This is a beautiful love story, as well as an insightful story for any caregiver of an Alzheimer's patient, by a man in his 70's dealing with his wife's illness. He describes the numerous frustrations and inadequacies of the medical establishment, as well as the practical aspects of how to deal with this very sad condition. An extraordinary journey by a wonderful writer. — Barbara Morrow
Aaron and Stella Alterra had been married for more than sixty years when Aaron began to notice puzzling lapses in his wife's memory. Innocuous at first, they became more severe and more alarming. After a series of appointments and tests, the Alterras were informed that Stella was one of the more than 4.5 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease. Combining medical research on the disease and often-painful anecdotes of memory loss, deteriorating motor functions, personality shifts, support-group and daycare experiences, and drug trials, Alterra chronicles his transformation from husband to caregiver after his wife's diagnosis. More than a chronology of one family's experience of Alzheimer's disease, The Caregiver is an intelligent, beautifully reflective testimony to how family members turned caregivers become the ultimate advocates for their loved ones in the face of a disease with no cure.