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In early November, I served on a panel discussion on Men Who Care at the National Caregiving Conference in Chicago. Panel members were asked four questions. Here is my answer to the last one ... read more
In early November, I served on a panel discussion on Men Who Care at the National Caregiving Conference in Chicago. Panel members were asked four questions. Here is my answer to number three ... read more
In early November, I served on a panel discussion on Men Who Care at the National Caregiving Conference in Chicago. Panel members were asked four questions. Here is my answer to number two ... read more
In early November, I served on a panel discussion on Men Who Care at the National Caregiving Conference in Chicago. Panel members were asked four questions. Here they are: ... read more
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the National Caregiving Conference in Chicago with about three hundred other current and former caregivers. ... read more
Part of improving your home environment is stabilizing and modifying the features of your home to eliminate or reduce problems. Here, we’ll look at three: towel racks, staircases, and inside doors. ... read more
Helping some in the shower is one of the more difficult and risky activities in caregiving. Here are some hints in how to make it easier. ... read more
In a previous post (Dealing with Dementia) I described how Parkinson’s dementia had affected Sandra, giving her attacks of extreme anxiety and hallucinations. Here’s how I dealt with it. ... read more
The physical handicaps that Parkinson’s impose are bad enough, but to me, the symptoms of Parkinson’s dementia are ghastly. Not only is your loved one losing the ability to feed or dress herself, she begins to shift into a fantasy world of her own; one in which you are shut out. ... read more
Your loved one will probably fall. Any emergency-services people will advise you to call 9-1-1 and have her taken to a hospital for evaluation. While this is the safest thing to do, there’s a problem. ... read more
Transferring someone into a car can be difficult, particularly if the car is an SUV or van with a high seat. Here’s how I transferred Sandra into our car—a sedan. ... read more
Until recently, if you asked doctors if there’s a link among neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s or ALS, you’d be told no: ... read more
Getting onto or up from the toilet can be a problem for someone with mobility issues. ... read more
Sandra passed away in May. There has not been enough time for me to recover and we all grieve in our own way. ... read more
If you have a choice of flooring or if you’re planning on replacing what you have now, what’s best for Parkinson’s patients? ... read more
Communicating with someone with Parkinson’s can be difficult because their voices tend to become softer and slurred. ... read more
When you see someone struggle, particularly your loved one, your first inclination is to help. That’s not the best strategy because ... read more
If you’ve been following this blog, you may have noticed I haven’t posted for a couple of weeks. That’s because my wife, Sandra, who is the inspiration behind it, lost her struggle with Parkinson’s disease. ... read more
Parkinson’s disease affects mobility in two ways. The stiffness the disease imposes makes any movements, including walking, slower and more difficult, and the instability, which increases the risk of falling, leads to a tentative shuffling. ... read more
Transferring, at least in this context, doesn’t refer to getting onto another bus, it’s a medical term that refers to moving your loved one from one place, such as a bed, to another, such as a wheelchair or commode. ... read more
One of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that is often overlooked is also one that has the most severe consequences. ... read more
People with Parkinson’s find eating a challenge, in part because the loss of muscle control and coordination make it harder to manipulate a fork or spoon, and in part because the tremors slop the food off the utensil. One solution is the children’s ditty: ... read more
The physical handicaps that Parkinson’s impose are bad enough, but to me, the symptoms of Parkinson’s dementia are ghastly. Not only is your loved one losing the ability to feed or dress herself, she begins to shift into a fantasy world of her own; one in which you are shut out. ... read more
A hallucination is an experience of things or people that aren’t there. The experience could be vivid—you really see and hear people or events—or it could be vague impressions: feelings. Sometimes they can be threatening: some catastrophe is about to happen. At other times, ... read more
When you see someone struggle, particularly your loved one, your first inclination is to help. That’s not always the best strategy because ... read more
