On a family vacation in 2009, Dr. Renée Brown Harmon felt the first jolt of fear that something might be wrong. How could her husband, Harvey, a highly intelligent physician, marathon runner, and devoted father, be struggling to keep up with their guide’s simple instructions or unable to do simple math to calculate their daughter’s age? The heartbreaking truth was confirmed nine months later when he was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age fifty.
Soon after, Harmon felt she had no choice but to inform the state medical board that it was no longer safe for her husband to see patients in their shared practice. Suddenly forced to manage both the family and business they’d built together, she stayed afloat by leaning on friends, family, and her faith through Harvey’s illness.
Part personal story, part instructional guide for caregivers, Surfing the Waves of Alzheimer’s is an essential primer for anyone facing the tremendous challenge of caring for a loved one with memory loss. Each chapter ends with a different principle of caregiving and offers readers suggested best practices to bring greater balance to the role of family caregiver.
Drawing upon principles of compassionate caregiving-from her own experience caring for her husband and her nearly thirty years as a family practice doctor-Harmon offers a uniquely clear-eyed account of how this disease manifests itself and shares her feelings of loss and heartbreak with honesty, grit, and grace.
From the author: “I call the book a teaching memoir, combining a how-to caregiving guide with a traditional memoir of our family’s experience with Alzheimer’s disease. Because I am a physician, and communicating effectively about good health practices is a vital part of that job, I couldn’t let the book be purely memoir. And instead of a specific step-by-step handbook, I chose to discuss overarching principles of caregiving. Each chapter is titled one of these principles, such as It’s Better to Be Kind Than Correct. Each principle is illustrated by stories, then a discussion of that principle follows, and ends with practices that the reader may choose to complete.”
Christy Byrne Yates is the moderator.
About Christy Byrne Yates
Christy is the mother of two - now adult - children. She is an expert in navigating the challenges and opportunities in life including living in the “Sandwich Generation” (those raising children who are also caring for an aging parent), special needs education, and parenting. She incorporates meditation, mindfulness practices and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) into her work along with other evidence-based practices to support growth, goal achievement and a pathway to living your best life now. In California she is a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP), an author, speaker, and coach. She is the author of Building a Legacy of Love: Thriving in the Sandwich Generation available on Amazon.
Read Renee’s AlzAuthors post: alzauthors.com...
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Connect with Renee Harmon:
Website: www.reneeharmon.com
Instagram: / reneeharmon_writes
Twitter: / reneeharmonmd
Facebook: / reneeharmonauthor
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28 сен 2024
