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Foreword | |
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Introduction | |
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Bringing Up the Subject | |
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The New Touchy Subject | |
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Competing Agendas | |
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Ghosts in the Room | |
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Beyond Either/Or | |
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The Pre-Talk Talk | |
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What Could They Be Thinking? | |
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Breaking the Ice | |
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Organizing a Family Meeting | |
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The Actual Talk | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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Decisions for the Future | |
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The Best-Laid Plans | |
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Practically Speaking | |
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The Sibling Balancing Act | |
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Resentment, Take 2 | |
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Opening the Lines | |
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"To Bring Them Together Again" | |
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Old Family Scripts | |
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Cultural Imperatives | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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Caregiving at a Distance | |
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Choosing a Geriatric Care Manager | |
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VSS: Vanishing Sibling Syndrome | |
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But Who Will Care for Me? | |
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Eight Is Just Enough | |
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Your Parent's Best Advocate | |
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The Organized Advocate | |
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Managing Health Care | |
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Hospital Bills and Insurance Claims | |
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Dealing with Nursing Homes | |
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Scam Alert! | |
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Lawyering Up | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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Laying the Groundwork | |
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Questions for the Doctor | |
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Decoding a Prescription | |
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Issues of Race and Class | |
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A Patient's Bill of Rights | |
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Coping with Hospital Bills | |
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A Nursing Home Resident's Bill of Rights | |
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Shred, Don't Pitch | |
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Money Matters | |
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Sizing Up the Situation | |
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And the Bottom Line Is... | |
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Things Look Good for Now-What's Next? | |
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The Question of Long-Term Care | |
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Do Your Homework | |
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Reality Knocks | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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Key Questions | |
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Should You Worry? | |
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Making Ends Meet (Sort of) | |
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Be a Fraud Detector | |
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Choosing a Financial Planner | |
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Long-Term Care Insurance Costs | |
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A Small Family Relying on Friends | |
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The Body | |
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What Is "Normal" Aging? | |
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Choosing a Doctor | |
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A Pound of Prevention | |
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The Changing Senses | |
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Common Ailments | |
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Didn't Sleep a Wink | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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A Test in Time | |
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Mountain Man | |
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Preventing Falls | |
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The Unsinkable Wally Ristow | |
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Warning Signs 1 | |
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Warning Signs 2 | |
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Getting Some Shut-Eye | |
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The Brain | |
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The Truth About Depression | |
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No Turning Back | |
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"Everything Has an Air of Strangeness" | |
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The Road Ahead | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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My Father's Blog | |
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Signs of Depression | |
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Is It Alzheimer's? | |
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Minimizing Stroke Damage | |
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Routine Therapy | |
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Design for Living with Dementia | |
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At the Crossroads | |
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The Medicare Maze | |
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The ABCDs of Medicare | |
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Medicare Part A: Hospital Insurance | |
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Medicare Part B: Medical Insurance | |
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Medicare Part C: Medicare Advantage | |
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Medicare Part D: Prescription Drug Benefit | |
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Filling in the (Medi)Gap | |
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Blinded by the Fine Print | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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Names and Numbers You'll Need | |
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How to Decipher a Summary Notice | |
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Check List of Choices | |
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Medicare Surprises: Pleasant and Otherwise | |
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Who You Gonna Call? | |
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Lose Some, Lose Some | |
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Making a Medicare Appeal | |
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And Sometimes You Win One | |
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Living Arrangements | |
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Staying Put | |
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Day-Tripping | |
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Making Room for Mom or Dad | |
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Independent Living 101 | |
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When a Nursing Home Makes Sense | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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Who Lives Where | |
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How Safe Is Your Parents' Home? | |
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Choosing a Home Health Aide | |
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Tradition vs. Reality | |
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Two Parents, Two Arrangements | |
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Build Your Own Village | |
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Caring for the Caregiver | |
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The Hidden Patients | |
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The Stress Factor | |
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Making Yourself a Priority | |
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Lightening the Load | |
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Give the Pros a Chance | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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The Art of Self-Preservation | |
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Rewrite Your Inner Script | |
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Take a Breath | |
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Share the Care | |
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Choosing Adult Day Center Programs | |
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Saying Good-bye | |
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A New Intimacy | |
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Making Arrangements Ahead of Time | |
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Achieving Closure | |
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The Hospice Solution | |
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Getting Down to "What Was Good" | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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Managing Pain | |
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Choosing Hospice Care | |
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Letting Go | |
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As the End Nears | |
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Not Quite Ready Yet | |
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The Last Details | |
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The Shape of Tomorrow | |
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The Phases of Grief | |
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Variations on a Theme | |
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Yourself and Others | |
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The Rightness of Ritual | |
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The Stages of Healing | |
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A New Way of Being Together | |
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Resources | |
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Sidebars | |
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When to Seek Help | |
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The One Left Behind | |
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Children and Grief | |
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Facing the Holidays | |
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Grieving Well | |
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Rock-a-Bye Baby | |
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Afterword | |
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Appendix | |
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Glossary | |
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About the Authors | |
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Acknowledgments | |
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Index | |
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Photography Credits | |