{"id":131,"date":"2012-11-01T01:22:01","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T01:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=131"},"modified":"2012-10-30T21:03:40","modified_gmt":"2012-10-30T21:03:40","slug":"as-we-begin-national-alzheimers-disease-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/11\/as-we-begin-national-alzheimers-disease-awareness-month.html","title":{"rendered":"As We Begin National Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alzheimer&#8217;s disease has touched several people close to me, and as November is Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease Awareness Month, I would like to post several blogs about various aspects of this difficult health challenge.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/11\/Maureen-Pratt-Picture-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-134\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/350\/2012\/11\/Maureen-Pratt-Picture-1-246x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"246\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Already on the Beliefnet site are several pieces that I&#8217;ve put together that give an overview of the disease\u00a0(&#8220;Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease Myths and Facts)\u00a0, resources available (&#8220;Resources for People with Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease and Their Caregivers&#8221;), and a Gallery devoted to spiritual support for caregivers (&#8220;Spiritual Support Tips for Alzheimer&#8217;s Caregivers&#8221;). Alzheimer&#8217;s disease is a multi-faceted affliction, and I hope that, incomplete though it may be, the material I provide on this site and elsewhere will help in raising awareness, lessening the stigma, and providing comfort for all concerned.<\/p>\n<p>The thought of losing cognitive function can be very scary. Seeing a loved one&#8217;s memories fade and personality change can, in some ways be like seeing them die before they reach the physical end of their life. In fact, some people I spoke with in preparation for my blogs and articles told me that it is like &#8220;experiencing the death of a loved one twice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But as I have learned, too, there are many amazing people who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences with others who might only recently be embarking on their own journey with Alzheimer&#8217;s disease, whether as a caregiver or as someone who has the disease. These men and women truly live out the Gospel of caring for the weakest and sickest among us, and by their examples, they give others hope and hints for how to handle the most difficult of situations.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll meet many of these people here, in my blog, throughout this month and will, I pray, gain strength and inspiration from what they have to say. For, with no medical cure for Alzheimer&#8217;s, and very few effective treatments, those who are affected by it in some way need emotional, spiritual, and coping sustenance for what is a very long journey. And, all need to know, we are not alone. There are many others of us with you and you and you &#8211; and together, we can try to make the burden a little lighter as we go along.<\/p>\n<p>So, til my next post, which\u00a0 will be up soon, I invite you to read my other articles and get involved in the discussion &#8211; we have much to share, and much to learn!<\/p>\n<p>Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n<p>Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alzheimer&#8217;s disease has touched several people close to me, and as November is Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease Awareness Month, I would like to post several blogs about various aspects of this difficult health challenge. Already on the Beliefnet site are several pieces that I&#8217;ve put together that give an overview of the disease\u00a0(&#8220;Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease Myths and Facts)\u00a0,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,3,43,4],"tags":[146,140,145,141,142,143,144],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alzheimers-disease","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","tag-alzheimers","tag-alzheimers-disease-2","tag-awareness","tag-caregiver","tag-caregivers","tag-national-alzheimers-disease-awareness-month","tag-support"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>As We Begin National Alzheimer&#039;s Disease Awareness Month - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As We Begin National Alzheimer&#039;s Disease Awareness Month - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alzheimer&#8217;s disease has touched several people close to me, and as November is Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease Awareness Month, I would like to post several blogs about various aspects of this difficult health challenge. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain &amp; Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}