Episodes

Anna Cantor, Dementia Trainer, End-of-Life Coach My guest, Anna Cantor, suggested the topic of End-of-life taboo topics. As you listen, you'll hear more. Anna had recently lost her mother, and our conversation veered from taboo topics to end-of-life experiences. While this may sound like a challenging episode to hear, it's pretty uplifting. Having end-of-life conversations is essential. It makes the experience less scary and confusing. End-of-life conversations are essential for ensuring that ...

Adria Thompson, Be Light Care Having been part of the Alzheimer's and dementia community for most of my adult life, it's easy to have opinions on specific "treatments." I've seen SLP, OT, and PT therapies work great while the therapist is present with our loved one, then fail once they are gone. My view on these treatments for someone with a dementia-causing disease was, more or less, not to bother. I've seen lots of today's guests' educational social media posts (they're great), so I was plea...

The My Data Diary device. Have you ever needed access to a loved one's account and been unable to retrieve the information because you don't have their password? That happened to me when I went to cancel my Dad's cell phone after he died. I had his death certificate handy so I could send it to the phone company, but we never got that far. When I explained the reason for my call, I got sympathies, as you'd expect. However, I had to tell the person on the phone five times that I didn't have his ...

Mace & Travis Macy As fast as we can, as slow as we must, was the mantra that Travis & Mark Macey used while competing in the World's Toughest Race - Fiji. The World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji is a multi-day expedition race in which teams race non-stop with little to no sleep over mountains, jungles, and oceans. The twist is the additional teammate they had to contend with; early-onset Alzheimer's. Find Travis Here In this episode, I talk to both men about how they are handling Mark's...

As caregivers, it's not unusual to have days we want to run away. However, these feelings give us feelings of shame and guilt. Society has an unstated opinion that caregivers should be happy with their current situation and cope better! As a meditation and yoga teacher, this week's guest, Charlotte Bayla, assumed continuing her self-care practices after her husband's cancer diagnosis would be easy. When she struggled, she realized that other caregivers likely had a more challenging time, so she...

Kim Best is the author of How To Live Forever - A Guide to Writing the Last Chapter of Your Story. In writing our last chapter, we're leaving the memory of us. Her book is more about living your best life versus writing. Kim was a nurse who moved into medical mediation. Our failure to prepare for our last chapter causes people to carry the burden of others' choices. Most of the time, we have one of two choices; a mediator can help us explore the spectrum of the decision-making process. This ep...

Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk is on the show to discuss overcoming medication-induced challenges. This challenge is one area of focus in her new book, Living In the Moment - Overcoming Challengees & Finding Moments of Joy. In addition to learning how to overcome specific challenges, I also learned that there are only 3500 geriatricians in the country. Unfortunately, few geriatricians can be found in suburban and rural areas. Dr. Liz is trying to provide information and training to help alleviate this...

Victor Brown, CEO XCellent Life Victor Brown has created an app designed to make it easier to stay healthy. Victor started his professional career as an engineer and moved into the energy sector, where he thought he would retire. Like many of us, his father's diagnosis of type-2 diabetes has led to early-stage dementia and changed his plans. Victor took his technological knowledge of preserving critical energy assets and applied it to protect the most vital asset, human life. XCxcellent Life a...

Joining me today is John Donboer, a clinical neuropsychologist specializing in geriatric neuropsychology. His professional focus is identifying and mitigating early-stage dementia. We had planned to discuss his SMART exercise program, but he's so passionate about preventing dementia we ended up discussing the general issue of dementia. It's admirable to take your career in a non-traditional direction when you see a need going unaddressed. John feels we've gotten dementia wrong, leading us to mi...

Tami Anastasia Are you aware of your triggers? Those actions or statements that make it easy to become unreasonable? I know most of mine, yet it's still a challenge not to let them trigger me. If I were also dealing with dementia-causing disease, it would be nearly impossible to control situations that trigger me into unreasonable behavior. Triggering outbursts is a challenge we face daily as caregivers. Sometimes it can be the most straightforward request that can cause an explosion. We can s...

Author, Cindy Weinstein Cindy Weinstein is a professor of English at the California Institute of Technology. We're discussing her book, Finding The Right Words, which is one part journey of coming to terms with her Father's Alzheimer's & one-part guidebook. Writing gave Cindy one way to talk about her grief, but she knew she lacked the scientific vocabulary to make sense of her Father's slow and traumatic decline. Through professional contacts, Cindy found Dr. Bruce L. Miller, a neurologist at...

Coach Judy Burkle You are caring for a loved one and struggling to care for yourself. You know this isn't a sustainable way to live, but what options do you have? In this bonus episode, I talk to Judy Burkle of Coach Judy about ways to avoid burnout. Judy also has a Burnout Prevention Membership you may want to consider. This program is for caregivers of aging parents who are tired of feeling burnt out and exhausted every day or never want to feel that way! This bonus episode offers tips, behi...

