Alzheimer's Daughter by Jean Lee: Liz O'Donnell Connects With All Working Daughters Who Are Caregivers Through Her New Book

The Story

Alzheimer’s Daughter introduces the reader to my healthy parents, Ed and Ibby, years before their diagnosis, then recounts painful details as our roles reversed and I became my parents’ parent.

Their disease started as translucent, confused thoughts and ended in a locked memory care unit after a near decade of descent into the opaque world of Alzheimer's.

I began writing Alzheimer’s Daughter one week after my mother's death––when I was stunned, realizing Dad had no memory of her or their 66-year marriage.

I write to pay tribute to the undying spirit at Ed and Ibby's core, and with the hope that the story of their parallel decline might be helpful to others.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Liz O'Donnell Connects With All Working Daughters Who Are Caregivers Through Her New Book

I search the top 100 books in Alzheimer's and Eldercare every day.

The stunning cover of Working Daughter caught my eye recently. I reached out to Liz O'Donnell and read her book, cover to cover. Wow, she hits the nail on the head as she speaks honestly about the challenges of caregiving for an elder family member, (in her case, both parents) while trying to do it all, staying afloat in her own family life and her career.

This week AlzAuthors.com is pleased to welcome Liz O'Donnell, who shares her book, Working Daughter.

Liz writes:

On July 1, 2014, both of my parents were diagnosed with terminal illnesses. My father had been acting forgetful and confused and he had been in the hospital for ten days while they evaluated him. That day, I had a meeting with his care team and they told me he had Alzheimer’s and dementia, that he could no longer live at home, and that I had a week to place him in a memory care facility. I left the meeting – reeling – and before I even exited the hospital parking lot, my cell phone rang. It was a doctor at another nearby hospital. A few days earlier my mother had been sent there with stomach pains. That doctor told me mother had ovarian cancer and asked me if I could come right away, so we could tell her the news together.

Please read her entire post here.