A New Chapter and a New Book

A NOTE TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT’S NEW

Alzheimer’s Disease is Pandemic not only in the United States, but around the world.  What causes it?  We don’t know.  What cures it?  We don’t know that either.  But millions of people are figuring out how they can care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s — or another form of dementia.

“What’s the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s?” a friend asked the other day.

“Dementia is the category of illness that Alzheimer’s Disease falls into,” I said.  “There are many different forms of dementia.  But Alzheimer’s leads the way.”

With the help of family members, I spent several years taking care of my mother, before her death from the disease.  She didn’t die directly from Alzheimer’s, but indirectly.  A fall caused her to break a leg, necessitating surgery.  The surgery caused immobility, which caused infections to set in, infections she wasn’t strong enough to fight.

Or maybe she was done.

Like many family members, I spent a number of years in denial.  She doesn’t have Alzheimer’s.  She’s just losing her edge, I’d say.  But as years passed and the edge disappeared almost entirely, I couldn’t deny it anymore.  My mother was no longer the woman I’d known.  Unlike many people with Alzheimer’s, Mom didn’t get angry or mean.  She became loving, nurturing, and child-like.  Caring for her, despite the hard work, became a joy.

For those of you who suspect a family member may have Alzheimer’s, or are in denial about a family member having it, you may want to read Chapter Two of “The Grief Club.”  Because I think this subject is particularly important, I’m posting the chapter outside, for the public, and inside, for members.

Feel free to make comments inside the site, if you registered.  Or, if for whatever reasons you haven’t registered, you can still make comments at the blog.  You can get to it by going to http://www.MelodyBeattie.com/blog.  The chapter isn’t posted there, but you can attach the comment to any article you want.

Thanks to all of you for your support of this site.  I hope you’re finding it worthwhile.

Oh, more news.  Simon & Schuster have moved up the release date for the upcoming book, “Make Miracles in Forty Days.”  You can look for it in bookstores this November.  I held a workshop to try out the principles in the book, and even I was astonished at the success rate we enjoyed.

Melody Beattie

September 19, 2010