http://spiritualcaregiving.blogspot.com/

This blog is written by Sheryl Karas who, for five years ending in 2005, worked as a Family Caregiving Consultant at the Alzheimer’s Association and Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center and wrote a monthly newsletter for families taking care of loved ones with progressive incurable memory loss and dementia. Those articles are now a book and this blog was created to share it with you.

The blog contains tidbits of personal stories as well as a great amount of practical wisdom in addressing the needs of both the elderly and their caregivers.

Tender Loving Eldercare (TLeC)

www.tenderlovingeldercare.com

Tender Loving Eldercare is a blog that shines brightly with practical eldercare advice gleaned from Linda’s many years of taking care of her parents. She intermixes the practical with the thoughtful in a delightful way that is sure to remind you that you are not alone in your eldercare and that eldercare has its joys and grace. Please check out Linda’s blog for wonderful information and advice.

From About Tender Loving Eldercare

Tender Loving Eldercare is a blog that helps you provide Tender Loving Care (TLC) for your aging parents.

44 million Americans (21% of the U.S. population) are currently providing unpaid care for older friends and family. (AARP Public Policy Institute and ASU Research)

This site was created to share my knowledge, resources, experience and insight into family caregiving. As a baby boomer, many friends are starting to face the same issues I have already experienced since my parents are older than most boomers’ parents. I am happy to share what I’ve learned being sole caregiver for my parents since 2000.

I hope it is a place where other family caregivers can go to learn from, encourage and support each other. I want to learn from you as well and welcome your comments!

And this site is here to increase awareness of, and empathy for, families in this stage of their lives — both the seniors and the younger generation caring for them.

I hope when you come here, you get something of value . . . . and leave feeling better than when you arrived.

Who is Linda Abbit?

I am the author of this blog and a classic example of the Sandwich Generation. I have a B.S. and M.S. in Education and am a daughter, wife, and mother — first to my son, and then to my aging parents. This blog is dedicated to the memory of my dear father, Al Brodsky (1906 – 2005), and in honor of my mom, Aida. Yes, the photos at the top of the page are of us.

For fun (and stress relief) I dance, practice yoga and play mah jongg. I love to read and laugh, though not necessarily together. One of my dreams is to see as much of this wonder-filled world as I can.

www.takingcareofyourparents.com

This blog documents a family’s struggle with a diagnosis of inoperable stomach cancer for their father and their process of dealing with the health care system.

The father has since passed away and the blog is now documentating their story with their aging mother that they moved out to California from Philadelphia.

This is the first blog entry and it can be found at www.takingcareofyourparents.com/page/6.

The worst day of my life

Today I’m flying back to Philadelphia to see my father who was diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer. The cancer has spread rapidly and it’s too late to do anything…we think. The problem is that we’re not getting any information from the doctor. Very vague, quick passing comments but no frank discussion about my father’s condition. It’s frustrating to see my father suffering and we don’t have the facts to know if we can help him.

Today is going to be the worst day of my life when I see my father at the hospital. My father wants to go home so badly that they’ve had to strap him into a chair. He’s frustrated and weak. We know he’s very sick but the doctor isn’t giving us enough information. Should we line up hospice now? Does he have a week, a month or a year left? We need to know what’s going on.

I know millions of people are going through these same frustrations every day because of our broken health care system. Very vague communication and no details. I’m going to use this blog to document the rest of my father’s life and share our process so maybe we can get our politicians to fix our broken health care system.

From http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/03/20/ep.family.care/index.html

Empowered Patient, a regular feature from CNN Medical News correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, helps put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to health care.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — There are a lot of Marys in Mary Jane McGill’s extended family, so each one gets a special name. Mary who lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts, is “Mary Rozy.” Mary from Everett, Massachusetts, is called “Mary Everett.” And McGill? She’s “Mary Google.”
art.empowered.patient.jpg

When Mary Nee, back second from left. needed an in-home caregiver, her daughter turned to the Internet.

“I use it for everything,” McGill says of the search engine. “My family kids me about it.”

