Debralynn Fein
Author
Debralynnfein.org
About This Site
Welcome to my author website. I hope to introduce you to many of my published writings, and other items of interest. Please check back often, and feel free to comment. Many of my pieces focus on family and relationships.
About the Author
Debralynn Fein has been writing professionally since 2002. Aside from Aaron and Me, Works in Progress, her debut novel published in 2018, her articles and stories have appeared in Wee One’s Magazine, and Hackwriters.Com, run from Falmouth College of Arts. She also published a short story in the Greenwich Village Literary Review, entitled Family Pictures and articles in Early Childhood Examiner. She attended Stony Brook University in 1978 and 1979 with a major in English Literature, and, also earned a Masters’ Degree in Elementary Education from Queens College, City University of New York, in 1987.
Works in Progress
Links for Aaron and Me
How would you feel?
"He’s so normal. How can anything be wrong?"
During a routine baby-wellness checkup, Kim Segal is faced with one of the most horrendous experiences a parent can endure: a couple of innocent cafe-au-lait spots indicate a possible diagnosis of Neurofibromatosis for her eighteen-month-old son, Aaron. Ill-equipped to cope with the indefinite nature of the diagnosis, the New Jersey suburban first-time mom spirals out of control. She becomes obsessed with irrational thoughts of how to protect her innocent son from a disease that seems to have no cure, but could leave him blind, deaf or missing a limb. As Kim goes through each successive neurological visit, waiting for medical professionals to give her a pronouncement of normalcy or doom, the uncertainty eats away at the edges of her otherwise normal life, threatening to shatter her already shaky marriage to Hal.
Reviews
J Weck
5.0 out of 5 stars
A story of a mother's unconditional love
February 15, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Aaron and Me, Works in Progress by Debralynn Fein is a mesmerizing read. It is the story of Kim and Hal Segal and the uncertain future they face when their baby receives a frightening diagnosis of possible Neurofibromatosis. It is told with rare sensitivity and clarity. The author captures us in the first few pages with a realistic and tender portrayal of a happy young mother with a bright toddler going to a typical well-baby checkup. When a black cloud descends, we feel the mother's shock. her fear for her child, and her fierce protective instincts in a visceral way.
The novel follows the family's journey, mostly from Kim's point of view, and their efforts to cope with this possible catastrophe. When the book opens, Aaron is a beautiful, totally normal baby. His parents dote on him as any new parents with a firstborn son would. However, when a doctor notices birth-marks that could point to this rare disease, their world turns upside down.
The vagueness of the diagnosis (At some future point, small lumps or tumors can develop externally or internally. Though mostly benign they can be removed surgically or by radiation) and the necessity of constant vigilance at best, a life of hospital visits and surgery at worse, creates emotional turmoil and stress that effects every aspect of their lives, including their marriage.Despite her inexperience and self-doubt, Kim becomes her son's champion, battling with the school system, the medical establishment, and anyone who denies her son an opportunity to be his best. At times it seems an endless struggle. We share vicariously in this depiction of Kim's unconditional love for her child, and how it guides her and gives her the strength and endurance to be Aaron's constant advocate as he grows.
Matthew
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is good to see that these kinds of things can be ...
March 31, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
I am a new father, and reading this book makes me shake. I can't imagine this happening to my little girl. It is good to see that these kinds of things can be made into something better.
Jacob
March 15, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Books like these are not created as much as they should be. There are so many parents out there who deal with similar situations that are simply helpless on curing and that is why I feel like there needs to be more stories about this. The book explains exactly how hard this is for people, as shown from the point of view of the mother herself and I think the writer did an extremely well job making this as realistic as she could. This is a book most parents should be reading because this could happen to them and they will need to know that it is not the end of a child’s life. In this book it shows that the parents should not love their children any less with what they were born or not born with and I think the message should definitely be spread to a lot more parents.
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