Weisbrook pens book to raise awareness about Alzheimer's

Several people gathered in Larsen's Jewelry last Friday to congratulate Carma Weisbrook, Mary Lynch Elementary School fifth grade teacher, on a job well done. Weisbrook recently wrote and published a children's book, which she was signing at the celebration.

Weisbrook's book tells the story of a young girl named Jodi, who enjoys spending time with her grandma. However, Jodi starts to notice some changes in her grandma. Well as it turns out her grandma has Alzheimer's disease. A nurse helps Jodi understand what's happening to Grandma.

"It definitely talks about what you go through when someone you love is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I wanted it to be a way to explain to children what was happening, but also maybe teach the parent while they read it to their child," Weisbrook said.

As it turns out, Alzheimer's awareness is something that is dear to Weisbrook's heart. Her own mother was diagnosed in 2007 and then passed in 2012.

"My major hope is that I can provide some families with understanding. I thought that if I was having trouble understanding it, then surely children would be having a rough time with it," Weisbrook said.

Weisbrook looked into it and she only found a small handful of children's books dealing with the subject of Alzheimer's disease. She decided to remedy that situation.

A children's book about Alzheimer's might raise an eyebrow, after all children don't get this disease. What must be kept in mind, however, is that while children may not have this disease, they are directly affected by those who do.

More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, and it is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia. Of those diagnosed in America, two-thirds are women. For women, Alzheimer's is a more likely diagnosis than breast cancer, Alzheimer's risk being one out of six women while the chances of breast cancer are one in eleven. Alzheimer's is also the most expensive condition in the nation, costing an estimated $113 billion in Medicare, 37 billion in Medicaid, and 36 billion in out of pocket costs.

So far, in the year 2014, 33,000 people 65 years of age and older have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the state of Nebraska alone. Twelve percent of seniors are living with Alzheimer's in Nebraska. In 2010, it was reported that 565 died from Alzheimer's disease.

Weisbrook used her book signing as a local event to raise money for Alzheimer's awareness. People in attendance could make donations in remembrance of her mother, who had Alzheimer's. In total at the book signing, $363 were raised.

"I'm so grateful for the love and support of the Kimball community. Everyone has been so very supportive," Weisbrook said.

The book publishing process was a fast one for Weisbrook. She worked with a publishing site called Authorhouse. From February to June the process was intense.

"I started working with them in February and had a book in my hands in June. So it was a great process working with Authorhouse," Weisbrook said.

Due to her book being for children, Weisbrook worked with an illustrator through Authorhouse. Susan Shorter, the illustrator, and Weisbrook had an email correspondence where Weisbrook described in great detail what she wanted the pictures to contain, and Shorter drew. Shorter would send the illustrations back to Weisbrook for approval.

"One thing I made sure of was to say that I wanted purple on every page, to tie in that front cover and stress the Alzheimer's awareness, since the color for that is purple," Weisbrook said.

Now that this book is finished Weisbrook has already run into people wanting more. Several have inquired about what's next for her adventures as an author.

"I guess I was just so excited to get this, book number one, done that I never thought about what was next until family and friends started asking. As of now, I don't really know. Maybe something having to do with a grandpa. I do have an Ag background so maybe something with that," Weisbrook said.

Weisbrook explained that she has always enjoyed writing. Over the years, she has written short stories and poems. However, most of her early works were for family and friends written inside birthday and anniversary cards. She had a few short stories and poems published in different publications and knew that is was something she enjoyed doing.

Despite uncertainty for what the future as an author may hold, Weisbrook is certain in the choices she made to bring the story of Jodi and her grandmother to life. Her hopes are to help families trying to understand a disease that plagues far too many people.

"I just really want to thank my family for all their support, I mean they knew this was my dream and they supported me. Also Karen Wilson, who showed me the site and helped me get started, that was a big help," Weisbrook said.