In this caregiver spotlight episode, meet family caregiver, nurse, and writer Marianne Sciucco. In this episode we talk about the sweet couple that prompted her to write an Alzheimer’s love story as well as her personal experiences caring for her mother and her mother’s husband. We chat about topics include asking for help, coming off hospice to go to rehab, what medicare does and doesn’t pay for, and how lunch may just rekindle a romance.
Listen to the show: Caregiver Spotlight – Marianne Sciucco
Words of Encouragement
Each episode starts off with a few words of inspiration or motivation that is pulled from the Happy Healthy Caregiver Jar.
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Links & Resources Mentioned
- Marianne’s first job was as a nurse (and later as a Case Manager) in a long term care facility which inspired her to write her novel, an Alzheimer’s love story, Blue Hydrangeas. Her character was based loosely on an inspiring couple that she got to know.
- Similar to Marianne, Elizabeth’s mom, Carole LaFlamme Beighey, researches subjects and facts which inform her writing. Carole’s children book series kicks off with book #1 called The Waddodles of Hollow Lake: Law of the Woodland:
- Marianne is a co-founder and director of AlzAuthors.com – a online community that started in 2016 and now showcases an online bookstore with over 200 authors. The authors attend many Alzheimer events and bring their traveling library with books donated by many of the authors.
- Marianne mentioned the books from two of the other AlzAuthors co-founders books Jean Lee and Vicki Tapia:
- Elizabeth shared a fiction audio book called she had just finished reading where one of the characters has Lewy Body dementia. The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson.
- We mentioned two previous Caregiver Spotlight episodes in this episode – one with Lisa B Capp where she helped care for her mom who had Lewy Body dementia and one with Lisette Carbajal whose father wasn’t able to attend her ceremony due to his late stage Alzheimer’s.
- Amazon Subscribe and Save program helped Marianne get her mom’s supplies while she helped care for her from a distance (and save some money!).
- Enjoy this treat Marianne mentioned she is loving right now – A Flock of Sea Gulls with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra:
- One of Marianne’s favorite movies is Begin Again and she would like Keira Knightly to play her if her life was made into a movie.
- Watch for the second anthology of AlzAuthors coming soon! The first anthology is available here.
- Find a Memory Cafe near you – a welcoming environment for those with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
- The prompts from the lightning round segment of the show are sourced from Elizabeth’s book Just For You: a Daily Self-Care Journal.
- Find out more about all of Marianne’s books resources and connect with her on social platforms by visiting MarianneSciucco.com.
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Favorite moments & quotes from the episode
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