Thriving through Adversity when Alzheimers Invades your Life with Patti Hanrath, Founder Kinergy Leadership EP:16

Published: Oct. 22, 2019, 9 a.m.

Imagine having Alzheimer\u2019s take over your closest loved one and framing it as \u201cThe Incredible Journey\u201d! That\u2019s been Patti Hanrath\u2019s response over the past four years as her husband, Joe, has fairly rapidly \u2018disappeared\u2019 due to early onset of this disease.\xa0 \xa0 The first red flag that something was wrong was easily chalked up to stress and perhaps fatigue; but the second clear sign came only a couple of weeks later as Patti and Joe were playing a card game with friends.\xa0 \xa0 It took the medical community nearly a year to accurately diagnose what Joe was experiencing, and while it was devastating, it was also a relief. Patti says, \u201cIt was a relief to know what we were actually dealing with\u2026 it was finally concrete.\u201d And the knowing allowed them to make decisions about how they would move forward before they found themselves in crisis-mode.\xa0 \xa0 In their early 50\u2019s, they were empty-nesters and in a place financially to do the things they\u2019d been wanting to do: travel, experience life, spend more time with their kids and grandkids, set money aside for later, and continue to do the work in the businesses each of them had built and enjoyed doing. But in that first moment when Joe became frustrated attempting to make a simple math calculation \u2013 something he did many times a day, every day, for most of his adult life\u2026 all of that was gone.\xa0 \xa0 Change has been more pronounced in their lives as a result. They closed Joe\u2019s custom home building business and sold their own dream home and moved into town where they are closer to friends, family, and resources. All along the way, Patti has been proactive in seeking and asking for help in a variety of forms, so from the outside looking in, the journey has been smooth, thoughtfully planned, and not marked by what we usually imagine when we think of how one would deal with this situation.\xa0 \xa0 But what one sees from the outside is not the truth of what\u2019s going on inside. As her role in Joe\u2019s life shifted from wife to caregiver, Patti set two goals: To ensure Joe had the very best care possible, and that she \u2018would not go down with the ship.\u2019 She\u2019s allowed herself time and space to mourn their losses at each step along the way, to focus on living moment-to-moment and day-by-day, and to frame everything she\u2019s experiencing as a lesson she needs to learn that is, in some way, preparing her for the next season in her life.\xa0 \xa0 They hit a significant turning point recently, when Joe reached a stage of needing more full-time care than Patti could give, as the situation was becoming debilitating to her health, as well. And in that moment, they received a miracle.\xa0 \xa0 The story is ongoing, and it\u2019s already bearing fruit. Her experience is allowing Patti to develop and share lessons and tools that can help others \u201cThrive through Adversity,\u201d which she is using in her Coaching and Leadership Development practice.\xa0 \xa0 To learn more, listen in on today\u2019s conversation, then look Patti up:\xa0 Kinergy Leadership Connect by email\xa0 \xa0(patti@kinergyleadership.com) \xa0 Patti\u2019s Bio \xa0 Patti Hanrath has been on a lifelong journey of learning; doing it her way. Early in life she learned the importance of mentorship, being mentored and mentoring others. \xa0 After a twenty-four-year career of leading customer service teams in the Banking industry, she became a leadership coach and started her own business, Kinergy Leadership. Patti\u2019s passion now is to come along side professional women who are going through some kind of life adversity.\xa0 Through her own experiences and her training as a Leadership Coach, she helps them navigate their own journey to\xa0Live Life Fully and Boldly. \xa0 Influenced by both her Grandmother and her Father, she came to understand that you reap what you sow. Today, it is her children and grandchildren that inspire her by giving back to her what she provided for them: love, support and encouragement.\xa0 \xa0 It is her journey with her husband Joe, who is living with Alzheimer\u2019s, at the early age of 57, that has brought her to understand the true impact of Living Life Fully. \xa0 In the words of one of her clients:\xa0\u201cPatti is an example of living fully to the highest degree. She navigates life with admirable grace.\u201d