Dancing with Dementia (+ Giveaway)

It is a privilege and delight to welcome author, friend and fellow blogger Jemi Fraser to Thoughts in Progress today to share her latest release, DANCING WITH DEMENTIA, Recognizing and Coping with the Early Stages of Dementia with us.

Jemi has honored me by allowing MC Book Tours to host her virtual book tour for this inspiring book. It is a book I feel very strongly about having cared for a loved one with dementia and faced with seeing another one touched by it.

In this crazy world we’re living in at the moment, Jemi has been faced with another problem in coping with dementia, how to see and talk with her mother while not being allowed at the facility. Through Facetime and a great staff at the facility, she is able to keep in touch with her mother despite the difficulty.

◊ DANCING WITH DEMENTIA, Recognizing and Coping with the Early Stages of Dementia
◊ by Jemi Fraser

◊ Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir
◊ Publisher: Just Jemi Books
◊ eBooks
◊ ISBN-13: 978-1-9991258-1-3

Dementia and Alzheimer’s touch the lives of millions around the world, but so much is still unknown.

As first-generation Canadians, we didn’t recognize the early warning signs. We didn’t know the differences between regular aging and the early stages of dementia. We’ve made mistakes but we’ve learned a lot.

DANCING WITH DEMENTIA will help you:
•Identify those early warning signs
•Use visuals to improve communication
•Choose your words wisely
•Redirect and reassure
•Stay calm and cope with your own emotions
•Consider nursing home options
•Improve caregiver self-care

We’ve learned to dance the early steps of the disease with our love and laughter intact. If you are looking for help recognizing early signposts along with practical ways to cope with early Dementia and Alzheimer’s, this book is for you.

DANCING WITH DEMENTIA buy links:
Amazon.com              Amazon.ca          Apple Books       Barnes & Noble          Kobo

Add DANCING WITH DEMENTIA to your Goodreads shelf

Jemi is offering a tour-wide international giveaway of an Amazon Gift Card. More information on the giveaway is listed below. First some information about the book.

Now my thoughts on this heartfelt story though I don’t think I can do it justice with my words.

When dealing with a person who has dementia you don’t always know what to expect, what to do or what to say. Author Jemi Fraser has summed up those feelings, along with some trial and error events, in her release, DANCING WITH DEMENTIA.

The author shares her family’s struggles and bright moments of coming to terms with her mother’s dementia, as well as medical issues faced by her stepfather. In this touching account, the author doesn’t hold back any punches as she explains the journey from realizing what was happening to reaching a new normal where the entire family can be as happy as possible given the circumstance. She notes the struggles of having the disease diagnosed while many of the symptoms can be thought of as just what happens when one gets older.

If you have ever had to or if you are currently carrying for someone with dementia, this is a must read. It will help you understand you’re not alone in the issues you face and the choices you make. If your life hasn’t been touched by this terrible disease, this is a must read. It will help you see the signs and know what some of the hurdles you can face will be.

The author has also shared the humor and delight that can still be found when faced with this disease. She explains that laughter is sometimes the only way to go to help you cope with what you are faced with.

There are tips and helpful hints throughout the book. The author has laid her heart on the line sharing the ups and downs her family has faced and continues to face.

This is a heartfelt, tender story that needed to be told and shared as more and more face this situation. The author shares this story with insight and gentleness while faced with a difficult personal experience. You may need a box of tissue handy if you are tender-hearted as the author takes you on a profound journey into how dementia impacts not only the individual, but their family and friends.

Author Jemi Fraser

For those who aren’t familiar with the author, here’s a bit of background on her.

Jemi Fraser writes both fiction and nonfiction. Her nonfiction work focuses on the ways that dementia has impacted her family. Her fiction work varies from contemporary romance to suspense and flash fiction. Years as a teacher have taught Jemi that life is short and that happy endings are a must.

Jemi lives in Northern Ontario, Canada where snow is always a topic of conversation and the autumn leaves make everything better.

For more on Jemi and her writing, visit her following sites:

Website          Just Jemi Blog       Dancing With Dementia blog 

Amazon Page        BookBub      Goodreads       Facebook       Twitter       Quick Tips Videos

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This tour-wide giveaway is for a $20 Amazon Gift Card. The giveaway is open internationally.

