Alz In The Fam

Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is a big decision. In Episode 20 of #AITF, the four Fair siblings discuss the difficulties of making the decision for someone else – their Mom.

During this episode, the siblings use a Q&A article from alz.org to guide them in their conversation. The article answers frequently asked questions from caregiver and people living with Alzheimer’s about the COVID-19 vaccine.

In the fall of 2020, Poli, Allan Tr...

Care Coordinator and Owner of Always Best Care, Loudoun VA, Chris Kondracki joins Alz In The Fam for the very first episode of 2021! In episode 19, Allan, Poli and Boni sit down with Chris to discuss his experience as an owner and coordinator of a senior home care service company.

Always Best Care in Loudoun, VA offers Home Care with Non-Medical professionals such as companionship services & home helper services, Personal Care serv...

Advice for caregivers, from caregivers is the topic in Episode 18 of Alz In The Fam. The four Fair siblings sit down to share the best caregiving tips and tricks that they have learned from their own experiences and from others.

The first tip the siblings share is the power of music. Putting on your loved one’s favorite music can help change the mood and stimulate positive feelings. The siblings each have a specific playlist or rad...

Even as her Alzheimer’s progresses, Grandma’s love for her family shines through. In a very special Episode 17 of Alz In The Fam, Carmen’s grandchildren share their best memories of their Grandma, both before and after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Allan, Poli, Trissi and Boni introduce their children who offer stories about their grandma, Carmen. Across all of the stories, one thing always remains – Carmen’s deep love and support for...

Aspects to consider when choosing a care facility for your loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia is the topic of Alz In The Fam Episode 16. In this episode, the four Fair siblings discuss their journey to find the right place for their mom, Carmen, to live.

When searching for the correct facility for their mom, the Fair siblings had three important criteria that it had to meet; it had to be financially doable, close to family an...

In Episode 15 of Alz in the Fam, the four Fair siblings each share a book that has helped them in the Alzheimer’s caregiving journey. These books, while all different, all have helped the Fair siblings grapple with the topic of Alzheimer’s.

First up, Boni shared a book called Elizabeth is Missing  by Emma Healey, a fiction book that shares the story of Maud, an aging grandmother, and her family as she descends into Alzheimer’s. For...

In Episode 14 of Alz In The Fam, Poli, Allan and Trissi discuss technological resources that have impacted their caregiving. As their mom’s Alzheimer’s progresses, they have found quite a few technologies that really benefit their caregiving.

One of the first technologies that the family adapted was a DayClox DigitalClock. This clock has the day and date on the face of it, and really helps orient their mom each day. To troubleshoot...

Caregivers suffer from Alzheimer’s too. In Episode 13 of Alz In The Fam, the four Fair siblings discuss how their mom’s Alzheimer’s disease affects each of them.

Following a resource from the Alzheimer’s Association, the siblings dive into the stages of grief that caregivers often face - denial, anger, guilt, sadness and acceptance. At each stage of grief, the siblings share their experiences with the emotion and how, or if they ha...

In Episode 12 of Alz In The Fam, the four Fair siblings discuss COVID-19 and its ongoing effects on Memory Care Facilities. Due to COVID-19, many of the residents of these facilities are facing severe and damaging isolation, such as their mom.

To protect the health of the residents, Memory Care Facilities, like their mom’s, are taking extra precautions to shield residents and staff from sickness. These precautions, however, have a ...

In Episode 11 of Alz In The Fam, Allan and Poli detail the final steps of receiving our Mom’s official diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. The steps we took at this stage, starting with an appointment with our Mom’s primary care physician, all culminated in finding great treatment and resources for our Mom.

When we first went to Mom’s primary care physician, Mom took the Mini Mental Status Exam – a standard exam with a series of ques...

In Episode 10 of Alz In The Fam, Brigid Reynolds, Neurology Provider at Georgetown University’s Memory Disorders Program joins the Fair siblings for another great episode. In this conversation, Brigid shares exciting studies and research happening in the memory disorder field.

When we first met Brigid, she recommended that our Mom joined an Alzheimer’s trial drug study, and it was an incredible experience for our whole family. Th...

Episode 9 of Alz In The Fam features Brigid Reynolds – our Mom’s neurology provider at Georgetown University’s Memory Disorders Program. All four Fair siblings sit down with Brigid, our first ever guest, to discuss Mom’s journey with Alzheimer’s!

Brigid is a research investigator conducting different clinical trials to develop new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. She specializes in evaluating and treating patients with memory ...

In Episode 8 of Alz In The Fam, listen as we decide that it’s time to intervene in Mom’s living situation. In this episode, the four Fair siblings discuss the next step in Mom’s journey with Alzheimer’s – moving out of her own home and in with one of her kids.

This step in Mom’s Alzheimer’s journey was a difficult one to take. Mom was extremely stubborn, and it was difficult to figure out a living situation that worked for both her...

Episode 7 of Alz In The Fam features all four siblings as they discuss another step in their Mom’s journey: hiring her a caregiver. Hiring a caregiver was a tedious process, as it took several tries to find one who met the sibling’s needs and their Mom’s needs.

At this time, their Mom was still stubbornly set on living alone. However, Allan, Poli, Trissi, and Boni realized that the level of care and attention she needed was increas...

In Episode 6 of Alz In the Fam, ‘Alzheimer’s: Troubling Signs and Behaviors’, all four AITF siblings discuss troubling early signs of Alzheimer’s in their mom.

Each of the four siblings – Allan, Poli, Trissi, and Boni, share some increasingly strange behaviors they noticed in their mom during the early stages of her Alzeimer’s. Each sibling has different memories, but their stories all intertwine.

As the disease progressed in their...

Episode 5 of Alz In The Fam, hosts Allan and Poli introduce two more of their mom’s caregivers – their sisters Boni Fair Vinter and Trissi Fair Bennett! In this episode, all four siblings come together to discuss shared experiences and their family’s journey. 

Boni and Trissi share with Allan and Poli the first signs of Alzheimer’s that they noticed in their mom. Many of these moments are interconnected with those that Allan and Po...

Assisted living facilities are being hit hard by COVID-19. In Episode 4 of Alz in the Fam, hosts Allan and Poli discuss the shocking news and aftermath of their mom testing positive for COVID-19. 

In Maryland, where Allan and Poli’s mom lives in a senior living community, a large percentage of coronavirus deaths have been in these senior care facilities and nursing homes. Cases began to appear at their mom’s facility about two week...

The Mayo Clinic article: “Sundowning: Late-day Confusion”, will be the focus of Episode 3 of Alz In The Fam. Sundowning, or twilighting, is a common problem in people with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and one that hosts Allan and Poli experienced in their mom.

Sundowning is a problem where impending darkness at twilight each day causes anxiety and confusion in people who have Alzheimer’s or dementia. In this episode, Allan and Poli wi...

“10 Early Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Dementia”, from Alz.org is the subject of episode 2 of Alz In Fam.  Hosts Allan and Poli discuss the early warning signs of Alzheimer’s and dementia and how they first identified them in their mom. Following this article: https://bit.ly/2RL9p0b, Allan and Poli recount stories of the instances that they can now identify as many of these early warning signs.

Allan and Poli tell stories ...