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EXTREME CARING - YOU HAVE TO GO ON

– a search for meaning in life with stroke and dementia –

Extreme caring – you have to go on (written by Stuart Donnan) is available from October 2016 on Amazon here as well as from the publishers here.

Reviews

This is a compelling account of the changes and challenges that a couple had to face after a stroke in May 2000. It is a well- researched, scholarly, yet moving account.
     Professor Sir Charles George, former Chairman of the Stroke Association UK

There have been other volumes on the caring journey of life with a brain-damaged or demented family member. This is a fine one, but it is much more. The reflections of a trained and intelligent mind on the meaning of caring and of life seen through the lens of “extreme caring” are relevant to us all.
The book meets the critical question following a reading. Do I wish to press it on my friends? A resounding “Yes”.
     Professor Sir Robert Boyd, formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of London

This book is scholarly yet tender and personal, fiercely honest and immensely confronting. It records the impact of stroke and dementia and ‘extreme care’ on life and personality and relationship. It is full of insightful comment and information that could enable readers and carers in similar circumstances to negotiate challenges with deeper understanding or to assist others to do so.
I found it to be a poignant, costly and compelling account that has gathered up two particular lives in a search for new meaning in a context of profound loss. It stands as a testimony to their commitment, for all those who loved them and for any who may be on a similar journey.
     Margaret Fuller, Social Worker, former Clinical Services Manager Anglicare Counselling, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

“Extreme Caring” is an honest, sensitive and beautifully expressed account of the experience of long term caring for a loved one. This book will not only resonate with carers, but enlighten those around them in the practical and emotional issues they face, and then delve deeper still by exploring value and meaning in life, caring and relationships.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to carers searching to make sense of losses and fully appreciate the value and significance of the things that remain.
     Karen Cotton, Admiral Nurse Clinical Lead, Solent NHS Trust, Southampton, Hampshire UK

From the back cover of the book

When his wife was struck down by a stroke, medical academic Stuart Donnan embarked on a journey of learning to understand and manage her needs and the complex side effects of the stroke. Ten years later a further diagnosis revealed that Beryl was suffering from dementia including some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease.

This heartfelt and honest account of Stuart’s journey in extreme caring for Beryl and her condition at home, and of coping with the demands of her conditions, is a compelling read. It seeks to understand the reasons that these medical conditions happen, and how the sufferer is affected through diminishing mobility and memory. For anyone in a similar situation this book offers comfort and support in your own struggles with caring for stroke and dementia sufferers.

Stuart Donnan was born, educated, and married to Beryl in Sydney, Australia. They moved to the UK in 1966. Having worked as a Lecturer in Surgery in London, Stuart moved into academic Social Medicine with further training in medical ethics. He stopped work at short notice to care for Beryl after her stroke in 2000. Stuart is Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health in The University of Manchester. He has been a Quaker since his wife’s stroke and now lives in Southampton.