Darryl Pendergrass
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Suddenly a Caregiver - Content Overview

The following provides an overview of the chapters within the book.

  1. Early Life - introduces you to Lynne, a nearly four year survivor of stage 4 brain cancer and me her primary family caregiver and advocate.
  2. The Diagnosis - describes the signs and symptoms leading to the diagnosis of a brain tumor, defined as a glioma and more specifically glioblastoma.
  3. The Treatments - describes the various brain cancer treatments for the malignant tumor: brain surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, and gamma knife.
  4. Saying Goodbye - given the dismal statistics of brain cancer survival rates from brain glioblastoma multiforme, this fighter nearly four years placing her in a very small percentage of people surving for that time.
  5. From a Son's Eyes - captures the event from my son's eyes as he cared for his mother and faced the challenge of saying goodbye.
  6. From a Daughter's Eyes - captures the event from my daughter's eyes as she cared for her mother and faced the challenge of saying goodbye.
  7. From the Family's Eyes - captures the event from the eyes of other immediate family members as they cared for Lynne and faced the challenge of saying goodbye.
  8. Grieving - grief is a normal human response to any signification loss, this chapter covers the grieving process (stages of grief) and the preparation steps I used to recover. I share insights for you to consider that might help your recovery process.
  9. The Brain and Cancer - Describes the types of brain cancer, symptoms, life expectancy, and treatments.
  10. Caregiver Concerns - Presents caregiver issues when caring for someone with brain cancer. While similar to issues faced when caring for people in other situations, caring for someone with brain cancer presents somewhat unique issues.
  11. Advocacy - discusses the lessons learned from becoming the caregiver and case manager
  12. Legal, Financial, and Insurance Issues - describes the need for a living will to document advanced directives and the healthcare power of attorney. Provides information about financial and insurance issues.
  13. Organization Helpers - discuss tips and techniques I learned for organization as a caregiver to reduce stress and burnout.
  14. Caregiver Stress and Burnout - covers the caregiver issues of stress and burnout and tips for helping to minimize them.