When Roles Reverse: A Guide to Parenting Your Parents - Softcover

Comer, Jim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1571745009 ISBN 13: 9781571745002

Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Co, 2006

Synopsis

After his father suffered a massive stroke and his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Jim Comer found himself an overnight "parent" at the age of 51. When he walked into his father's hospital room everyone looked to him as the "man who knew all the answers." He soon realized he didn't even know the questions.

In ten years of caregiving, Comer has not only learned the questions he has lived them, and with When Roles Reverse he shares his hard-won answers.

He learned to deal with hospitals, insurance companies, rehab centers, his father's deafness and his mother's dementia. Through it all Jim has kept his sanity and sense of humor, in the process forging a deeper, more intimate relationship with his parents.

With laugh-out-loud humor, Jim deals with improvisational moments for which there is no preparation:

You find three gallons of Scotch in your dad's retirement home closet;

Your Mother refuses to leave her home of 34 years and can only be coaxed into the car with promises of ice cream;

At a crowded Sunday dinner table, your father announces that he wants you to give him an enema after lunch . . .

And offers personal experience and expert insight on the many issues it's absolutely essential to plan for such as:

Wills, powers of attorney, and other legal documents every family needs

Which siblings will be there when your parents need them?

Selecting a first-rate care facility and getting long-term care insurance

New Medicaid guidelines and how to qualify

Hospice care and end-of-life decisions

When Roles Reverse even includes "Fifty Questions that will save you Time, Money, and Tears," a special section designed to help families initiate vital communication and prepare for the crises, confusion and unexpected joys of caregiving.

About this title

Synopsis

Jim Comer became a "parent" for the first time at the age of 51 when his father suffered a massive stroke while caring for his mother who had Alzheimer's. An only child, Jim quit his job as a corporate speechwriter in Los Angeles and moved back to Texas to deal with hospitals, insurance companies, rehab centres, Dad's deafness and Mother's dementia. After ten years of care-giving, Jim has kept his sanity and sense of humour and has forged a deeper, more intimate relationship with his parents. With laugh-out-loud humour, Jim deals with improvisational moments for which there is no preparation: you find three gallons of Scotch in your dad's retirement home closet; your mother refuses to leave her home of 34 years and is coaxed into the car with promises of ice cream; at a crowded Sunday dinner table, your father announces that he wants you to give him an enema after lunch...And offers personal experience and expert insight on the many issues it's absolutely essential to plan for: which siblings will be there when your parents need them; selecting a first-rate care facility and getting long-term care insurance; and hospice care and end-of-life decisions.

Combining wit, warmth and practical advice, "When Roles Reverse" helps families break through denial to initiate the conversations that "will save you time, money, and tears" and help you prepare for the crises, confusion and unexpected joys of care-giving.

About the Author

Jim Comer has appeared on The Today Show, written jokes for Bob Hope and Joan Rivers, and worked as a speech coach and creative consultant for Fortune 500 companies for twenty years.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Co
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1571745009
• ISBN 13: 9781571745002
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328