Today Barbara welcomes Stefanie Elkins to the podcast. Stefanie is an aging-life care manager and an end-of-life doula whose company, Be Present Care , supports and guides families through end-of-life caring and planning dec…
Today Barbara talks with Karen Tucker, who attends her Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) support group at UCLA. Karen takes care of her 71-year-old husband, who was diagnosed with LBD last year, as well as her 95-year-old mother who …
Jay Swerdlow joins Barbara to talk about caring for his wife, who is in denial about her dementia diagnosis. They discuss different ways to deal with her unrealistic demands and share insights to help caregivers with traveli…
Amy Bean joins Barbara to tell us about her dad, an accomplished and successful businessman who’d planned for exciting travels during his retirement. Unfortunately those plans changed with his diagnosis of vascular dementia.…
It’s been 13 years since Angela Taylor kicked off her journey to understand Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). As a family caregiver for her father when he had a hard time managing medicine and finances, it took her awhile to figure …
Barbara is joined by Karen Patterson, who attended Barbara’s “Memory Club” and other memory-care groups with her husband, Bob. Bob was -- literally -- a rocket scientist, and in his late 50s he was the first to notice that s…
Today Barbara talks to Beth Harris about caring for her mother, Gail. Gail was first diagnosed two years ago with a Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), then with Alzheimer’s two months ago. Beth says it was hard to accept her m…
Today Barbara is joined by Carole Lieber-Wilkins whose mother, Fran, has suffered from dementia for the past 12 years. Carole talks about Fran’s illness, which began when trauma from 9/11 caused a psychotic break. They discu…
When Suzy Rosenberg’s husband, Paul, was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia at 86, Suzy didn’t know of anyone else with dementia. She joins Barbara to discuss her caregiving journey; how she felt so alone at first, and how sh…
Today Barbara talks to Adam, whose 82-year-old father was recently diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. Adam describes his father’s actions leading up to the diagnosis, such as forgetting where he was and not recognizing his w…
Today Barbara talks to Anna Ivara, whose son George, age 61, suffers from Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD). Anna explains how FTD hit the language centers in George’s brain, rendering him unable to speak or make any facial …
Dotti tells Barbara about the early signs, when her husband Brian was having trouble following conversations, losing his train of thought, and forgetting basic things. They discuss the progression of his cognitive decline, a…
Today Barbara is joined by Bryan Wing whose wife, Patricia, was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 56. Bryan describes Patricia’s progression, from the early signs when she’d move things around in the ki…
Barbara welcomes Deb Kurtz, whose mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018. They discuss how the disease gradually changed Deb’s relationship with her mother -- the “slow role reversal” as she realized her mother couldn…
Today Barbara welcomes Yael Wyte, program director at the Alzheimer’s Association (CA, Southland Chapter). They discuss the association’s mission, and the exciting brain studies and research happening all around the world. T…
Roz describes her husband Jay -- a talented and successful screenwriter and Hollywood producer -- as deeply feeling and exceptionally articulate; a “big man” both in stature and personality...
Bonnie Waddles discusses the concept of brain health and how one out of three Alzheimer’s cases can be prevented through life-style changes and interventions.
Today Barbara is joined by Bruce Ettinger whose wife, Honey, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and then dementia. With the diagnosis, Bruce says that Honey sank into a deep depression that she’s never come out of. They …
Now 26, America Garza started noticing something was wrong with her 81-year-old father when she was still in high school. She joins Barbara to talk about the early signs of Alzheimer’s, and how, as a child, she struggled to …
Today Barbara is joined by Jill Davis,* whose father is battling dementia on the east coast. Jill says at first, the symptoms seemed mild: he was mixing pronouns and forgetting words. But from there, it progressed quickly. S…
It was Ramona Garza’s daughter who first noticed that George (Romana’s husband) seemed different. A fastidious engineer, he was ignoring bills and letting important things fall through the cracks. George was officially diagn…
By the time Chris Zenner’s mother was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia in 2020, she had lost her short-term memory, her concept of time, and her ability to rationalize and reason. Chris joins Barbara to talk about caring fo…
Barbara is joined by Megan Dobkin on the day she learns her father is moving into the memory unit of an assisted living facility. Megan talks about how hard it was in the early days, when her father was cognizant enough to r…
Today Barbara is joined by Kenneth Mitchell, whose wife Mary Ann was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013 and Lewi bodies dementia in 2016. Ken recounts how hard it was for him to accept the diagnosis, and the irration…
