Connections

By Valerie Driscoll, Lead Coach and Coaching Program Developer for Apollo Health

Whenever I decide to take a break from my relationship with Brain HQ (you can read about that here if you like), I move along with my sometimes sweetheart, The New York Times Games section, who is not quite the thrill ride but much less work.  My favorite of these games is Connections, a collection of 16 seemingly random words that the solver must arrange into 4 categories that “well” connect. Sometimes solving the puzzle takes me 2 minutes, sometimes 20, and on rare occasions, I can only manage to stare at the words, exit, and return later for another go. Even though I sometimes start out in complete confusion, with patience and perseverance, I get a good outcome.

Today, a little tired and stressed, I stared at the 16 words on the screen and saw nothing. As I sat there, it occurred to me that this is what many members new to the Bredesen Protocol must feel like as they start this journey. Our plan for maintaining and restoring cognition is multifaceted. It includes suggested testing, lifestyle changes, educational and resource guides, education and support groups, town halls, recipes, product information, and recommendations for finding a practitioner and building a care team. I can see how a member could look at all of this info without any idea of how it all connects.

Luckily, the Apollo Health team works very hard to constantly make the puzzle of cognitive decline easier to solve, starting with the comprehensive PreCODE or ReCODE report, which is absolutely the most efficient and meaningful way to begin your Bredesen journey. As a facilitator and coach, I recommend that every Apollo member with whom I work invest in a report, even though I sometimes get a fair amount of pushback.

If you haven’t looked at everything that is included in one of Apollo’s reports, I suggest you revisit a sample PreCODE Report or a sample ReCODE Report here. Either report, which contains over 50 pages of information — based on your unique data — is the link that allows you to define a starting point and continue connecting your steps on the journey. We also strongly encourage every practitioner and coach to begin their patient/client partnership with the appropriate report. There is simply no better or more effective way to start PreCODE or ReCODE. Let’s take a quick view of only a few of the important connections your report will make:

Connection #1

Your biomarkers and your cognitive risk factors — what is going on inside you, and how is it affecting not only your brain health but your overall health as well?

Connection #2

What are the subtypes of Alzheimer’s, and why do they matter? This info can also be helpful in finding team members (coach, practitioner, nutritionist) who specialize in your area of higher risk.

Connection #3

How do you get started? Example:

Connection #4

Where can you find out more? One of my biggest frustrations as a facilitator and coach is the lack of connection some members have to all that is available to them through the Apollo member site. This is unfortunate, for we have a bounty of information available to enhance and simplify the member experience. Each section of the PreCODE/ ReCODE report that explains the B7 contains hyperlinks to relevant information contained in our member guides. Examples:

Connection #6

Outside reading recommendations so that you, too, can become a super nerd:

Connection #7

Our fantastic app! If you have not tried it yet, we give you a very quick tutorial on its use and how to manage the info to start slowly and improve steadily.

Connection #8

Tracking the connection between adopting the protocol and consistent improvements:

As you explore your report and our member site, many other connections will emerge, including connections to other members through our forum, connections to additional learning and support through our groups, and connections to the latest research updates and program improvements.

While my NYT Connections is a game and your Bredesen Protocol journey is certainly not, there is the similarity that with perseverance and patience, you can have the outcome you desire.