Reflections, Suggestions, & Seed Thought

Reflections
Remember that as well as being a journey of loss, this is also a opportunity for learning and growth. When I first heard Tulku Thondup say, "take it as a blessing," I struggled with those words. How could he possibly say that? What was he getting at? Upon reflection, I knew he intended it as an invitation to see the opportunities in our situation, and that he was framing it in the most uplifting, spacious way possible. Whenever I remembered that phrase, my perspective on our situation expanded. I felt both challenged and hopeful. I knew I would be learning life's hardest lessons: loss, surrender, dying, and death. And along with these was the opportunity to deepen in trust and love.

Suggestions
Start practicing ways to steady yourself by cultivating calmness in difficult moments. In those times, become aware of your body and your breath. Practice noticing how several deep, calming breaths can steady you. An invaluable practice in any situation is to keep returning to the rhythm of your breath to anchor you to the present moment.

Seed Thought
I can reach out for help at any time.

National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month

In recognition of both National Alzheimer’s Disease Month (NADAM) and National Family Caregiver Month in November, the Alzheimer’s Association is offering resources for the 10 million family caregivers who provide daily comfort and care to individuals living with dementia.

Caregiver Stress Check
Take this interactive quiz to identify symptoms of stress, and then find helpful resources tailored to your symptoms.

Alzheimer Awareness Perennial Garden
Honor someone special or champion the cause by planting an awareness garden.

CareSource
Our online suite of services will help you coordinate assistance from family and friends, locate senior housing and receive customized care recommendations.

About NADAM
President Reagan launched a national campaign against Alzheimer's disease 25 years ago when he proclaimed November as National Alzheimer's Disease Month in 1983. He advocated research as "the only hope for victims and families." The former president courageously announced his Alzheimer diagnosis to the public in 1994 and passed away ten years later.

View the White House 2008 NADAM Proclamation

From its founding in 1980, the Alzheimer's Association has led the fight to make Alzheimer's disease a national priority. This year, you can join this fight by signing a proclamation that will be delivered to the President-elect Obama.

A Big Win for Alzheimer's!

The Alzheimer’s Association will receive $1.5 million from American Express to begin an education campaign highlighting the importance of early detection among physicians and the general public. This is a positive step toward helping those who go undiagnosed for many years, losing valuable time that could be spent planning for the future and starting treatment.

Funds from the American Express Members Project will enable the Alzheimer's Association to:

• Collaborate with other health leaders to get the word out and combine resources.
• Engage people with Alzheimer's to be advocates, allowing them to spread awareness about the importance of early detection.
• Increase public education about early detection via paid advertising, public relations and other forms of proactive communications.
• Promote participation in clinical trials of groundbreaking treatments.
• Empower those who suspect they may have Alzheimer's to find the help and hope they need.
• Educate physicians about the 10 Warning Signs® and patient support services.

Find out how you can stay involved with the Alzheimer's Association and this critical cause by visiting actionalz.org.

Reflections, Suggestions, & Seed Thought

Reflections
Understand how natural it is for a wide range of feelings to arise: numbness, denial, sadness, dread, despair, fear, grief, anger, and so on. Each of us has different ways of handling our feelings, but we care for our health and well-being when we open to their intensity. Be gentle and nonjudgemental with yourself, your spouse, and others when strong feelings arise; acceptance is a gradual process.

Suggestions
Is there any one person who stands out for your who might be an ally for you? This person might be a family member, friend, wise elder, minister, rabbi, or teacher.

Seed Thought
May I accept the surprises of this illness.

World Alzheimer's Day is Sunday, September 21, 2008

Did you know that every 71 seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer's?

World Alzheimer's Day, September 21, is a day when Alzheimer's associations around the world concentrate their efforts on raising awareness about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Currently there are more than 26 million people across the world living with Alzheimer’s and that number will quadruple by 2050.

To find out what you can do to help, please visit http://www.actionalz.org/about_wad.asp.

Memory Walk

The Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk® is the largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer's in the nation. The Memory Walk is occurring September-November 2008 in communities nationwide.

Teams are the heart of Memory Walk - people working together to support the millions affected by Alzheimer's. Team up to have fun, make new friends and support a great cause.

Select a walk near you and register online. You will have access to your very own Web site that you can use as your fundraising headquarters. http://www.alz.org/memorywalk/team.asp

Walk and make a huge impact on helping people living with Alzheimer's!

Reflections, Suggestions, and Seed Thought

Reflections
Accept that the diagnosis, with all its implications, will have a profound impact on your marriage, relationship, or friendship. A diagnosis of Alzheimer's, or any form of dementia, marks a dramatic passage for everyone and naturally brings up strong, unpredictable feelings.

Suggestions
Develop a care plan for the immediate future--perhaps the first six months--because with this illness, circumstances keep changing and the care plan will need to evolve in response. Create a plan that addresses the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the patient.

Besides the practical advantages of developing a care plan, you can have a strategic discussion about how you hope to handle this illness. What hopes, attitudes, and convictions might you bring to the situation? Are there intentions you could set? Two words that guided us were consciously and lovingly.

Seed Thought
May I remember the positive things that uplift us.

