Slow Dancing with a Stranger (22 page)

BOOK: Slow Dancing with a Stranger

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Executive Director, Banner Alzheimer's Institute and Professor of Psychiatry, University of Arizona

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“
Slow Dancing with a Stranger
is a poignant story of Alzheimer's disease robbing memory, personality, life, and dignity. It is an astonishing testimony of a determined woman who decided to fight this disease and to mobilize the world to come up with a cure, a battle to which we all must contribute and win for our parents, ourselves, and future generations.

âPROFESSOR DR. ANDREA PFEIFER,

CEO of AC Immune

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“As a physician-scientist who has studied Alzhiemer's Disease for more than twenty-five years, and a son with a 99-year-old mom with Alzheimer's dementia, I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with the tormenting issues of Alzheimer's care.”

âMICHAEL E. WIENER, M.D.,

ADNI Principal Investigator and Professor of Medicine, Radiology, Psychiatry, and Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco

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“Meryl Comer's account of her family's struggle with Alzheimer's is a page-turner; it is wrenching, soul-baring, and beautifully written. It should shock the nation into providing more supportâboth for Alzheimer's research and treatments and for the legions of family caregivers who will bear ever-growing burdens in the future.”

âSUSAN DENTZER,

Senior Policy Adviser to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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“Meryl Comer's
Slow Dancing with a Stranger
takes us into the tragedy that is Alzheimer's disease and shows what is ahead for nearly half of us who live to age 85. We must respond to this emergency and Meryl courageously shows us why.”

âJ
EFFREY CUMMINGS, M.D., SCD,

Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and

KATE ZHONG, M.D.,

Senior Director for Research

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“In
Slow Dancing with a Stranger
, Meryl Comer shows us how to acknowledge and endure what on first blush is not endurable, a family afflicted with Alzheimer's. Although she would say she doesn't deserve the recognition, she definitely deserves the âRock Star of Humanity' award for her caregiving and her humanitarian work.”

âFLORENCE HASELTINE,

Emerita Scientist NIH and Founder of the Society for Women's Health Research

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“Turning tragedy into art and productive work is a hallmark of the great human spirit as it continually turns from the past to give back to the future. Meryl has done this in a very emotional, engaging and thoughtful manner. The book should be read by all, but especially those with Alzheimer's disease in their lives.”

âHOWARD FILLIT, M.D.,

Executive Director and Chief Science Officer, The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation

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“
Slow Dancing with a Stranger
is an unsparing and moving account of the symptoms of early Alzheimer's disease and at the same time a call to arms, a memoir, and an accurate clinical description, deserving a place in the clinical literature on Alzheimer's disease. The author's account will help open readers' minds to the need for early diagnosis of this devastating global illness.”

âMARIA ISAAC, M.D., PH.D.,

Psychiatrist, Senior Scientific Officer, European Medicines Agency

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“
Slow Dancing with a Stranger
is a gripping account of the real world issues that the loved ones of Alzheimer's disease families will face and how the community-wide networks of service needed to help any of us cope with this awful disease are woefully inadequate. This a MUST-read for students, service providers, support groups, clergy and policy makersâa primer in why their best intentions too often fail.”

âLARRY MINNIX,

President and CEO of LeadingAge

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“
Slow Dancing with a Stranger
relates in very human terms the essence of palliative care. Not only did the author care for her husband with unconditional love, but optimized whatever physical and mental capacities were left to preserve his dignity. Readers will be inspired to want to help both victims and caregivers.”

âELIZABETH J. MCCORMACK,

Chairman, Partnership for Palliative Care

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“Meryl Comer has courageously penned a heartbreaking open letter from the front lines of caring for a loved one. In a style riveting, candid, powerful, and intimate, Meryl reminds us of the quiet daily heroism of caregiversâand why we must do more to support them.”

STACY PAGOS HALLER,

President and Chief Executive Officer, BrightFocus Foundation

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“Meryl Comer has written an amazingly touching, brave, and personal account of her husband's losing battle with Alzheimer's. Her style of advocacy speaks to the power of âflipping the pain' and deploying the latest digital technologies in fighting an incurable disease.”

BARRY LIBERT,

CEO OpenMatters Strategic Advisor, Angel Investor

Copyright

SLOW DANCING WITH A STRANGER:
LOST AND FOUND IN THE AGE OF ALZHEIMER'S
. Copyright Â© 2014 by Meryl Comer. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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