Alexis Baker of Bridgetown Music Therapy This episode is the one I needed to hear years ago when I first started taking care of my Mom. Regular listeners know that I struggled to connect with my Mom even when I tried using her favorite music. For some, it may be as easy as finding music they relate to, but what about caregivers like myself? How do we use music as an enjoyable way to engage with our loved ones? My biggest challenge was finding music that was her favorite. I'm chatting with Alex...

When her husband, a physician, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at fifty, Renée Brown Harmon's life threatened to capsize in the waves. She stayed afloat by learning to lean on friends and family and relying on her devotion to her husband and two young daughters. How do you keep your medical practice alive while caregiving demands increase rapidly? This episode is an excellent conversation from a physician and caregiver perspective. What strategies did Renée utilize to care for her husband while ...

One of the biggest challenges I have helped caregivers navigate is the decision to move a loved one to memory care. Far too many family members promise never to put their loved one "in a place like that" before they know how much care will be required. Making this promise is likely to backfire. There are many types of care homes, some good, some not as good. This episode is a conversation between two caregivers who decided that a care home was the best choice for everyone involved. We discuss h...

I have the pleasure of learning from Dr. Joy Kong, who is triple board-certified in psychiatry, addiction medicine, and anti-aging & regenerative medicine. She explains how stem cell therapy might be a treatment for Alzheimer's and other dementias. Stem Cell therapy has not been widely used for this treatment enough to know for sure, but as the top stem cell doctor for 2019 & 2021, she's excited about the possibilities. Dr. Kong is an avid educator and a well-known pioneer in the regenerative me...

Bianca Padilla saw a need & found a solution. Bianca Padilla is joining me today; she is a caregiver and one of the company's founders, Carewell. When Bianca Padilla began helping care for her grandmother after hip surgery, she realized she had no idea what to do. She wasn't alone: There are 53 million inexperienced family caregivers in the U.S. In 2017, she and her husband started Carewell, selling walkers, adult diapers, grab bars, and other items to caregivers. However, Carewell is more tha...

There are many ways to help seniors give up driving, but having a long-term plan is best. With me on the show this week is Dr. David Bernstein. He is a board-certified geriatrician. His 40 years of experience have allowed him to observe, empathize and guide thousands of adults and generations of families as they mature. After a frank conversation with a patient about why he stopped driving and suddenly moved out of state, Dr. Bernstein dedicated some time to writing Senior Driving Dilemmas. Are...

On the podcast this week is Valene Campbell. She calls herself a changemaker for her passions, children's literature, and Alzheimer's disease awareness. After vacationing with her mother in 2016, Valene observed her Mom's increasing forgetfulness, confusion, and irritability. Valene knew immediately upon their return home that her mother required a physical assessment. This life-altering circumstance led her to write her third children's book with a lead Black character to demystify dementia an...

Finding quality advice for the advanced stages of Alzheimer's can be challenging. Caring for someone with advanced Alzheimer's disease is a challenge. It can make you feel like you're on a hamster wheel – running in circles, trying the same things repeatedly with no effect on your loved one. You may find it challenging to connect with your loved one ad to understand what those living with Alzheimer's disease are going through. The Busy Caregivers Guide to Advanced Alzheimer's Disease gives you ...

Caring for someone with advanced Alzheimer’s disease is a challenge. It can make you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel – running in circles, trying the same things over and over with no effect on your loved one. You may find it challenging to connect with your loved one ad to understand what those living with Alzheimer’s disease are going through. The Busy Caregivers Guide to Advanced Alzheimer’s Disease gives you a model designed to help you understand, cope with, and handle some of the most ...

Breeda Miller, caregiver, author & playright. Breeda Miller was an accidental caregiver. Like most of us, she had no training or medical background. She didn't know what she didn't know. She knew she loved her mom, who could no longer live alone. So she moved Mom in with her entire family. For nearly eight years, they cared for her. It was good until it wasn't. Breeda learned much during those years, including hospice care in her home. Living in the Sandwich Generation taught her more about li...

Back with us today are Mike & Kim Barnes of Parenting Aging Parents. If you missed their first episode with me, Balancing It All, be sure to listen to that one next. Kim has had to find solutions to prevent her Mom from being scammed again. Scams are a topic I haven't covered before, and we all must understand how to minimize and protect our families from financial losses due to scams. Older adults are particularly vulnerable to scams. Various investment scams tend to cause the most significan...

Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on palliating a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by reducing pain and suffering. Unfortunately, many caregivers hesitate too long to bring this vital service to their loved ones. While it's much more challenging to know when the time is correct when dealing with dementia, it's a service we need to understand an...