If you are a caregiver, you work with others: the person you’re caring for, of course, but also a host of people who are involved in providing care (see “The Menagerie of Professions”). Who on your team is the most important? ... read more
In two previous posts, (The Echoes of Your Mind – Depression and The Echoes of Your Mind - Anxiety) I described two of the three cognitive symptoms of Parkinson’s. In this post and the next one, I’ll deal with the third: dementia. ... read more
Among the sometimes frustrating and confusing aspects of caregiving is the wide range of medical and professional roles you will encounter. Before being thrust into the role of caregiver, I had assumed—if I ever thought of it at all—that medicine was a general practitioner and maybe a couple of specialists for conditions the GP couldn’t handle. Was that ever a mistake. ... read more
In a previous post, (The Echoes of Your Mind – Depression) I described depression: one of the three cognitive symptoms of Parkinson’s. The other two are anxiety and dementia. In this post, I’ll deal with anxiety. ... read more
In previous posts (“Clinical Practice vs. Clinical Research” and “About Clinical Trials”) I talked about research and what to expect if you’re recruited into it. But be warned: here’s what happened to Sandra. ... read more
While the physical aspects of Parkinson’s are difficult enough for patients and their families to deal with, another set of symptoms is even more devastating: those that affect the mind. ... read more
In a previous post (Clinical Practice vs. Clinical Research), I described the differences Sandra and I encountered between medical practice and research. She was invited to participate in a clinical trial. Here’s what that means. ... read more
In previous posts (Emerging Treatments: Fetal Implant Surgery and Emerging Treatments: Stem Cells) I described research into implanting tissue from the brains of fetuses into Parkinson’s patients, and studies into the use of stem cells. Today, I’ll look at another area for research: gene therapy. ... read more
Shortly after Sandra was diagnosed, her neurologist, in order to have his diagnosis confirmed, referred her to a university center devoted to movement disorders such as Parkinson’s. It was our first exposure to the difference between clinical practice and clinical research. ... read more
In a previous post (Emerging Treatments: Fetal Implant Surgery) I described research into implanting tissue from the brains of fetuses into Parkinson’s patients. Today, I’ll look at another area for research: stem cells. ... read more
Misperceptions About Male Caregivers
Article on Caregiving
December 11, 2017
Advice for the New Caregiver
Article on Caregiving
December 4, 2017
The Greatest Caregiving Resources
Article on Caregiving
November 27, 2017
Initial Obstacles to Caregiving
Article on Caregiving
November 20, 2017
Report on the National Caregiving Conference, 2017
Article on Caregiving
November 13, 2017
Towel Racks, Railings, and Doors
Caregiving Tips
October 30, 2017
In the Shower
Caregiving Tips
October 16, 2017
Dealing with Dementia: Part 2
Article on Caregiving.
October 2, 2017
Dealing with Dementia
Article on Caregiving.
September 25, 2017
Dealing with Falls
Caregiving Tips
September 11, 2017
Transferring into a Car
Caregiving Tips
August 28, 2017
When Proteins Go Rogue
Article on Parkinson's
August 14, 2017
Toileting
Caregiving Tips
August 7, 2017
Coasting Through Grief
Article on Caregiving
July 24, 2017
Choosing Flooring
Caregiving Tips
July 17, 2017
Helping with Communications
Caregiving Tips
July 3, 2017
Offering Help
Caregiving Tips
June 4, 2017
Remembering Sandra
Article on Parkinson's.
May 29, 2017
Helping with Mobility
Caregiving Tips.
May 8, 2017
Transferring Your Loved One
Article on Caregiving.
May 1, 2017
Swallowing: The Hidden Affliction
Article on Parkinson's.
April 24, 2017
Helping with Eating
Caregiving Tips.
April 17, 2017
Dealing with Dementia
Article on Caregiving.
April 10, 2017
The Echoes of Your Mind - Dementia Part 2
Article on Parkinson's.
April 3, 2017
Care Tips: Offering Help and Seeing Doctors
Caregiving Tips.
March 27, 2017
Who is Most Important?
Article on Caregiving.
March 20, 2017
The Echoes of Your Mind - Dementia Part 1
Article on Parkinson's.
March 13, 2017
The Menagerie of Professions
Caregiving Tips.
March 6, 2017
The Echoes of Your Mind - Anxiety
Article on Parkinson's.
February 27, 2017
A Real Clinical Trial – and a Warning
Article on Caregiving.
February 20, 2017
The Echoes of Your Mind - Depression
Article on Parkinson's.
February 13, 2017
About Clinical Trials
Article on Caregiving.
February 6, 2017
Emerging Treatments: Gene Therapy
Article on Parkinson's.
January 30, 2017
Clinical Practice vs. Clinical Research
Article on Caregiving.
January 23, 2017
Emerging Treatments: Stem Cells
Article on Parkinson's.
January 16, 2017
For further information, please e-mail me at
jhallows@jhallows.com
© 2016 by Jolyon E. Hallows. This web site last updated
Monday, June 18, 2018.