Honey, I Sold the Red Cadillac Learning to Cope With Lewy Body Dementia

Carol developed the first typical symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in 2011, but the diagnosis was soon changed to Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). The first physical symptoms were quickly followed by hallucinations, which at first were benign, but quickly became quite scary. While caring for Carol, Bob slowly, painfully learned how to cope with her physical as well as mental symptoms. This book describes those lessons in the hope that others caring for LBD patients will benefit from them, and their path down this road will be easier.

Bob was born in Panama in 1937. He moved to Southern California with his family when he was 7 years old. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering at UCLA and a Master’s degree in Operations Research at NYU, he worked in the computer and telecommunications industry. While working at Pacific Telephone Co. he met Carol. Carol had a Bachelor’s degree from Wooster University and was in the first class of women admitted to the Master’s program at Harvard University. After a two-year courtship they were married on Dec. 31, 1984. The marriage created a “Brady Bunch” family: three children from Bob’s earlier marriage and two from Carol’s first marriage. Both Bob and Carol were retired and living in Lafayette, CA (a small town in Northern California) when Carol first detected a tremor in her left hand, foretelling the onset of Parkinson’s disease. This was the start down that long twisting path that is described in this book.