Q. I recently canceled a trip I planned to take after hearing the news that my mother had been diagnosed with alzheimer's disease. The thing is, I purchased travel insurance, but they're telling me that this isn't something they can cover. What to do?

A. Unfortunately, alzheimer's is considered a mental illness, and travel insurance excludes coverage for mental and emotional illness. Still, you should contact your family physician and have him make the case that alzheimers is a mental illness with physical symptoms. It's worth a shot.