Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84GoodLifeFamilyMag.com SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2016 77 Her primary doctor suggested a full work-up. Stuart says, “You almost hoped for a brain tumor because at least that had a chance of being removed and life going back to normal.” When Teresa was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the couple embarked on a new normal. For the first 6 months, Stuart would go to work and leave Teresa at home. Still in his 50’s, he had to keep working in order to maintain health and retirement benefits. But then Teresa started wandering and imagining. She would roam around outside and get lost and imagined that people were upstairs in their home or that helicopters were circling overhead. Pretty quickly it became apparent that she would need a lot more help. North Texas residents are lucky to have so many options to get that help for their loved ones. Senior residences, memory centers and even day care options for patients are available in nearly every community. For those who want to keep their loved one at home, companies like Custom Caregivers can be the answer. As the name suggests, Custom Caregivers develops a custom- fit plan to meet the needs of all its clients. Their services include everything from meal preparation to evaluating home safety to medication administration to behavior management plans. Manyoftheircaregivershavecaredfortheirownfamilymembers with dementia, and they all receive training from the Alzheimer’s Association. Family members rave about the care their loved ones receive. Daughter Lawon says about her mother’s caregiver Heidi, “Dependable, compassionate, sincere caring attitude. She treats my mom like she is her own mom.” Most importantly, the staff constantly strives to show respect to the patients. They work to maintain their routines for as long as possible while treating them with dignity and compassion. David Stanley, owner and Chief Caregiver at Custom Caregivers says, “Creating understanding and accommodation is empowering.” The patient’s family—and the patient themselves for as long as they are able—are part of developing a plan that works for everyone. As Pat says, when Teresa was diagnosed, “it caused some pause” to reflect on the implications. The family had to figure out how they could work together—with outside help—to assist her sister best. She and her other sister still enjoy visiting with Teresa and going to places like the movies, though they know she won’t remember having gone. They can’t see into the future to know where the disease will take Teresa, but they are thankful for the good days and the support they have from each other and all those helping to care for her along the way. continued from Alzheimer'sDisease:YouDon'tHavetoGoItAlone | Page 60 While many teens and college students think binge drinking is harmless fun, they don’t realize the dangerous health implications, including: • Unintentional injuries (e.g., car crashes, falls, burns, drowning) • Intentional injuries (e.g., firearm injuries, sexual assault, domestic violence) • Alcohol poisoning • Sexually transmitted diseases • Unintended pregnancy • Children born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder • High blood pressure, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases • Liver disease • Neurological damage • Sexual dysfunction • Poor control of diabetes Lieberman says that a joint study on teenagers by the University of California San Diego and Stanford University has shown that “binge drinking in this age group negatively affects girls more than it does boys, especially in tests on working spatial memory.” The study concludes that brain damage is even greater for girls—even a girl who binge drinks irregularly still has brain damage. Binge drinking can also result in brain damage for young men, as the teenage brain has more neuroplasticity and it takes longer to recover than an adult. According to Lieberman, the best way for parents to curb the binge drinking tendency in teens is to always know where their kids are and who they’re with as well as to have face- to-face discussions with them. “We look at four-year-olds and put protective measures on them, but a four-year-old can’t do as much damage as a 15-year-old,” he says. “The brain of the 15-year-old is not that much different than that of a four-year- old, but we give them more freedom.” He notes that texts and phone calls are not enough; there are programs and apps that can “cover” for teens by changing the location of their phone. “Parents need to establish trust with their children, but they must also have verification of their location and activities,” Lieberman says. Source: John D. Lieberman, MA I/O Psych Visions Adolescent Treatment Center www.Visionsteen.com | 866.889.3665 John D. Lieberman has been an expert contributor to: US News and World Report, The Today Show, Teen Vogue, Inside Edition, and the Dr.OZ Show. He is committed to promoting evidence based treatment and providing families with up-to-date critical information. continued from BingeDrinking | Page 55 “Creating understanding and accommodation is empowering." - David Stanley, owner and Chief Caregiver at Custom Caregivers