One day last week, McGill used Google in a way even she never dreamed of: to find care for her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease and suddenly needed someone living at her house 24/7. Her search quickly turned up a number of the many resources that can help you connect with in-home help for a parent who’s aging, ill or both. And this week, Empowered Patient will save you some searching time.

Up until last month, McGill’s father, Tom Nee, had been taking care of his wife, but then he died of cancer.

“He died sooner than we expected, and we were in a complete state of panic about who would take care of Mom,” McGill says. “She can’t be left alone. It would be like leaving a toddler alone. But we don’t want her in a nursing home, either.”
Don’t Miss
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www.dementiacaregiving101.com

Dementia Caregiving 101 is the joint project of Paula Farris and Lanette Stultz. Paula and Lanette are sisters who shared in the responsibilities of cargiving for their Mother, Delorice, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in March 2008. She passed away in September 2008 after a battle with blood clots.

Paula does the writing for Dementia Caregiving 101 and Lanette helps with the technical end of things as well as providing ideas and insight into the various topics on the site. They both look forward to serving you and making your Dementia Caregiving journey easier and more fulfilling.

http://www.dsolie.com/blog/
Aging Parents Insights: Insights to Understanding Our Aging Parents and Ourselves

Observations and commentary on caregiving, aging, and the complex journey through the second half of life.

David Solie is the author of How To Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Elders, published by Prentice Hall Press. Written for baby boomers and their parents, professionals who work with the elderly, and everyone who has regular contact with seniors, this book offers an original perspective on why these conversations can be an exercise in frustration. Whether the communication difficulties involve parents, patients or clients, Mr. Solie’s book provides a fresh and inspiring look at new strategies and skills for overcoming these challenges.

http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/

Thanks to the marvels of medical science, our parents are living longer than ever before. Adults over age 80 are the fastest growing segment of the population, and most will spend years dependent on others for the most basic needs. That burden falls to their baby boomer children, 77 million strong, who are flummoxed by the technicalities of eldercare, turned upside down by the changed architecture of their families, struggling to balance work and caregiving, and depleting their own retirement savings in the process.

In The New Old Age, we explore this unprecedented intergenerational challenge. While founding blogger Jane Gross is on leave, at work on a book, we’ll be posting contributions from a variety of writers. You can reach the editors at newoldage@nytimes.com.

www.sandwichINK.com

Information and Encouragement for The Sandwich Generation and Other Multi-Generational Caregivers.

The Sandwich Generation, those caught between their aging parents and young children, includes some 20 million Americans.

In this emotionally charged account of family caregiving, filmmaker Julie Winokur and her husband, photojournalist Ed Kashi, expose their personal lives with unflinching candor. Winokur and Kashi uprooted their two children and their business in order to move 3,000 miles cross-country to care for Winokur’s father, Herbie.

At 83, Herbie suffers from dementia and can no longer live alone. Winokur and Kashi are faced with difficult choices and overwhelming responsibility as they charge head on through their Sandwich years. It is a story of love, family dynamics and the immeasurable sacrifice of those who are caught in the middle

Trading Places: Caring for aging parents
Feb. 12 2007: It’s something so many Americans experience — caring for aging parents. Here, Brian Williams shares his personal story as part of NBC Nightly News 2007 special series.

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Trading Places: Moving on
Feb. 14 2007 : Dr. Nancy Snyderman shares her story of helping move her parents from their longtime home

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Trading Places: Ann Curry’s father, Bob
Feb. 15 2007: Ann Curry introduces us to her father, who she says refuses to act his age.

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Trading Places is often a struggle
Feb. 16 2007: NBC’s Tom Brokaw reports on how he is helping care for his mother, and talks to a family who struggles to find the time and finances needed to care for an older parent.

Trading Places: Having is easier than having not
Tom Brokaw parallels one Alabama family’s experience with his own
By Tom Brokaw
Correspondent
updated 12:21 p.m. ET, Sat., Feb. 17, 2007

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