Sitting in the Chair - Melanie Rae

A very special book from our own Melanie — the Melanie behind ScrappyShak. ❤️
 
If you've taken a class with Melanie, joined us for a retreat, shopped at ScrappyShak, or simply spent a little time around the Shak, you already know the voice behind this book. It’s candid, heartfelt, sometimes funny, and unmistakably Melanie.
 
And for many of you, Sitting in the Chair isn't a story you're hearing about for the first time. You were there while it was unfolding.
 
You followed along as Melanie shared updates about Roger, cheered them on through some frightening and uncertain days, and offered encouragement along the way. What none of us knew then was that those days would eventually become a book—and that the lessons Melanie learned while sitting beside Roger would become tools she could share with other caregivers and families.
Sitting in the Chair grew from Melanie's real-life experience when Roger became critically ill and she suddenly found herself on the other side of healthcare—not as a healthcare executive, but as a wife, caregiver, and patient advocate.
 
When the person you love is lying in a hospital bed, your voice may be the one thing standing between silence and answers.
 
As diagnoses changed, warning signs were dismissed, and healthcare professionals sometimes overlooked what seemed obvious, Melanie discovered that trusting her instincts could make the difference between answers and uncertainty. Every chapter reveals the emotional reality of advocating for someone you love while navigating an often overwhelming medical system.
Sitting in the Chair is an intimate medical memoir and practical patient-advocacy guide. Woven throughout this true story are seven hard-earned advocacy tools designed to help readers ask better questions, protect their loved ones' dignity, navigate complex medical situations, and find the confidence to speak up when something doesn't feel right.
 
Heartbreaking, hopeful, and deeply human, Sitting in the Chair is for caregivers, families, healthcare professionals, and anyone who has ever wondered what they would do if the person they loved most suddenly needed them to become their voice.
 
And yes—copies purchased from ScrappyShak are personally signed by Melanie Rae. ❤️
 
We're especially proud to have Sitting in the Chair here at ScrappyShak. For so many of you, this story began long before there was a book to hold in your hands.
 
You were part of the journey. Now you can read the story behind it.