When she was little, my daughter, Alexus, visited a 7-Eleven store with my wife, Jill. To reward Alexus’s wonderful report card, Jill said she could choose any treat. Our daughter said she wanted one of those scratch-off lottery tickets. Jill patiently tried to explain that no one ever really…
I can’t stand dogs. They bark a lot. They smell. They require a lot of attention. They tend to whine when I’m on the phone. So, yeah, I can’t stand them. Relax, people! I’m just kidding! I wanted to get your attention for a couple of minutes so you could…
This week marks a year since I started writing my column, “A Family Tradition.” Having a forum like this has provided an amazing opportunity to share about the journey my wife, Jill, and I have embarked on since her Huntington’s disease diagnosis in 2018. Honestly, I wish neither she…
Listen, do you hear that sound? It’s the sound of people panicking. The cause of their panic? The coronavirus. It’s difficult to avoid the topic as it’s constantly on the TV news, on the front pages of every newspaper, and all over the internet. It’s the subject of jokes…
Emily Zivin is a licensed clinical social worker at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Movement Disorders Center in Chicago, one of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America’s Centers of Excellence. My wife, Jill, and I know her from Jill’s visits there. We find her to be effervescent, highly knowledgeable,…
Recently, our daughter, Alexus, came home for a weekend visit. It was wonderful, and the weather was perfect. We ate delicious food and had one big ball of fun. We are lucky to live in an area with many things to do. The weather has been so gray lately, but…
Because Feb. 29 is Rare Disease Day, I thought it would be a good idea to talk to my wife about what makes her so rare. Jill was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease in 2018. In the U.S., the number of people who have the disease is about…
Valentine’s Day, a holiday my wife doesn’t believe in, has come and gone. Jill sees the day as a manufactured holiday. She believes that every day should be like Valentine’s Day — in other words, you should show love every day to the ones you love. We don’t make grand…
As most of you know, my wife and daughter tested positive for Huntington’s disease. They have witnessed the brutality that Huntington’s can inflict, and they have every right to curl up in bed every day and cry. But they don’t. They get up and continue forward with what I…
I’m not a nurse or a social worker. In other words, I haven’t received formal training in caregiving from a college or a university. But I do feel that I’m prepared to do well as a caregiver because of the training I received as a child. I grew up in…
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