Being Sick Well

This life-affirming, instructive and thoroughly inspiring book is a must-read for anyone who is--or who might one day be--sick. And it can also be the perfect gift of guidance, encouragement, and uplifting inspiration to family, friends, and loved ones struggling with the many terrifying or disheartening life changes that come so close on the heels of a diagnosis of a chronic condition or even life-threatening illness. The author--who became ill while a university law professor in the prime of her career--tells the reader how she got sick and, to her and her partner's bewilderment, stayed that way. Toni had been a longtime meditator, going on long meditation retreats and spending many hours rigorously practicing, but soon discovered that she simply could no longer engage in those difficult and taxing forms. She had to learn ways to make "being sick" the heart of her spiritual practice--and through truly learning how to be sick, she learned how, even with many physical and energetic limitations, to live a life of equanimity, compassion, and joy. And whether we ourselves are sick now or not, we can learn these vital arts of living well from "How to Be Sick."

Nearly half of the U.S. population suffers from a chronic illness, from back pain to brain tumors. Boyd shows sufferers and their loved ones how to live fully in spite of their condition.

Wendy Wallace shares practical suggestions and spiritual wisdom for coping with the challenges of chronic illness based on her experience of "doing well at being sick."

Maintaining a state of well-being and equanimity in the midst of serious disease is a challenge, but mindfulness can help make it possible. It is a process of bringing a fierce but loving attention to everything that arises in our mind and body. The simple techniques Elana Rosenbaum presents here are the same ones she uses with the people in her practice of mindfulness-based psychotherapy and stress reduction—and that she uses herself as a cancer survivor. These are methods that offer proof positive that it is indeed possible not only to “have a life” while you’re seriously ill, but that the life can include satisfaction, ease, and happiness. This book includes a downloadable companion 60-minute audio program with seven simple mindfulness practices.

Presents a practical theory of health and disease that aims to revolutionize the way we look at illness. This book provides readers a holistic approach to living that will empower them to get well - and stay well.

“An extraordinary, eye-opening book.”—People 2018 National Health Information Awards, Silver Award “A rousing wake-up call . . . this highly engaging, provocative book prove[s] beyond a reasonable doubt that millions of lives depend on us finally coming to terms with the long-term consequences of childhood adversity and toxic stress.”—Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow Dr. Nadine Burke Harris was already known as a crusading physician delivering targeted care to vulnerable children. But it was Diego—a boy who had stopped growing after a sexual assault—who galvanized her journey to uncover the connections between toxic stress and lifelong illnesses. The stunning news of Burke Harris’s research is just how deeply our bodies can be imprinted by ACEs—adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect, parental addiction, mental illness, and divorce. Childhood adversity changes our biological systems, and lasts a lifetime. For anyone who has faced a difficult childhood, or who cares about the millions of children who do, the fascinating scientific insight and innovative, acclaimed health interventions in The Deepest Well represent vitally important hope for preventing lifelong illness for those we love and for generations to come?. “Nadine Burke Harris . . . offers a new set of tools, based in science, that can help each of us heal ourselves, our children, and our world.”—Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed “A powerful—even indispensable—frame to both understand and respond more effectively to our most serious social ills.”—New York Times

How We Do Harm exposes the underbelly of healthcare today—the overtreatment of the rich, the under treatment of the poor, the financial conflicts of interest that determine the care that physicians' provide, insurance companies that don't demand the best (or even the least expensive) care, and pharmaceutical companies concerned with selling drugs, regardless of whether they improve health or do harm. Dr. Otis Brawley is the chief medical and scientific officer of The American Cancer Society, an oncologist with a dazzling clinical, research, and policy career. How We Do Harm pulls back the curtain on how medicine is really practiced in America. Brawley tells of doctors who select treatment based on payment they will receive, rather than on demonstrated scientific results; hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that seek out patients to treat even if they are not actually ill (but as long as their insurance will pay); a public primed to swallow the latest pill, no matter the cost; and rising healthcare costs for unnecessary—and often unproven—treatments that we all pay for. Brawley calls for rational healthcare, healthcare drawn from results-based, scientifically justifiable treatments, and not just the peddling of hot new drugs. Brawley's personal history – from a childhood in the gang-ridden streets of black Detroit, to the green hallways of Grady Memorial Hospital, the largest public hospital in the U.S., to the boardrooms of The American Cancer Society—results in a passionate view of medicine and the politics of illness in America - and a deep understanding of healthcare today. How We Do Harm is his well-reasoned manifesto for change.

A guide to being sick, including how to get the most sympathy, things to do, and how to know when to go back to school.