Living with Loss: Navigating Grief in Chronic Illness

Living with a chronic illness can mean living with infinite loss. This can lead to persistent feelings of grief. How do we walk through such difficulty and still hold on to hope? This webinar explores how grief impacts the lives of those living with a limiting diagnosis along with its impact on their loves ones and what we can do to cope with what will always be, grieve what will never be, and look forward to what may be.

This webinar was hosted with the help of the Huntington's Disease Society of America.

Ataxia is a rare neurological disease that can have a wide array of genetic origins. For more information on Ataxia, please visit our website: www.ataxia.org

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About the Speakers-

Speaker: Cara Loy, LICSW-S
Bio: Cara Loy is the social worker for UAB’s Movement Disorders clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. She is a clinical social worker and Alabama board-approved clinical supervisor. She graduated with her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Alabama in 2017. She served six years working in child welfare and supporting foster families and children before coming on board with the UAB Movement Disorders team in 2023. Cara serves patients with Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, ataxias, and other movement disorders. She has a passion for providing compassion, support, and resources to her families and she is honored to play a small part in their journey.

Speaker: Melissa Schmittler
Bio: Melissa Schmittler was diagnosed with SCA 3 in 2019. Melissa worked as a registered nurse for 20 plus years in the intensive care unit, medical imaging, hospice, and palliative care. She lives with her husband in central Illinois and loves STL Blues hockey, yellow lab, and spending time with family and friends.

Speaker: Cheryl Sullivan
Bio: Cheryl Sullivan Staveley is a retired RN with over 35 years of personal experience with Huntington’s Disease. Since her first husband’s diagnosis with HD in 1989, she has been an active volunteer for HDSA, both locally and nationally. Cheryl facilitates two support groups, one specifically for HD Caregivers. She has traveled the USA, advocating, and educating health care students and professionals, civic, lay, and non-profit organizations, as well as biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Cheryl is a proud member of HD-COPE. Having been a long time caregiver for her husband and daughter, it is incumbent upon Cheryl to help other HD families in any way that she is able to.