<span itemprop="author">Nancie Wiseman Attwater

Author's posts

Caring for the cognitively declined individual

An excerpt from A Caregiver’s Love Story. My husband was diagnosed with cognitive decline in the last three years of his life. I was desperate for understanding and help and referred to the following source. Here are ten tips for communicating wi…

Loving our pets through loss: Coping with the death of a family member

My husband passed away six months ago, and it is quite evident to me that not only do I miss him, but so does our dog Grace. She adored Bill and would scamper to find him if I directed her to “Go find dad!” I no longer use the word dad, as …

Loving our pets through loss: Coping with the death of a family member

My husband passed away six months ago, and it is quite evident to me that not only do I miss him, but so does our dog Grace. She adored Bill and would scamper to find him if I directed her to “Go find dad!” I no longer use the word dad, as …

Ensuring your voice is heard: the importance of power of attorney, advance care directives, and POLST forms

My husband was clearly losing his independence after a terminal diagnosis and many hospital visits. I was getting more and more responsibility, which I didn’t mind, but the best way we could handle it was just to let it happen. There was no way t…

Ensuring your voice is heard: the importance of power of attorney, advance care directives, and POLST forms

My husband was clearly losing his independence after a terminal diagnosis and many hospital visits. I was getting more and more responsibility, which I didn’t mind, but the best way we could handle it was just to let it happen. There was no way t…

Cream Puff Days: Coping with grief and finding comfort

I wrote an article on letting grief make you stronger and talked about a trip to the grocery store where I was not as strong as I hoped. I walked by the Cream Puffs and broke into tears. My husband passed away almost four months ago, and he always used…

The slow progression of aging: Let compassion reign

There is one guarantee in life: you will age, no matter how hard you try not to. Some age with more grace than others, and some age so quickly it’s astonishing. Aging can come quickly or slowly, it is not necessarily determined by your age but th…

Letting grief make you stronger

Grief is powerful and can break your heart for the rest of your life, or you can learn from it and become stronger. Losing a loved one is something that everyone will go through, but not all come out as survivors in the end. It’s part of life, bu…

Lessons in avoiding compassion fatigue

An excerpt from A Caregiver’s Love Story. Caregiver burnout is a real and serious problem for those caregivers in for the long haul. It is a serious issue if you go to bed each night in anguish over the next day’s chores and wake up each mo…