An Unabashed Memoir of the Battle, Breakthrough, and Future with a Genetic Variant

Updated 9/10/2022 To Include A Review

This is my post during the blog tour for Looking for Caylie by Misty Wolf. In Looking for Caylie, author Misty Wolf takes you inside her journey as she fights to discover the cause of Caylie’s rapid cognitive regression and mental health deterioration.

This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours and the tour runs from 11 till 24 July. You can see the tour schedule here.

Looking for Caylie
By Misty Wolf
Genre: Non-fiction Memoir
Release Date: 15 July 2022

Blurb:
In “Looking for Caylie,” author Misty Wolf takes you inside her journey as she fights to discover the cause of Caylie’s rapid cognitive regression and mental health deterioration. Wolf bravely challenges traditional IEP narratives in education by dismantling the school vs. parents mentality and establishing each team member was on Caylie’s side. The authentic and raw accounts as Caylie and Misty’s navigation within the US medical system and disability support reminds us that we are not alone in our journey.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo
– Apple
– Books2Read
– Signed copy

This is a non-fiction story that is sure to hold your attention and captivate your heart.

Though all children are different, Misty Wolf only had one child, so she had no one else to compare Caylie’s behavior to. However, it didn’t take long to realize that her daughter’s unusual actions couldn’t all be attributed to early adolescence.

Looking for Caylie is a story of a young single mother who is doing her best to survive motherhood, earn a living, and feed her own desires to grow and learn and be successful. But with each day it became more and more evident that her daughter had some health issues.

Though not all children are blessed with supportive parents, Misty was able to move in with her parents, which had to have helped her in many ways. But as you might guess, the closeness can also become challenging.

This thought-provoking journey takes us through countless attempts to correctly label Caylie’s condition and get help for her. That includes the best way to teach her and deal with her outbursts at home.

Even though I haven’t had to handle anything like this, I was very interested in discovering the outcome. Would things get better for the family? How long would it take? Why had Caylie seemed to be a “normal” young child and then changed dramatically as she neared her teenage years?

It is a well-written memoir that will offer hope and information to many.

My Concerns

Though I no longer have this concern, I’m going to go ahead and share it since it may be something that niggles at you too. I felt that there was one place where things began turning around very quickly regarding Caylie’s behavior. I don’t want to say too much, but it just caused me to wonder how that could happen.

I almost backed up to read that part again, since it was possible I’d missed something. But, instead, I decided there would be no better place to gain answers than the author herself, Misty Wolf.

So I shared my concern with Caylie’s mother. After reading her lengthy response, I suddenly understood. Things did begin to change at a somewhat faster pace, but that was because Caylie was being better understood and her needs were being met differently. “It was a tremendous team effort between Dr. Fleisher on the medical side, Lydia on the school side, and me at home,” she explained. Misty also confirmed what I was already sure of, that there still are and will always be challenges, but with the right understanding and care, things will be so much better with Caylie.

As fast as my concern came up, it was closed.

Final Thought

If you love memoirs or are having healthcare/school challenges, this book is a must-read.

It might help you if I share a few things I learned from this book:

Standup for what you believe in and expect
Research and learning can make a difference
Perseverance can affect outcomes
Families can be united and still have differences and conflicts
Love is expressed in different ways
Growth and good can come from challenges
You don’t have to completely give up all of yourself while trying to help another

There is much to take away from this well-written, informative story.

My thanks to the author and Lola’s Blog Tours for a copy of this book. I was free to post my thoughts, whatever those might be.

Excerpt

The ten-minute drive to Caylie’s school felt like hours, like floating through a slow-motion movie, the tension rising second by second, every sound exaggerated—the crunch of a leaf underfoot, the faint swish of your running shoe on the asphalt. Just when you think you can’t stand the wait any longer, you’re in the building, and my Mom is there.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Your dad and I were over at Jack-In-The-Box getting dinner. We’d brought something for Caylie, and we were about three minutes late getting here. She wasn’t where she always waits for us . . .”

“But Jack-In-The-Box is in the school parking lot. It shouldn’t have made any difference . . .”

“It shouldn’t have.”

“So?”

Mom looked like she was about to cry. “They have people looking everywhere,” she said, “and they’re calling Caylie’s teachers.”

“Well, I dropped her off at school. I watched her go through that door—right there—and she walked past that desk—right there . . .”

“I know you did,” Mom said, putting her hand on my arm.

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s going toward the 5 freeway and the Old Road.”

“Why?”

“Maybe she went that way.”

“Why would she go that way? I never go that way. She wouldn’t know what was over there. Why would . . .”

“Your dad is just trying to find her, Misty. We’re all just trying to find her.”

Book Trailer

About the Author

Misty Wolf resides in Santa Clarita, California, alongside of her beloved Caylie, her parents, and their Shih Tzu named Gilly Goose. Misty focuses her writing and speaking on her experiences of being a mother of a child with a rare mutation disability. Misty shares her time between writing and being a full-time caretaker. In addition to her book and writing works, you can find Misty at home crafting or watching Angels Baseball.

Prior to being a full-time caregiver and writer, Misty enjoyed a career in quality and project management. Misty completed her educational experience with a Bachelor of Arts in Project Management with a minor in Criminal and Civil Law, and Masters in Criminal Justice with a specialization in forensics. Misty has always had a dream of becoming a lawyer. She advocates for always finding the truth logically in situations that translate to her experiences shared within her book.

Author links:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Instagram
– Pinterest
– TikTok
– Goodreads

Giveaway

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