Connecting Through Compassion: Guidance for Family and Friends of a Brain Cancer Patient - Tapa blanda

This book candidly discusses the challenges of living with the personality and behavior changes brain cancer brings, and offers practical tools to make the journey easier. Joni Aldrich and Neysa Peterson have each cared for a spouse with a brain illness. They have combined their insights in this practical, straight-talking guide. Readers will learn: symptoms a brain cancer patient may experience; how to create and maintain a warm, comfortable and safe environment; methods to use if communication becomes an issue; how to deal with changes in personality, behavior, and emotions, including loss of social inhibition skills; how to handle issues related to changes in memory and the resulting confusion; how to work through indifference, sadness, and depression towards some peace; how to cope with self-destructive behavior-safety is your number one concern; how to have end-of-life discussions and fulfill final wishes. When a family member or friend is diagnosed with cancer, life as you know it has ended. Not only must you face the chaos of doctors' visits, exhausting treatments, and sleepless nights, you must try to savor every precious moment with your loved one. When the diagnosis is brain cancer, you must endure all this plus one more challenge: the person you love may look the same, and sound the same-but he or she is not the same. His or her personality may change in extreme ways. A kind and loving person may become angry and say hurtful things. A warm, upbeat person may withdraw or behave in self-destructive ways. The essence of your loved one can disappear, even as he or she continues to live. With the tools in this book, you can continue to love and be loved during this difficult crisis. "The last weeks of Gordon's life were spent with someone that I barely knew and didn't know how to approach. It took me two years of counseling to get through the scars. It didn't have to be that way for me. And it certainly doesn't have to be that way for you." ~Joni Aldrich

Joni Aldrich, author and speaker. This is the fourth book that Joni has written on how to survive cancer, caregiving, end-of-life issues, and grief. This journey began after she lost her husband, Gordon, to cancer that had metastasized to his brain. She believes that there is an unmet need for practical information to help cancer patients and their families, so she continues to research and write books about the daily rigors of living when cancer invades your world. Joni believes that she has been prepared throughout her lifetime to write books and reach out to people affected by cancer. Turning her own devastation at the loss of Gordon into hope for others is no easy task, but she believes that she is destined to follow this path. Neysa Peterson, RN, MS in counseling. Neysa has a wealth of both educational and practical experience with patients suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. Patients with brain cancer have very similar brain-altering effects as these patients. Through nine years of experience caring for her husband, Jim, Neysa discovered that people with a severe brain illness remain capable of relationships. She learned not to expect Jim to return to her world. Instead, she focused all of her energies on trying to work within the boundaries of Jim's world, which is a totally different approach than many families have when a loved one is diagnosed with a mind-altering disease. Jim was still there, and Neysa recognized that. Not only was Neysa able to keep Jim at home until the disease took him, but she also benefited from the daily treasures of love and bonding that many don't know how to facilitate due to the stigma of brain illness. She learned to allow Jim to be a part of the process, instead of making decisions for him. Instead of "you should," she perfected "why don't you?" or "let's try." Neysa's extensive knowledge helped to bring the message of hope included in this book to families dealing with the difficult reality of brain cancer. Go to www.jonialdrich.com or www.connectingthroughcompassion.com.