“Nerdection Must Read”
Parents are one of the greatest blessings in this world, but sometimes and regrettably these blessings slowly disappear due to diseases, problems, and life. Though watching your parents disappear is painful, yet watching your parents suffer while vanishing is excruciatingly painful. Multiple Sclerosis is a common condition that affects 2.5 million people worldwide. “My Parent Has MS” by Dr. Michelle Swann is a book that sheds light and guidance for teenagers whose parent is suffering from this condition.
So why should you read this book? Let’s find out!
Why Should You Read My Parent Has MS: A Gameplan?
Just like Michelle’s previous books, “Writing Professional Emails” and “Teen Moms”, My Parent Has MS was captivating, didn’t bore at all, was well-paced, fluff-free and quite informative. Basically, Michelle’s writing style was shining in this book too. Apart from her writing style, what was really similar to the previous two books was the first-hand experience Michelle had with the given topic. Due to her mother being an MS patient, Michelle knew all the ups and downs and ins and outs of Multiple Sclerosis, so she gave all the precious information she knew from her experience to the children whose parents suffer from MS.
Really Emphatic Book:
Let’s face this: Teens are really children enclosed in adult or young-adult bodies, they know less about the world, and even less about expressing their emotions of fear and sadness. So navigating their life while their parent is suffering from MS is challenging and heartbreaking at the same time. Michelle really makes a point in this book to let teens know that she understands and relates everything they are going through. Her genuine pieces of advice make her a big sister of the teens who supports and guides softly to her younger siblings.
In this book, Michelle emphasizes on the importance of ignoring all the negative comments outsiders make for the sake of your own mental health. Not only does she give unique solutions to small day-to-day problems MS patients face, but she also tells her experience of taking care of her mother.
A Complete Encyclopedia:
This book not only gives pieces of advice to teens, but also explains MS and its types, diagnosis, treatments and it’s causes in detail. This is really helpful for teens who don’t know much about MS and helps them in preparing themselves for the future. My Parent Has MS also helps teens determine the future symptoms of MS and how they can help their parents in this critical stage of their lives.
Self-Care is Important
If someone’s parent is suffering from MS, that person will feel guilty doing self-care. Michelle emphasizes that self-care is necessary while taking care of your parent because, you know, you can’t pour from an empty cup. But also, your own physical, mental, and emotional health is important. If you lose all your hope, how are your parent’s gonna feel?
Self-care is also important because as a teen, you need the necessary care to grow and thrive in this world. Michelle tries to shift a teen’s mentality to optimism so that they can better live and care for their MS parent while crafting their unique path in life.
Managing Home Chores
Michelle not only guides you on how to care for your parent, self-care, and taking care of diet and fluids but also on how to manage all the home chores that fall on a teen’s shoulder while their parents are suffering from MS. She emphasizes and tells important points on how to make the best of your life while balancing study, part-time jobs and everything in-between. She also does not guilt-shame teens for not doing home chores to the best because she knows that human lives are imperfect and no one can really perform exceptionally well in everything, so she tells teens to be graceful and care for themselves and their MS parent first.
Michelle’s Own Experience:
What made My Parent Has MS the best of the best was the relevance and reliability of this book. Michelle told her experience at the end of each chapter and how all these things affected her life and how she navigated through these problems. This seemed really hopeful as if she was telling the teens that, “If I can, so can you”. She also provided examples of how she managed her life, emotions, house chores, studies and self-care while being a great daughter, mother, and professor. She also did not shy away from the sensitive and triggering topics that an MS patient, like any other person in the world, has to go through. Her words seemed like a band-aid to fresh wounds.
Overall, My Parent Has MS is great to read if you or someone you know is suffering from MS. This book offers a complete game plan for teens to manage their lives while mentally and physically caring for their MS parent.
Content Warning for My Parent Has MS:
Brief mention of the death of a parent.
Age Appropriation:
Teens and above.
About The Author Of My Parent Has MS: A Gameplan
Dr. Michelle Swann manages and owns Focal Point Consultancy. She is also an author of non-fiction books. She has taught for many years at universities in Canada and Europe, but now concentrates on her consultancy business and writing. Her consultancy firm serves both corporate clients and those in academia (graduate students and professors). Her areas of expertise include life coaching, English writing skills, and professional development coaching. Among her written works are Writing Professional Emails: The Step-by-Step Guide, Teen Mothers: Designing a Fabulous Life, and My Parent has MS: A Game Plan. Stories from her personal life are included in both her teen mother and MS books. Michelle fills her free time with piano playing, sailing, rowing, and audiobook listening. In addition, she designs notebooks, logbooks, recipe books, and more under the name Quatrefoil Productions.
