Brain Health Expert: Patricia Faust
My boomer brain has hit some stark realizations over this past year.
It all started off with the effects of long Covid. Never have I experienced the physical, mental, and emotional effects of having a long-term illness. Covid has kicked my ass!
Significant Impact On My Life:
Chronological age never had a significant impact on my life. I am a gerontologist and look at the aging process holistically. From my perspective, age made no difference until I got sick. Then all my medical problems were weighed against my age. For example, “for someone your age, we need to consider this.” That was discouraging! But I soon realized that I wasn’t bouncing back from Covid, and I was accumulating specialists on a regular basis. It was determined that I was not physically able to continue working, which was a crushing blow – mostly to my ego.
“Guidance in the process allowed me the structure to go forward.”
Then the craziest idea popped into my head while I was sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. I have been encouraged to write a book for as long as I can remember. What better time than now! The first glaring problem I had with this idea was that I had severe brain fog. Putting two words together became an impossible feat. Instead of sitting down and just writing, I signed up for a course on how to publish a book. Guidance in the process allowed me the structure to go forward.
When I realized I was having so much trouble writing original work I started getting concerned that I wouldn’t be able to write again. Brain fog does awful things to your brain! When I looked over the library of articles and chapters I had already written, I realized I didn’t have to start from scratch to get this book started. That released the pressure I was feeling to create. Then my creative juices started flowing. It was a little disjointed because my brain fog slowed down my brain immensely.
Brain Training:
Brain health is my jam, and I was not going to let my brain be taken over by Covid. All my knowledge about brain health was thrown into high gear. I had used brain training years ago after I had brain surgery. It was time to get back into that intense program. BrainHQ by Posit Science has worked wonders for my brain function.
Not only did I have deficits from Covid brain fog, but I am 72 years old and physiologically my brain is in slow down mode. That was unacceptable to me and made brain training a mandatory exercise. It has been a year since I started regaining top brain function. It is a slower process, but I can notice a difference!
That brings me back to my book. I knew the benchmarks that I needed to hit and plugged away consistently on hitting those individual goals. It took me longer than I expected but last September I had a rough manuscript. As it turned out, writing the book was the easiest part of the experience. I had no budget for this book, so I had to do everything myself. It takes a village to get a book self-published. I enlisted friends, mentors, and experts to be readers of the manuscript. They offered many editing suggestions I wasn’t aware of and guided me on ways to make this book the best version possible. I am so grateful for their help.
“Brain health is my jam, and I was not going to let my brain be taken over by Covid.”
The course I took was invaluable in guiding along the path to publishing. There were many options available for typesetting and converting the word doc file to pdf-ready for printing and converting the pdf to an epub file for the eBook version. But it never worked for me!
That is when my husband came to my rescue. He learned the Adobe InDesign program to typeset my book. I was sitting with him while he did it and it was a challenging program. Patience must be part of the creative process because there is so much to learn. But he did it and it is beautiful.
Right Resources To Guide Me:
Self-publishing is not for sissies! The next hurdle was to convert the PDF into an ePUB file for the eBook. We tried and tried over a few weeks to do it ourselves, but it wasn’t to be. It was time to look for some outside help and we went to Fiverr, a freelance site. It took two freelancers to deliver what we needed but we got an amazing file!
We were ready to publish! Over last year, I learned the ins and outs of publishing on Amazon. It was another challenge for my brain. But I found the right resources to guide me in the process.
On June 9, 2024, The Boomer Brain was published on Amazon! I have never been more excited than when I saw my book for sale on Amazon. But the experience got even better. On Tuesday, June 11, The Boomer Brain was rated the #1 New Release in Aging Medical Conditions and Diseases. Incredible! All my research on how to navigate Amazon paid off.
Covid Brain Fog:
What are all the stark realizations of this past year, now? I have an aging body that has taken a beating this year. What might have been acute health problems when I was younger have become chronic problems now. As for my brain, the challenges are palpable. However, I will not allow my brain to succumb to Covid brain fog. Fortunately, I know what to do to get me back on track to my higher functioning brain. It will be constant retraining because the natural aging changes are coming along faster too.
“Aging is a nonmodifiable risk factor for dementia.”
That is the basic premise of The Boomer Brain. Aging is a nonmodifiable risk factor for dementia. No matter what, we are experiencing aging changes. Understanding what is happening and making appropriate lifestyle changes give us the power to maintain a high-functioning brain until the very end. This information is for everyone.
The Boomer Brain:
The aging process is tough, and there are so many changes that we don’t feel we have any control over. There is no secret sauce, or magic pill that can turn back the time to your younger brain. This book captures the why and how of aging changes and turns them into your starting point for making critical updates to your brain. When you have the knowledge, strategies and tools necessary to change your brain, you will change your life. Understanding how to use them and committing to the process of change are your keys to successful aging.
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About the Author:
Patricia Faust is a gerontologist specializing in the issues of brain aging, brain health, brain function and dementia. She has a Masters in Gerontological Studies degree from Miami University in Oxford Ohio. Patricia is certified as a brain health coach and received a certification in Neuroscience and Wellness through Dr. Sarah McKay and the Neuroscience Academy. My Boomer Brain, founded in 2015, is the vehicle that Patricia utilizes to teach, coach and consult about brain aging, brain health and brain function. Her newsletter, My Boomer Brain, has international readers from South Africa, Australia, throughout Europe and Canada. She has also been a frequent guest on Medicare Moment on WMKV and Cincy Lifestyles on WCPO.
