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In this first episode I will give you some of background information and introduce you to the people that this podcast is about. I'll also introduce you to how we have survived Alzheimer's disease so far.

It's my hope that you'll be able to connect with us, thus, be able to relate your experiences to ours in doing this. I hope that you can learn from our experiences.

Why did I decide to do this podcast? It's about you. I wanted to help you in dealing with your loved one's dementia. I've learned a lot of things along the way here. A lot of it was the hard way, and I hope that some of the things that I've picked up along the way may be of use to you.

About a year and a half ago, when I finally decided to move Shanna to a memory care facility after I couldn't take care of her anymore, I had done it for four years, 24 /7. I decided to get some grief counseling. I took grief counseling sessions for about nine months. And one of the things that she taught me was that as we help other people with the things that we have struggled with, we heal.

And I have learned that along the way, I've dealt with caregiver burnout, we survived the COVID pandemic together. The decision to put her in memory care was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. And then once she was there after almost a year, I made another tough decision to move her to a better facility. And that turned out really good. But watching my wife go through all of the stages of the disease and all of the challenges that it brought, both of us was a very interesting experience.

This disease has brought my wife and I closer than ever together in the last four or five years. Tremendous things have changed all for the better, even while we're struggling with the disease. And this is our story. My hope is in telling our story, it'll be helpful to you, and you'll be able to face your own challenges with a degree of hope and be able to find peace. Like I have found.

So how does one survive alzheimer's? As you probably know, Alzheimer's is a fatal disease, but what do I mean by surviving it? Well, I looked up in the dictionary what the word survival means, and some of the things that I really liked was it means to remain or to continue in existence.

How do I continue to live as I watch the person I love the most in my life slowly fade away? How do I get along or remain healthy, happy and unaffected in spite of some circumstances? That's another definition of survive. That's what I mean by surviving Alzheimer's I will tell you how my wife has dealt with this in episodes to come and how I dealt with it.

Well, thanks for listening and be sure to follow the surviving Alzheimer's podcast. The surviving. Alzheimer's. Podcast is brought to you by Ascending Minds, LLC.

Link to “The Surviving Alzheimer’s Podcast” Facebook page.

• Get the FREE Guide to Responding to Repeated Questions
• Goto Ascending Minds LLC Website to Register for the Support Group, Newsletter and more ....
• Goto the Podcast Facebook page

Send Ken a Text Message about the Podcast

This episode takes us back in time, back to a time when Alzheimer's disease was not part of our life.

I will answer the following questions in this episode.

· Looking back, was there any hint of what might be lurking in our future?
· Were there early signs that something was not quite right with my wife's cognitive abilities?
· If I could travel back in time, what would I tell myself as I started my caregiver journey?

Some of the topics that are covered are

· Our backstory – life before Alzheimer’s
· Working with doctors in the early days of the journey
· How I dealt with repeated questions
· What helped me to adopt a healthier perspective

• Get the FREE Guide to Responding to Repeated Questions
• Goto Ascending Minds LLC Website to Register for the Support Group, Newsletter and more ....
• Goto the Podcast Facebook page

Send Ken a Text Message about the Podcast

In today's episode, we'll explore one of the early and often ongoing challenges that we experience as a caregiver, dealing with denial.

I'll also share with you our experience on how we dealt with getting Shanna to stop driving once it was no longer safe for her to drive.

Finally. I'll share with you a few resources that I found early on that helped to educate me on Alzheimer's and dementia, as well as taught me how to become an effective caregiver.

Some of the topics that are covered are

· You don’t know, What You don’t know…
· The what and why of Denial and how to deal with it
· Our experience with getting my loved one to stop driving when it was no long safe
· Resources that were helpful early on
o www.alz.org – The Alzheimer’s Association
o www.TeepaSnow.com - Teepa Snow – A positive approach to care
o www.CareBlazers.com - Dr. Natale Edmunds careblazer program and facebook group

• Get the FREE Guide to Responding to Repeated Questions
• Goto Ascending Minds LLC Website to Register for the Support Group, Newsletter and more ....
• Goto the Podcast Facebook page