Early Stage Alzheimer's Patients 'Don't Want to be Stigmatized'

According to an article by Mary Brophy Marcus in USA TODAY, being treated with dignity is a universal human need, and perhaps even more so if you have early Alzheimer's disease, a new report indicates.

After a year of listening to the thoughts of more than 300 people diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, the Alzheimer's Association today releases "Voices of Alzheimer's Disease," which reveals many patients in the early stages of dementia feel they are prematurely perceived as debilitated — even by close friends and relatives.

Those who have early-stage Alzheimer's don't want to be defined by their memory loss or functional decline, says Peter Reed, senior director of programs at the Alzheimer's Association.

"We are seeing a growing trend of people in early Alzheimer's who really retain the capacity to contribute," Reed says. "They don't want to be stigmatized. They are saying, 'We are still vibrant contributing members of the community.' "

About half of the 5.2 million Americans estimated to be living with the disease — a form of dementia that slowly destroys memory and a person's ability to function independently — are in the early stage. The report says top concerns include:

• Frustration with how the stigma and misconceptions affect their relationships.

• Dissatisfaction with the medical community, including difficulties in getting the right diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care.

• A lack of knowledge about the availability of support services.

• The prospect of relying more on friends and family to meet daily needs as memory fails.

• The desire to stay involved.

"These are the voices of our mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, husbands and wives, and they are telling us that Alzheimer's is a significant but not insurmountable problem," says Michelle Barclay, a gerontologist and vice president of programs at the Alzheimer's Association Minnesota/North Dakota chapter in Minneapolis.

Barclay says the feedback describes situations that communities and care systems can improve.

"Alzheimer's is like a monster under the bed. You have two choices: You can either look under the bed and scope out the monster and see what tools you have to fight him, or you can sit there and wait for him to come. There's so much you can do if you know early on."

Educating the public about early dementia will increase earlier diagnoses and could help boost participation in drug trials, says Samuel Gandy, associate director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "It will almost certainly be these early-stage patients who will lead the way toward new drugs since they are poised to benefit from them."

The report, Reed says, is "a call on the part of people with early-stage Alzheimer's … to continue to treat them with respect and dignity and help them maintain their personhood and humanity."

Nominate the "Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters" project today. With your support, it could get funding from American Express!

With just a few clicks, you can help make a huge impact in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.

The American Express Members Project encourages everyone to nominate project ideas that create positive change in the world. The winning project (and associated organization) receives $1.5 million from American Express to fulfill their vision.

Nominate the "Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters" project today! (Find it in the Health | Education and Outreach section.)

Here's how:

1. Click or paste this link: http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/OGSSPK to the Members Project site in your browser to see the Alzheimer's project.
2. Click "Nominate this project." You will be prompted to log in as a Cardmember or guest.
3. You'll return to the main page. Search for "Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters" project. There are two ways to find it:

· Search by project ID: Enter OGSSPK into the search box.

· Find the category: The project is under the category "Health | Education and Outreach."

4. Once you get to the project page, confirm that it has project ID: OGSSPK.
5. Click "Nominate the project."

Nominate today and bring us one step closer to a world without Alzheimer's disease!

Overthinking Can Be Good for Us!

According to a recent article in USA TODAY by Mary Brophy Marcus, people who tend to overthink things might be protecting themselves from Alzheimer's, according to research presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease this past July in Chicago. A slew of studies were presented at the meeting in Chicago that looked at how certain lifestyle factors, like rumination, and family history may affect a person's risk for dementia. Among their findings:

• Overthinking family and work troubles may be a good thing when it comes to late-life brain health, according to Israeli researchers. More than 9,000 men in midlife were asked to rate their tendency for rumination on a scale from 1 (always forget) to 4 (usually ruminate) when it comes to family and work difficulties. The scientists followed up three decades later performing dementia assessments in 1,892 of the 2,606 men who had survived. Dementia prevalence was up to 40% less in men who said they ruminated about life's matters more often, compared with men who had the lowest ruminating scores.

So, this is good news, and even has a humorous twist to it for those of us "mental types" who sometimes suffer from over-active brains!

Reflections, Suggestions, and Seed Thoughts

I included a section at the end of each chapter in my book, THE MAJESTY OF YOUR LOVING: A Couple's Journey Through Alzheimer's, to highlight psychological and spiritual perspectives that may illuminate the process of caring for someone with dementia. These reflections, suggestions, and seed thoughts--simple, prayer-like statements--were included to help guide and encourage you along the way. In this blog, I will highlight these approaches and mantras each week to help you refocus and uplift your mind in challenging moments.

Reflections
One of the most critical moments in life is learning that one has a life-threatening illness. Whether you are the patient, spouse, family member, or friend, acknowledge the enormity of receiving this news and the time it takes to integrate the new reality into one's life.

Suggestions
Who can you turn to for support? Consider sitting down with your spouse, family members, or trusted friends and brainstorm what your resources are: supportive family members, friends, minister or rabbi, therapist, financial advisor, and so forth. Find out what Alzheimer's resources there are in your area: an Alzheimer's center, support groups, adult day programs for the future. Check out the Internet for further information. Read about Rehabilitation Therapy, a practical program for dementia patients that suggests many effective strategies for handling this disease.

Seed Thoughts
May I accept the challenges of this situation.

May I be gentle with myself.

Let me be calm.