The Story That Made Me Write This Book
Why Fewer Pills, More Paws had to exist (and what's inside)
There’s a moment I can’t forget.
I was sitting across from a daughter—let’s call her Mandy—who had just brought her father to see me. He was 82, sharp as ever until about six months ago. Then something shifted. Confusion. Falls. Withdrawal from activities he loved.
His doctor had diagnosed early dementia and added a memory drug.
Instead of improving, he got worse. Deeply disoriented. Agitated.
Mandy pulled out a garbage bag. Inside: 14 prescription bottles.
We did what should have been done months earlier—a medication review. Within 10 minutes, the pattern was obvious. Her father’s “dementia” wasn’t dementia. It was a bladder medication (anticholinergic burden score of 3) causing the exact cognitive symptoms everyone thought were Alzheimer’s.
We stopped two medications. Within three weeks, he was back. Alert. Reading again. Himself.
The confusion wasn’t disease. It was the pills.
But here’s what haunts me:
How many families never get that moment? How many people are chemically sedated into cognitive decline that gets labeled “just aging”? How many care partners are told “there’s nothing we can do” when the answer is literally sitting in the medicine cabinet?
Why I Wrote This
For years, I’ve watched families navigate a system that’s designed to add medications, not remove them. A system where every specialist prescribes without knowing what the other specialists prescribed. Where “polypharmacy” (five or more medications) becomes the norm, not the exception. Where medication-induced harm gets relabeled as disease progression.
And I kept thinking: Someone needs to give care partners the tools to push back.
Not vague advice. Not “talk to your doctor.” But the actual scripts, the clinical frameworks, the step-by-step protocols to audit a medication list, identify what’s harmful, and advocate for deprescribing.
That’s what Fewer Pills, More Paws is.
It’s the playbook for care partners who are tired of being told “this is just what happens” when they know something’s wrong.
What’s Inside
Shift from Caregiver to Conductor: Step up as the ultimate advocate with step-by-step survival plans for 8-minute doctor visits, chaotic hospitalizations, delirium crises, and nursing home transitions.
Audit the Medicine Cabinet: Use a pharmacist’s eye to safely reduce medication overload, ensuring every pill serves a clear purpose and improves quality of life.
Build Your Longevity Toolkit: Master the High-5 for Healthspan to protect your own physical, vascular, and cognitive health against caregiver burnout.
Learn from Our Furry Professors: Discover the profound, science-backed lessons on aging, function, and restorative care that we can learn from our pets.
It’s Out. And I Need Your Help.
Fewer Pills, More Paws is officially available.
For launch week (June 16-18), the eBook is $0.99 on Amazon.
Not because the book isn’t worth more. But because I want it in the hands of every overwhelmed care partner who’s staring at their parent’s kitchen counter wondering, “Is all of this really necessary?”
The answer is often no. But you need tools to prove it.
👉 Fewer Pills, More Paws: Caring for Your Aging Parents and Lessons from Our Pets
Here’s the ask: If you read it and it helps, leave a review.
Reviews are how a book like this—one that challenges a system designed to extract profit, not preserve dignity—breaks through the noise. They’re how care partners who’ve never heard of MyRxPro find the tools they desperately need.
But mostly, I just want it in your hands.
Because somewhere right now, there’s a Mandy sitting across from a doctor being told her father has dementia. And if she had this book, she might ask one question that changes everything:
“Could this be the medications?”
That question can save lives.
Peace and wellness,
David Lee, PharmD, PhD Founder, MyRxPro
P.S. The $0.99 price ends Tuesday, June 18th at midnight. After that, it goes back to regular price. If you’ve been waiting, now’s the time.