Alzheimer's: The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Guide to Love, Loss, and Holding On
Paperback
Series: The Caregiver's Truth
Medical ReferenceDeath & DyingSelf-Help
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Nov 2 2025
Pages: 146
Weight: 0.41
Height: 0.37 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
A Caregiver's Guide to Love, Loss, and Holding On
Some goodbyes happen all at once. This one takes years.
If you are caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease - a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a beloved aunt - you already know that this goodbye is unlike any other. The person you love is still here, and also, in so many ways, already gone. You are grieving someone who is still in the room. You are exhausted in a way that sleep cannot fix. And you are doing one of the hardest things a human being can do, often with very little guidance and even less support.
This book was written for you.
Written by Nati Carrillo, a nurse practitioner and family caregiver who has walked this road both professionally and personally, Alzheimer's: The Long Goodbye is the compassionate, practical, and deeply honest guide that caregivers deserve - one that gives you real clinical knowledge without clinical coldness, and real emotional support without empty reassurance.
Inside, you will find:
- A clear explanation of what Alzheimer's is - and how it differs from normal aging and other dementias
- The stages of the disease described in plain language, with real-world examples of what each stage looks like day to day
- What is actually happening in the brain - and why it explains the behaviors that break your heart
- How to build a safe home environment, manage nutrition and sleep, and navigate personal care with dignity
- Communication strategies for every stage - including the power of music, touch, and doll therapy when words are gone
- How to manage the most difficult behaviors: agitation, sundowning, wandering, paranoia, and resistance to care
- An honest guide to caregiver burnout - what it looks like, why it happens, and what to do before it breaks you
- How to set boundaries, build a support system, and ask for help - including respite care, memory care, and hospice
- End-of-life planning: the legal, financial, and medical decisions that need to happen before crisis arrives
- Anticipatory grief - the grief that has no name, that begins long before death, and that deserves to be honored
- Life after caregiving: grief, identity, and beginning again
- Cognitive awareness tools, chapter-by-chapter reflection questions, a daily caregiver checklist, and a comprehensive resource guide
This is not a textbook. It is a companion.
It will sit beside you on the hard days. It will give you words for what you are feeling when you cannot find them yourself. It will remind you, again and again, that you are not alone - and that what you are doing matters more than you know.
You were enough. You are enough. And this book will help you keep going.
Perfect for: Family caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer's or dementia - Adult children caring for aging parents - Spouses and partners navigating memory loss - Siblings, grandchildren, and extended family caregivers - Healthcare professionals seeking a caregiver-centered resource - Anyone who has ever loved someone through the long goodbye
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