Alzheimer’s changes life for the whole family.

Dr. Eddie Patton welcomes Dayna Steele, author of Surviving Alzheimer’s with Friends, Facebook, and a Really Big Glass of Wine and creator of The Woman in the Mirror. Drawing on caring for her mother, Dayna shares an honest conversation about caregiver guilt, lost income, family planning, humor, and finding support—during caregiving and after it ends.

Learn more about Dayna: https://www.daynasteele.com/

Schedule an appointment with Dr. Patton HERE.

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Key Takeaways

1. Have the difficult conversations before a crisis. Discuss care preferences, finances, legal documents, and access to important accounts while your loved one can still participate in those decisions.

2. Caregiving costs more than money spent on care. Dayna describes stepping away from a successful speaking career as her mother’s needs grew, showing how caregiving can affect income, relationships, and a family’s future.

3. You can love someone deeply and still feel exhausted, frustrated, or wish for your old life back. Dayna’s story makes room for those feelings without treating them as evidence that you have failed.

4. Support needs do not disappear when caregiving ends. Dayna describes numbness, guilt, isolation, sudden sadness, and difficulty allowing herself to feel happy again as parts of her own recovery.

5. Offer specific help instead of another decision to make. Bringing dinner, handling an errand, or arranging time for a caregiver to take a break can communicate something essential: you are seen, and you are not alone.