A Son's Journey: Taking Care of Mom and Dad Paperback – July 6, 2015

A Son's Journey: Taking Care of Mom and Dad by Kurt A. Kazanowski is a valuable guide and memoir written with wisdom and clarity on how to best care for elderly parents. As a nurse and healthcare business executive for 30 years, Mr. Kazanowski writes with honesty regarding real-life experiences in love, loss and caring. Readers are invited on the caring journey which also involved his brother and where valuable lessons are learned from many life-changing events. The practical advice covers a wide range of topics- The Difficulties of Being a Caregiver and a Loved One at the Same Time, How to Talk to Your Parents and Dealing with Your Parents' Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease and much more. Essential strategies and resources for every stage of the aging process are provided throughout the book. Caregivers will also learn how to locate and hire a dependable and qualified personal care home health company to meet the needs of their elderly parents. Readers will benefit from reading the excellent chapter on The Gift of Hospice. Chapter 6 - 100+ Helpful Tips and Tools to Help Your Parents Age with Dignity and Grace is also very comprehensive and written with clear detail and compassion. Caregivers face many daily challenges, reading the book, A Son's Journey: Taking Care of Mom and Dad will provide them with a trusted companion on the shelf to consult.

Aging brings both physical illness and cognitive impairment to many adults. What I like about this book is the straightforward advice to children of aging parents as their role changes from child to caregiver. There are complicated issues in this transition, and all are dealt with in a straightforward and logical fashion. I particularly liked the section on how to interact with persons who have dementia. Another valuable message (among many) is the reality of the difficulty of trying to do all the things required for long term care of aged persons from long distance. This is a valuable “how to” treatise. I intend to give copies to each of my own children, and will recommend it widely.

Very good read. Author uses his insight from his own experiences.

Excellent book-very helpful dealing w/ my 87-year old Mom w/Dementia!

Comforting read as I take the journey through my Mom's death.

Excellent the traveling photos!!

Having parents in their 70s, I've been wondering and worrying for years about what to do when my parents can no longer live independently. They live several hours away from me and up until this time have always "done their thing" without much help or input from me or my siblings. Now that they're getting older, slowing down a bit and dealing with multiple health issues, I realized I couldn't live in denial any longer but I could do something positive to help them stay independent as long as possible. This book, A Son's Journey, is packed with great helpful tips on what adult children can do to help their parents - everything from having "the talk" with mom and dad about their health, finances and other important information, to "fall-proofing" their home to make it safer to live in, and hundreds of other useful tips on dealing with dementia and Alzheimer's disease to getting the straight talk on hospice care when the end is near. I particularly liked the information about getting personal home care for my parents, like help with driving them around, cleaning and taking care of the house when it's too much for them, and other assistance to help take care of my mom and dad in their home. I know they'd much rather be at home than an assisted living facility and this book shows you how to accomplish that for as long as possible. The author, Kurt Kazanowski, already went through this difficult time with his parents. I feel like I don't have to go through this all on my own now. I found a number of helpful companies and resources in this book. It was designed to help people just like me to help us take care of our parents. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has aging parents and to all caregivers to help avoid the burnout that can happen and to help you take care of your loved ones as best as you can.

As a Board Certified Physician in Geriatrics and Hospice and Palliative Care and and a physician who cares for homebound elderly patients, I found this book a must read for adult children caring for a loved one. Many of the topics that Kurt addresses I find universal in caring for the very aged population. Many of the children of my patients are facing the challenges Kurt outlines and he provides sage advice on ways to manage difficult situations. A Son’s Journey provides a wealth of information and the stories told are very heartfelt and inspiring. I especially liked the chapter on the Gift of Hospice as it demystifies hospice and shows how hospice care truly is a gift to be offered. I also liked the chapter on how to talk to aging parents about difficult but necessary topics. This book was enjoyable to read and relevant. I encourage anyone who is caring for an aging loved one to give consider this an excellent reference.