Caregiver: A Life with Alzheimer's »

Alterra candidly discusses his attempts to connect with his wife after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and his role in the relationship changed to that of caregiver. He also shares practical information about support groups, patients' rights, and financial matters.

Publishers Weekly

Despite promising research, Alzheimer's disease cannot be arrested by medical intervention. So it has fallen to Alterra to monitor and care for his wife, Stella (a pseudonym, as is the author's name), who was formerly an accomplished cellist and is now almost completely dependent on her husband. He first became aware that Stella might have Alzheimer's when she lost some short-term memory and had difficulty driving and cooking. He had a good relationship with their primary care physician but, once Stella was diagnosed, Alterra quickly learned that the best place to get help was through the Alzheimer's Association. In this thoughtful and honest memoir, Alterra effectively impresses on the reader that the "primary physician" is not the doctor but the caregiver who lives with the patient. Through a drug trial, he obtained medication that slowed his wife's decline; he also followed up on the association's recommendations of caregiver and patient support groups. Alterra offers a touching account of how he still makes an effort to engage his wife in conversation. Anyone going through the same experience will benefit from his description of how he has coped with problems such as Stella's seeming inability to eat and her incontinence. He also provides a vivid depiction of the tortuous health care labyrinth he was forced to navigate by Medicare, which, in effect, provides almost no coverage for Alzheimer's. Although Alterra is committed to care for his wife as long as possible, as her condition worsens, he is currently weighing the possibility of moving into a nursing home with her. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.