Your Name Is Hughes Hannibal Shanks

"Ms. Shanks's book is an instructional guide and a friend to hold onto in the middle of a dark night. It talks about intimacy and the unnecessary losses to that intimacy that may occur if we are not careful. It is a masterpiece of empowerment as well as a real and living tribute to the power of love. This book is not just about Alzheimer's disease and caregiving; it is a guide to how to live life to its fullest."--Marion Roach Smith, author of Another Name for Madness: The Dramatic Story of a Family's Struggle with Alzheimer's Disease. "This remarkable book is about one family's struggles to cope with the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease. But Lela Knox Shanks is so keen an observer and such a resolute caregiver that everyone involved in the care of older people, from physicians first making the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, to social workers, nurses, or psychologists who work with patients and families, to aides in adult day care or nursing homes programs, and families who find themselves in similar situations, can learn something valuable from this book."--Steven H. Zarit, from his foreword. Your Name Is Hughes Hannibal Shanks is Lela Knox Shanks's personal account of caregiving for her husband, Hughes, in their home after he was stricken with Alzheimer's disease. Shanks describes her initial denial, her discovery of coping skills, her eventual acceptance of his illness, and her ultimate recognition that the key to successful caregiving lies in never losing sight of the patient's humanness. The book outlines twenty coping and survival strategies to guide caregivers to untapped inner resources and shows caregiving's intangible rewards of increased self-respect and self-knowledge. Lela Knox Shanks is an independent scholar and lecturer living in Lincoln, Nebraska. She and Hughes have been married for more than forty-five years and have four children. Steven H. Zarit is a professor of human development at The Pennsylvania State University. He is also the coauthor of The Hidden Victims of Alzheimer's Disease: Families Under Stress.