Review: "Joan's family was forced to do the kind of hard reckoning that so many American families must do these days."
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 12, 2013
I make it a rule to not personalize my reviews, but just like every review with this start, I am going to break this rule.  With a mother who is 82 and on a quick slide into Alzheimer's, I have been hip deep in end of life decisions.  While my hospice nurse sister helped us to avoid many of the pitfalls of the facility in this memoir, there is always more to learn.  I admit thinking that at the very high end of expensive options, chances of proper care was higher.This memoir has educated me, frightened me, and outraged me.  It echoes the statement I have heard from nuses who are friends: at this point, do not count on adequate professionals in the field to take care of your cohort.  This book forces a re-evaluation of choices for parents, and a panicky retreat from my own plans.When Joan Boice's husband, who is in another wing, says "they aren't taking good care of mom." , my heart sank.  Having lost speech she was unable to let her family know about the blistering pain that burned through multiple bed sores.  This is not an easy book to read, but it be hooves you to do so.