Navigating Alzheimer's: Local woman writes guidebook for families
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and the number of Americans living with it is growing fast.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, right now more than 7 million Americans have Alzheimer's and that figure is expected to grow to 13 million by the year 2050.
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So now a local daughter and nurse is trying to help families navigate this terrible disease with a new guidebook she's written. It's called "Navigating Alzheimer's: A Roadmap to Taking Charge".
Melanie Cutillo writes in her book: "I had known this day might come, yet nothing prepared me for the wave of emotion that swept over me."
That day was when her father forgot her name.
Melanie writes: "His world grew foggy with the shadows of Alzheimer's. I resolved to become his guiding light through the encroaching darkness."
Melanie's dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's when he was 65 years old. She started writing her book after he passed at the age of 71.
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She wrote the book using her personal experience with her father and her professional experience as a decades-long nurse.
"I've seen professionally so many people, patients and families struggling with what to do next," she says.
The guidebook provides information on getting a diagnosis, the stages of the disease and treatments, tips to communicate with your healthcare team, a medication list, and legal considerations, including a checklist of what to bring to a lawyer.
She ends the book with a chapter on hospice.
"I think it's important for people to understand what hospice is and the benefit that they that it brings to the families," she says.
There are also a number of reflection pages throughout the book.
"So people could write down their thoughts, kind of use it as a journal page if they would like," says Melanie.
And while Alzheimer's is in the title, the book is helpful for families navigating any form of dementia - including my own.
My dad is living with vascular dementia, which is caused by disrupted blood flow to the brain.
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Any dementia diagnosis is tough to navigate, and what is striking about Melanie's book is throughout it, she provides a healthy dose of grace as well as an outlet for grief.
"Because you're grieving the person that he once was, but yet he's still here," she says.
I definitely feel that way. I am grieving the loss of my father, even though he's still with us.
Melanie also says writing the book was extremely cathartic.
"I cried when it showed up. My goal is to just help others, and I hope they find it relatable and helpful," she says.
I know I did.
