Appreciation from (and to) A Recent Graduate

Oct 22, 2019 | Dr. Melanie Chandler, HABIT FL Director | @drmelaniechandler | Comments (11)

Fishing Lures

We just finished HABIT in Jacksonville, and a participant allowed me to post a wonderful message he and his wife wrote to us in a thank you card.

Dear Drs. Chandler, Oskarsson, Tran, and Michelle, Miranda, and Carolyne:

Imagine an entire team of compassionate professionals focused on helping our loved ones live their best lives. Over the last 10 days, these dedicated super stars taught us "how to fish" so we could actually take the steps, make the commitment and start down the path to live our best lives. 

Thank you for all you have taught us and for showing us this path.

We admire you and will always appreciate how you have made a differences in our lives.

With much gratitude,

Linda & Marc

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."  Dalai Lama

"It is a huge edge, sometimes life-saving, to adopt a good idea early and put it into practice." Brandon Webb

And from Us:

Linda & Marc -

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lives and journey! Facilitating HABIT truly allows us to get a sense of purpose and fulfillment in our lives. For that, we thank you, and all our HABIT Alumni.  

Respectfully, 

The Florida HABIT Team

 

 

Interested in more newsfeed posts like this? Go to the Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) blog.

OMG... This brought tears to my eyes. I wish I wrote it... it exactly expresses what I and so many of the alumni feel. I hope I get to meet Marc and Linda at one of our alumni meetings. Thanks for brightening my day and helping me remember my blessings.

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Thanks Debbra 🙂

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Does anyone know how I, from NYC, might find a similar program such as HABIT?

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Hi @barbb - When my husband was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), I looked everywhere. The only programs I could find were at the Mayo campuses. And when we went through the 10 day program, we had people in our class who had flown in from all over. I'm not sure if there are other programs out there now, but I haven't heard of them. There are plenty of programs for Alzheimers and dementia, but not MCI. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with MCI, I would suggest contacting your nearest MAYO campus, ask for the HABIT program, and talk to them about options. They are very caring and compassionate people. They will give you good information.

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Thanks much for your comments. When was it that you were checking out MCI programs? Looks like the closest to me in NYC. would be the place you went - Jacksonville. The irony is that it looks like the Habit people are not interested in working with widows or widowers who don't have a partner! 🙁 But I may follow up with your suggestion of talking with them on the phone anyway. If I weren't so busy already (partly thanks to the MCI) I would consider seeing about advocating for something like that here in the Big City! 🙂

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@barbb

Thanks much for your comments. When was it that you were checking out MCI programs? Looks like the closest to me in NYC. would be the place you went - Jacksonville. The irony is that it looks like the Habit people are not interested in working with widows or widowers who don't have a partner! 🙁 But I may follow up with your suggestion of talking with them on the phone anyway. If I weren't so busy already (partly thanks to the MCI) I would consider seeing about advocating for something like that here in the Big City! 🙂

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I am/was interested in this habit program and I am from Illinois and currently seeing doctors at Rochester MN . Today I asked about this after seeing information here and remembered when I saw flyer in dept of Psychiatry and psychology which I thought would of been more in the neurology dept. They have canceled it here but still have in Florida. They said other clinic are using similar techniques or there ideas so you may want to check out different depts and places. I currently use a calendar in kitchen for when take med; one in bathroom for showers, my colon issues, and note some cleaning chores on it; and carry one with me for work hours, doctors, and events. Mayo said that is almost but with only one calendar don't miss or overlap things. The person I talked to didn't know why it was canceled program. Good luck.

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@barbb

Thanks much for your comments. When was it that you were checking out MCI programs? Looks like the closest to me in NYC. would be the place you went - Jacksonville. The irony is that it looks like the Habit people are not interested in working with widows or widowers who don't have a partner! 🙁 But I may follow up with your suggestion of talking with them on the phone anyway. If I weren't so busy already (partly thanks to the MCI) I would consider seeing about advocating for something like that here in the Big City! 🙂

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Hi @barbb - We were checking out MCI programs in 2015/2016. I don't think its that the HABIT people don't want to work with widows or widowers. We have had a number of widows/widowers in our program and in our alumni group. The issue is that the HABIT program is structured so that each person with MCI needs to attend with a training partner. We had several ladies in our class who came with their daughters and in our alumni group I've met a guy who attended with his brother, a man who attended with his son, and a lady who came with a neighbor who lived near in her retirement community. There are lots of options! I hope you can find a way to work it out. It's an impressive program.

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@leslon

I am/was interested in this habit program and I am from Illinois and currently seeing doctors at Rochester MN . Today I asked about this after seeing information here and remembered when I saw flyer in dept of Psychiatry and psychology which I thought would of been more in the neurology dept. They have canceled it here but still have in Florida. They said other clinic are using similar techniques or there ideas so you may want to check out different depts and places. I currently use a calendar in kitchen for when take med; one in bathroom for showers, my colon issues, and note some cleaning chores on it; and carry one with me for work hours, doctors, and events. Mayo said that is almost but with only one calendar don't miss or overlap things. The person I talked to didn't know why it was canceled program. Good luck.

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Hi @leslon, I am the director for the Midwest HABIT program. I am afraid the person you spoke to did not have all of the information. The program is not cancelled in the Midwest, in fact today was the last day of our October session here in La Crosse, WI. We have not set dates for 2020 sessions yet, due to needing to identify a reliable space where we can hold the program. If you would like to be on our waiting list for 2020, please reach out to @mirandamorris. Thank you!

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@barbb

Thanks much for your comments. When was it that you were checking out MCI programs? Looks like the closest to me in NYC. would be the place you went - Jacksonville. The irony is that it looks like the Habit people are not interested in working with widows or widowers who don't have a partner! 🙁 But I may follow up with your suggestion of talking with them on the phone anyway. If I weren't so busy already (partly thanks to the MCI) I would consider seeing about advocating for something like that here in the Big City! 🙂

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Hi @barbb - We definitely love to work with widows and widowers! The rehab approach we use in HABIT needs the support of a partner after HABIT is done to really stick. @debbraw is right, we encourage folks to think of other family and friends who may be (or share the job) of being the partner. We've even had paid caregivers attend with patients. We do wish we had something to offer those who truly have no one to ask.

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@debbraw

Hi @barbb - We were checking out MCI programs in 2015/2016. I don't think its that the HABIT people don't want to work with widows or widowers. We have had a number of widows/widowers in our program and in our alumni group. The issue is that the HABIT program is structured so that each person with MCI needs to attend with a training partner. We had several ladies in our class who came with their daughters and in our alumni group I've met a guy who attended with his brother, a man who attended with his son, and a lady who came with a neighbor who lived near in her retirement community. There are lots of options! I hope you can find a way to work it out. It's an impressive program.

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Thanks again for your comments. The way I read their wording, I thought they were talking about couples - in the narrow sense or just one sense of the word!

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