Patty's Place

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. We unpack how long-term care insurance funds care for daily living needs, why Medicare stops short, and how early planning protects dignity and choice. Real numbers, tax perks, employer options, and alternatives help you map a plan that fits your health, age, and budget. • definition of long-term care and what it covers • why home care...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. We talk with Harmony Home Medical’s Erica Sell about practical tools that make caregiving safer and calmer, from dementia‑friendly bathing to safer transfers and mobility that preserves independence. We share ways to pay for the right gear, find reliable help, and protect caregiver health. • Why home‑like equipment improves acceptance a...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Some dates don’t just mark time; they pull you back into a room you can still smell and hear. I open up about the hardest stretch of my year—the week from New Year’s Eve to January 6—when hospice set the timeline, the music got louder, and my resolve to keep my mom from being alone turned into a nightly vigil. If you’ve ever felt the st...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. https://www.rememberingalife.com/ https://www.fordfh.com/ https://nfda.org/ The room changes the moment a calm dog trots in. We sat down with Dan Ford—second-generation funeral director and incoming president of the National Funeral Directors Association—to unpack how trained therapy dogs help families breathe easier, speak freely, and...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. We explore how to tell normal aging from early signs of dementia during holiday gatherings, using practical examples and clear comparisons. We share stories from our families, outline next steps for testing, and point you to resources that make hard talks easier. • memory loss that disrupts daily life vs recalling later • planning and p...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. The moment when you realize your parent is getting lost in familiar places marks the beginning of a different kind of grief. For those with loved ones experiencing early onset Alzheimer's – dementia that begins before age 65 – this journey starts much sooner than expected. Drawing from my personal experience with my mother, who beg...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. What happens when someone you love starts seeing people who aren't there? For dementia caregivers, this moment can be jarring, confusing, and even frightening. But as I discovered during my mother's journey with dementia, these hallucinations can sometimes bring unexpected comfort. When my mom first began seeing a little girl...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. The emotional toll of caring for a loved one with dementia can be overwhelming, but finding moments of joy, laughter, and connection might just save your sanity. Author Brenda Prater-Sellers joins us to share her deeply personal journey of caring for her mother through ten years of dementia - a challenge she describes as more difficult...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Grief doesn't wait for goodbye. It weaves through every moment of the dementia caregiving journey, creating a complex emotional landscape that few discuss openly. When your loved one sits across from you—looking the same but fundamentally changed—you experience what experts call "anticipatory grief." You mourn what's...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. The staggering truth hits like a punch to the gut: 7.2 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's, and that number could nearly double to 13.8 million by 2060. As the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, dementia's impact reaches far beyond those diagnosed – it transforms families and tests the lim...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Ever feel like you're drowning in caregiving responsibilities while your own needs fade silently into the background? In this raw, honest exploration of caregiver burnout, we dive deep into the often-overlooked world of self-care during life's most challenging chapters. Caregiving demands everything from us—our time, energy, p...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Communicating with someone who has dementia requires entering their reality rather than expecting them to function in ours. Understanding that their brain is physically changing helps us respond with compassion instead of frustration. • People with dementia aren't being difficult or stubborn on purpose—their brain function is deter...

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. Support the show

I would love to hear from you. Send me questions or comments. How do you take care of a loved one with Dementia?  Support the show