Take Your Oxygen First: Protecting Your Health and Happiness While Caring for a Loved One with Memory Loss »

Leeza Gibbons is the former host of the Emmy Award–winning daytime talk show Leeza. She is the founder of The Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation and Sheer Inspiration Life Coaching and is a member of the American Red Cross's Celebrity Cabinet. She lives in Los Angeles. James Huysman, PsyD, LCSW, is a psychologist, a clinical social worker, an addictions counselor, and an Eriksonian hypnotherapist. He is the executive director and cofounder of The Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation and an adjunct professor at Florida International University. He lives in Miami. Rosemary DeAngelis Laird, MD, is the founding medical director of the Health First Aging Institute and the medical director of The Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation. She lives in Melbourne, Florida.

Designed for those giving care to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory loss disorders, this informative and inspiring guide explores how to take care of oneself in order to meet the challenges of giving care to another. Heartfelt, candid accounts by television host Leeza Gibbons and the members of her family—who cared for Leeza’s mother, Jean, for more than a decade after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis—are combined with current medical, nutritional, psychological and spiritual information and advice for caregivers. A comprehensive resources section and photo scrapbook of Leeza and her family are also included.

Publishers Weekly

Overwhelmed family caregivers will find Gibbons's book immensely and immediately useful. Even though Gibbons's family had the financial resources to weather the nine years her mother, Jean, lived with Alzheimer's, the feelings of pain and helplessness were unavoidable. Gibbons and her father, siblings and children share what they learned in dealing with Jean's decline and eventual placement in the dementia unit of a nursing home. While memory loss is the focus of the book's first section, the rest offers excellent advice for family caregivers on how to take care of themselves both physically and emotionally, from exercises to keep one strong enough to aid the patient to dealing with guilt and denial around a loved one's memory loss. Photos. (May)

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Foreword xvii

Introduction - My Family - And Yours xxi

About Leeza's Place xxxi

Acknowledgements xxxiii

Part I Knowledge Is Power

1 Why "Take Your Oxygen First"? 5

2 Understanding Memory Loss Disorders 11

The Brain 13

How We Think 16

How Memories are Made 16

What is Degenerative Memory Loss? 17

Vascular dementia 18

Lewy Body disease 18

Frontotemporal labar dementia 19

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease 20

Alzheimer's disease 20

Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease 21

Is Alzheimer's disease Inherited? 22

The Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease 23

Early Stage Symptoms 25

Middle Stage Symptoms 28

Late Stage Symptoms 31

Treatment for Alzheimer's disease 33

Education - The Payoff 35

3 Finding Help 37

Step 1 Get Close to Your Loved One 39

Step 2 Connect With the Professionals 41

Step 3 Learn the Facts and the Options 42

Step 4 Plan Ahead 45

Step 5 Stay Calm and Focused - No Matter What They Throw at You 45

Step 6 Reach Out For Help from the Community 44

Finding Help - The Payoff 48

Part II Caring For the Caregiver's Body

4 The Benefits of Exercise 53

How Exercise Helps Us 54

Getting Started 55

What Kind of Exercise Should You Do? 58

Exercise Classes 59

Tai Chi 60

Yoga 61

Water Exercises 62

Exercising With Your Loved One 63

Avoiding Physical Injury While Caregiving 64

Special Caregiver Needs: Strengthening the Back, Neck and Shoulder Muscles 65

The Caregiver Exercise Circuit 66

Back Strengthening Exercises 66

Neck and Shoulder Exercises 67

What Keeps You From Working Out 68

Physical Fitness - The Payoff 68

5 Eating Well 71

What is Nutrition? 72

What is a Healthy Diet? 73

A Word about Water 74

Fruits andVegetables 75

Whole Grains 76

Dietary Oils 77

What's the Skinny on Diets? 78

What is the Truth About Vitamins? 78

What is a Healthy Diet for Seniors? 80

Update Your Food Pyramid 80

Nutrition and Weight - The Payoff 81

6 Brain Fitness and Sleep 83

How the Brain Ages 85

Is It Normal Aging or a Memory Loss Disorder? 86

Caregivers and the "Senior Moment Syndrome" 87

Does Brain Exercise Work? 89

Relax 90

Get Moving 91

Don't Retire From Life 91

Socialize 92

Brain Fitness - The Payoff 92

Sleep is Good - When You Can Get It 94

Insomnia 96

What Causes Insomnia? 96

Sleep and the Older Caregiver 98

Discovering the Problem 100

A Good Night's Sleep - The Payoff 101

Part III Caring for the Caregiver's Mind

7 Coping with Depression and Anxiety 105

Depression 105

Recognizing Depression 110

Treating Depression 111

Beyond-Depression: The Payoff 114

Anxiety 115

What is Anxiety? 116

The Symptoms of Anxiety 117

Treating Anxiety 118

Medication 118

Therapy 119

Lifestyle Changes 119

Stress Management Techniques 120

Managing Anxiety - The Payoff 122

8 Overcoming Denial and Guilt 123

Denial 123

Waking Up from Denial 126

Banishing Denial: The Payoff 129

Guilt 129

Conquering Guilt 134

Beyond Guilt - The Payoff 135

9 Managing Anger 137

Working Through the Anger 140

Managing Anger - The Payoff 143

Part IV Caring for the Caregiver's Spirit

10 Nourishing Your Family's Spirit - And Your Own 147

Intergenerational Programs: The Tools for Family Connection 151

Scrapbooking 152

Journaling 157

Stamping 158

Memory Television: A Video Starring You and Your Loved One 160

Step 1 Scriptwriting 162

Step 2 Set Design 162

Step 3 Action! 162

Connecting as a Family - The Payoff 163

11 Caregiving as a Spiritual Practice 165

Finding Meaning in Your Life 167

Accepting the Pain 168

Living the Why of Caregiving 173

Finding Meaning in Caregiving - The Payoff 181

Afterword: Goodbye to Jean 183

Resources 186

Appendix: Special Caregiver Situations 206

About the Authors 219

Index 221