Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites - February 2001

Thru His Eyes
by Tim Brennan
Webmaster: Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/his_eyes/entrance.html
1st Place - February 2001
Tim Brennan is 57, and he has Alzheimer's disease. He formerly
designed, installed and resolved problems with computers,
information processing, telephone networks, and video conferencing,
and worked for a major bank for 25 years. When he had a heart
attack in 1992, and through medical examinations following that,
it was discovered that he had some type of dementia, and then
in 1993, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Since his diagnosis,
he has written a column for The St. Petersburg Times (Florida),
and articles for Duke University, The University of California
(San Diego), and some Alzheimer's Association chapters, as well
as speaking, and with his wife, beginning a local support group
for early stage Alzheimer's patients. Webmaster Nancy
Walker of Caregiver's Haven, has designed a beautiful site, and
Tim's articles offer practical suggestions about living positively
as someone with Alzheimer's, and his beautiful poetry gives us
all clearer insight into the life of an Alzheimer's patient.

Caregiver's Haven
by Nancy Walker
http://www.nhisgarden.com/caregivers/entrance.html
2nd Place - February 2001
Nancy is nurse who has 22 years of experience with caring for the
elderly and dementia patients. She has taken on Alzheimer's as her
cause and as well as providing information about AD, she has created
a true haven for weary caregivers and early-onset patients alike.
Her site features a Poetry Niche, which includes the poems of Dorothy
Womack, Brenda Race, Carolyn Haynali, Tim Brennan and others, and a
Gallery which displays paintings by Dorothy Womack's mother and some
selections from the Brace Alzheimer's Research Art Gallery. Nancy's
wish for us as we visit her site is "To sit back and find a relaxing
site filled with love, peace and maybe a laugh or too", and she
is doing a wonderful job at reaching that goal. Despite her former
server's losing her Web site files a few months ago, Nancy has
restored her site and continued to develop it even, amazing us with
all she accomplishes in addition to her busy career.


Caregiver's Army
http://www.caregiversarmy.org/
3rd Place - February 2001
The Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver's Army, founded September 1999, has
launched a worldwide petition drive in support of finding a cure for
Alzheimer's Disease and for helping caregivers. Their goal is to
collect a million signatures, and several months ago spokesperson,
Carolyn Haynali, where she presented the first 20,000 signatures
Washington DC. The count now is at 35,000 signatures. The Army has
an impressively professional Web site, providing Alzheimer's
information, statistics about this disease, and featuring photos of
Carolyn meeting Congressmen.
The Army mailing list/support group which can be subscribed to at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAREGIVERSARMY
Hearing Carolyn interviewed on the Don & Carla Show a few months ago,
I must say I was impressed, and I can't think of a better
spokesperson. For her husband, Chuck, who has Alzheimer's, and for
caregivers and patients everywhere, Carolyn and the Caregiver's Army
are busy fighting this disease that has so affected all our lives.


Mary's Place
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mari5113/index.html
4th Place - February 2001

Mary Lockhart has early-onset Alzheimer's. Before she was diagnosed,
she had managed a licensed day care for infants for fifteen years.
She misses the babies she cared for, but she has three little dogs
which she enjoys, as well as having an acquarium, and feeding birds
and squirrels. She is doing a wonderful job telling her story on her
home page, Mary's Place, where she shares her daily journal, family
photos, memories from her childhood, links to other sites, and a
chats for other patients like herself. Mary says "This is a very
lonely disease. If I can help one person with my page it will all be
worth it." Through the Internet, Mary has found many friends, and
she is indeed helping others, being very active in several chats. It
is a joy to watch Mary's page develop, as she adds new and very
creative pages, incorporating beautiful backgrounds, graphics, and
java. I couldn't help but notice an entry in her guestbook, from her
daughter I think, about Mary having a way of turning lemons into
lemonade, and I think that's a wonderful way to deal with the
Alzheimer's journey, as well as caregiving and any of the losses that
life brings us.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I'm on a roll; Maybe I can send out the reviews of the March
winners by the end of the week.

Have a great week, everyone!


Brenda Parris Sibley
A Year to Remember http://www.zarcrom.com/users/yeartorem/
List Owner, Top Alzheimer's Caregiving Sites http:
//new.topsitelists.com/bestsites/bpsibley/topsites.html
List Owner, Top AD/Caregiving Sites Newsletter ht
tp://www.egroups.com/subscribe/TopADCaregivingSites
Contributing Writer, Themestream
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view
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