To enter the giveaway, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be patient. If the widget doesn’t show up, just click HERE and you’ll be directed to the widget.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to follow Jemi on her week-long tour HERE. You never know what you might find out. I hope dementia hasn’t touch your family or friends, but in case it has do you have any tips to share on dealing with this terrible disease?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This and That

It’s time for a “This and That” post, which I haven’t done in quite some time. But let’s be honest, I haven’t done a lot of any posting here lately. I say I’m going to do better (with the best of intentions) and then life gets a little crazier and I let it sidetrack me.

I think some of my problem is that at heart I’m a list maker. And for some time now I’ haven’t been making lists. Without a list I feel a bit lost. I’ve never completely finished everything on a list, but I feel better knowing I’ve done at least a few of the things that needed to be done. I’m slowly starting to make lists again so maybe that will help. For some reason you can have five planners (which I do) but they don’t help if you don’t actually plan in them (LOL).

Before I get too carried away here, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who voiced concern over my sick family member. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging about that. The sick family member is my fur baby, Traveler. For those of you who have fur babies, you understand that even though he is a cat, he is my baby and a huge part of our family.

A short version of what’s happen with Traveler. End of September he got where he wouldn’t eat anything. Go to the vet who says he could be a virus. The vet said Traveler is probably older than we think (he was a stray that adopted me) and that he could have the beginnings of kidney problems. We got medicine, he started back eating and follow up showed kidneys not as bad as first thought but still need to watch closely. Weeks go by, he’s eating but looks like he’s losing weight and not really acting like himself. Begin to notice his breathing is also changing. Back to vet who say, “he doesn’t have long” fluid is building up. Get more medicine and a week later back for another follow up. This visit the vet say, “it’s like examining a different cat.” While he gives us a good report, he cautioned the fluid could return because Traveler’s heart isn’t pumping hard enough (due to his age). We’re advised to watch and if that happens begin giving him one of the medicines again once daily (for the rest of his life). He went two full days without any medicine before the breathing started changing again. We’re back on the medicine and his breathing is still not normal. He has some difficulty at times but other times does okay. I'm thinking he probably needs the medicine twice a day like before. We'll see what the vet says. (Ingrid, I just want to let you know I’m still heartbroken for you over your loss of Ruby. I’ve thought a lot about you during Travel’s illness. Prayers continue for you.) Thanks again everyone for your concern, it means a lot to me.

On to other things, I am hoping someone has a suggestion or recommendation for me concerning moving files from one computer to another. Back before Christmas I purchased a new HP laptop. I still haven’t started using it yet. I need to move all my programs and files to the new computer. I don’t have a clue how to do that. P-L-E-A-S-E someone help.

I’ve got a number of books that I want to share my thoughts on with you. In addition, there are several new-to-me authors I want to introduce to you. Hopefully I can get on track again sharing with you (no promises this time). There are so many wonderful books out there and I am so far behind. Two books I do want to mention (and I will go into more details about each at a later date) are MURDER, JUST BECAUSE by Yvonne Renee, the fifth installment in her Detective Quaid Mysteries series, and Jemi Fraser’s debut release, DANCING WITH DEMENTIA, coming out soon. Be sure to keep those two on your radar and check them out.

How do you relieve stress? Do you do exercises to help keep your mind sharp? Are the two things the same? Over the years, as crazy as it sounds, I’ve found that Spider Solitaire helps to relax me and helps me to concentrate. Granted I only play on the medium level, but it helps. It makes me focus on something different and for those few minutes I’m playing everything else melts away. I like to think it also helps my mind to stay sharp.

I don’t normally play any other games online, but I recently came across one that I’ve downloaded on my iPad. It’s called June’s Journey and it’s set in the 1920s. It’s all about finding objects hidden in a scene so you can advance to the next level. It’s entertaining and it works my mental process. If you haven’t seen the game, but sure to check it out. Besides, there’s a fun mystery plot that goes along with the game. If you have seen it, have you tried it? What do you think of it? Is it too childish for you? Do you like games that challenge you to remember where something was or find something that is not out in plain sight?

Well, I guess I’ve rambled on for long enough. Thanks for stopping by today and especially for continuing to support this blog. Y’all are the greatest. Now, what have y’all been up to?