 and can be purchased through this link on Amazon.
For facts and figures on Alzheimer's Disease, click here for a link to the Alzheimer's Organization.