Caregiving ― How to Survive and Get Out Alive. Things I've Figured Out After a Decade of Giving Care

30% of the proceeds are being donated to the LBDA.Are you in the middle of caregiving, but feel you're at the end of your rope?Are you taking the first steps out of denial, but feel like you're already on your last good nerve?Is caregiving making you feel totally overwhelmed but completely under water? This book is for you!After more than a decade as a Generation X caregiver, Joy Walker has seen almost everything and she’s willing to write about it in an effort to help her fellow caregivers. As all caregivers know, there are certain topics and issues that are universal to caregiving and are talked about and debated and chewed over constantly. Things like: why does family not help out more? Should I lie to my care receiver? What should I do about driving and taking the car keys? How do I break everyone out of denial of the situation? When should I place my loved one in a facility? What do I do when my care receiver dies? And more. In her work as a caregiver, caregiver advocate, dementia support group facilitator, hospice worker, and bereavement counselor, Walker has collected personal experiences, information and anecdotes about those hot button issues - and she talks about them! Honestly, straightforwardly, and humorously.This book is like a mini-support group, in which Walker covers the full caregiving experience: from denial to dementia to death-with-dignity. Walker uses her own stories to help illustrate her findings, progressing chronologically through the denial that her family suffered through in the beginning, to living with her dad as his caregiver, to placing him in a facility, to having problems with family members, to what she anticipates happening when he dies. She also talks about how caregiving has changed over the last decade and how technology can be a powerful care tool. She shares her experiences as a Generation X caregiver, as well as suggestions on how to have your own life, even while giving care.Walker will be donating 30% of the book's proceeds to the LBDA.“Joy’s quirky wit makes this book fun to read even though it is about a serious subject. Her willingness to share her experiences, the bad as well as the good, helps readers explore their own feelings about caregiving and encourages better caregiver care – an oft-neglected part of the job.” Helen Whitworth, co-author of A Caregiver’s Guide to Lewy Body Dementia.