What It's Like: A Personal Story of Suffering - Preface
-
Table of Contents
- 0. STORY PREFACE
- 1. Lewy
- 2. Lost
- 3. Dreams
- 4. Enter My World
- 5. The House of Memories
- 6. Wanderers
- 7. The Feather
- 8. Spouse
- 9. Sitting on a Cement Bench
- 10. Watching a Movie
- 11. The Puppy
- 12. Lost Thoughts
- 13. Changing
- 14. Confusion
- 15. My Sister
- 16. Trapped Thoughts
- 17. In a Warm Comfy Bed
- 18. Man Dressed in Black
- 19. Lost Time
- 20. Beauty Unfaded
- 21. Tell Me a Story
- 22. Her Husband
- 23. Appreciate the Beauty of One
- 24. The Bath
- 25. The Key
- 26. Memories
- 27. Eyes
- 28. The Maple Tree
- 29. Death
First Chapter
When she received a bad diagnosis, Janice Veldman—my sister—used poetry to track what was happening to her. I'd asked her to do this. I thought it would help her, in some way, to manage the trauma of an incurable illness.
Her doctors had given Janice the diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia ... the life-robbing disease that had afflicted Robin Williams. It is a debilitating condition with no-known cure.
Janice is now in hospice care. I know that she has more poems in her, but it's important that she sees her first 29 works-of-art in print before she leaves this earth.
A note about her approach. As she told me: "So many books and articles are available for caregivers, but what about the person who is ill? I'm going to tell the story from the sufferer's point-of-view."
The following 29 chapters tell that story.
Media Credits
This image, "Peaceful Sunset - Maldives," is by Giuseppe Milo. He has made it available online via the following license: CC By 2.0.
AwesomePrint