Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Window of Opportunity book now available



Window of Opportunity: Living with the reality of Parkinson's and the threat of dementia is now available as a book.  Order in book format at http://www.pygmybooks.com/BuyBooks.html (page 2) or http://www.amazon.com/Window-Opportunity-Reality-Parkinsons-Dementia/dp/0984206345/ref=tmm_pap_title_0Order in ebook format at http://www.amazon.com/WINDOW-OPPORTUNITY-reality-Parkinsons-dementia-ebook/dp/B00JG577PG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=.  

A webinar is planned for Wednesday, June 4, 2014 at 2 pm Eastern on Webex.  Registration and access information will be available on the Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) website (www.lbda.org) in May.  The goal of the webinar is to give Lewy body dementia (LBD), Parkinson's patients (PWPs) and their caregivers the opportunity to hear first hand from Alexander Dreier, who has been diagnosed with LBD, and his wife, Olivia, about what is like for them and how they deal with this diagnosis.  My wife, Linda, and I will also participate as representatives of the "PD world" and how we are dealing with my mild cognitive impairment (MCI) diagnosis, as MCI is often a precursor to Lewy body dementia (LBD).  There will be an opportunity to ask questions. 

My book tells in detail of our journey with the cognitive issues that are common with PD, my MCI diagnosis, what I have learned about PD dementia (which most often falls into the LBD category) and plans for the future.  

I had the pleasure of meeting Helen and James Whitworth (Jim was one of the founders of the LBDA), authors of the best seller A Caregivers Guide to Lewy Body Dementia (available on amazon.com) at the recent Keystone PD Conference.  They will be publishing a new book in the near future that sheds additional light on LBD and insights that will be of interest to anyone concerned about LBD, including remarks specifically addressed to PWPs and their caregivers.  They have reviewed my book and made these comments:

"When Jim and I met Kirk Hall at a Parkinson’s conference in Colorado, we were impressed with his obvious intelligence and knowledge. When I read his book, that was confirmed, but most of all, I was impressed with his courage and determination. Like others facing the possibility of dementia, he found himself alone. Even his wife could see only the positives at first. Yet, he motored on, seeking a diagnosis that fit his symptoms. In the meantime, Kirk’s book shows that he did all of the physical things that help to keep dementia at bay—things like exercising, yoga, eating right and decreasing stress. But he did more. He improved his quality of life and made his days worth living. He moved closer to his grandchildren, increased his focus on spirituality and reached out to others, teaching and sharing. And then he started writing, joining that small group of men like Dr. Thomas Graboys, Rick Phelps and Charles Schneider who tell about dementia from the inside out. As caregivers, Jim and I can only write about dementia from the outside in. We join all dementia caregivers in our gratefulness to men like Kirk who give of their very soul as they tell us what it is like to feel dementia encroaching. Thank you, Kirk, for your heartfelt story. We recommend it to not only all PD and LBD caregivers, but to the medical community as well."

Helen & James Whitworth

2 comments:

  1. Kirk, I would very much like to participate in the webinar in June with regard to your book, Window of Opportunity. Can you please tell me how I can register for this event?

    Valerie Graham
    vgraham999@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Info should be available in May on lbda.com. Will let you know.

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