Still Phyllis

A Caregiver's Memoir of Dementia and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Häftad, Engelska, 2024

301 kr

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Beskrivning

Phyllis was a vital, single woman, a photographer and writer, who was enjoying life in the city when she was suddenly stricken by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a disease rarer than a lightning strike that spreads, incredibly, via a non-living molecule called a prion. Terrified to realize she couldn't perform her duties at work, Phyllis very soon couldn't even find her way to her desk or to her apartment from the corner store. Informed of his sister's diagnosis with this dementing and always fatal illness, her estranged brother, her only living relative, brought her home (against the advice of her doctors) to care for her with his wife. The profoundly affecting memoir illuminates how closeness can deepen when words are lost--an inspiring truth to anyone with a friend or family member with dementia.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2024-06-19
Mått:152 x 229 x 11 mm
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:205
Förlag:McFarland & Co Inc
ISBN:9781476694344

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Mer om författaren

Donald Friedman is the author of several novels, The Writer’s Brush: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture by Writers, and a regular contributor to Interfaces, a French/English scholarly journal devoted to the relationship between text and image. His blogs, essays, short stories, on-camera interviews with famous writer-artists and art gallery can be found at DonaldFriedman.com. He divides his time between Rhinebeck, New York, and Sarasota, Florida.

Recensioner i media

“Donald Friedman brings his considerable literary gift to this memoir of despair, and with that gift fills the pages with the flickering light of the spirit. Seeing through his dying sister’s eyes he discovers levels of perception unknown to him before. He helps his sister navigate a horrible hall of broken mirrors—brain disease—and in doing so he discovers a hidden love—which is usually the deepest love because we never suspect it’s there.”—William Kotzwinkle author of ET the Extraterrestrial and Felonious Monk

Innehållsförteckning

Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPreface1. Dancing in the Street2. The Breakdown3. The Psychiatric Referral4. CJD5. I Bring Her Home6. The Diagnosis7. Cleaning Her Apartment8. August 20, 1998: Back in the Neighborhood9. Cannibals and Contagion, Love and Support10. Compassion Manifest11. Be Frightened12. A Surprising Joke13. The Days Were Lovely14. Canyon Ranch and a Phyllis Vision15. Crying Because I Needed To16. Conversation with Phyllis17. The Witches Gather18. Taking Notes and Learning Nothing19. How Long Do We Give Them?20. 24/7 with Phyllis21. Going to Florida22. Visitors23. Guilt Again24. Phyllis Excursions25. Indulgences26. Christmas Day27. New Year’s Celebrations28. Montego Bay, January 199929. Eating Newspaper and Peeing on the Bathtub30. “We’ll have to find out”31. “It’s been so long”32. Carolyn Taking Over33. Snow34. Brazil35. “I’ve had it”36. Back from the Dead37. Phyllis’s Birthday38. Paralysis Overcome; Getting Philosophical39. Two Days in Roseville, California40. July 4th Fireworks41. Heart Strong, Lungs Clear42. The End43. Writing the EulogyIndex