Being Well Even When You Re Sick

Mindfulness is a quality of attention that combines full awareness with acceptance of each moment, just as it is. This book presents simple mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques and insights for people with cancer and other serious illnesses. The message is that it is possible to be well and to feel at ease even when one is sick. The book provides guidance readers can use throughout treatment and beyond to reduce stress and to cultivate a sense of courage, appreciation of life as it is, and even happiness. The author, a psychotherapist, cancer survivor, and longtime teacher of mindfulness techniques, writes with compassion and wisdom, and has created a book that will be a practical companion for anyone coping with the emotional challenges of dealing with cancer or other serious illness. Includes a downloadable companion 60-minute audio program with five simple mindfulness practices.

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.

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."

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.

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.

Sexuality is much more than sex; it is the embodiment of how we perceive our sexual selves and encompasses past experiences, attitudes, values, as well as the meanings that we have constructed throughout our lives about our sexual behavior. It is integral to healthy human functioning, and it can be severely affected whenever a person becomes the victim of illness or injury. This book describes how illness and injury impact sexual functioning. From cancer to diabetes, hysterectomy to injury, from mental illness to combat injury, the author covers a wide variety of illness and disease that can directly impact sexuality. Based on cutting edge research, current practice in this area by leading sex therapists and experts, the author provides readers with a guide to how illness and disease can affect sexual functioning and how victims can handle the various issues involved. Case studies, quotes from patients, and tips and solutions for problems encountered in all aspects of sexual functioning are included throughout. Until now, a comprehensive overview of the challenges to sexuality from illness and injury was not available. This book explains the reasons why illness and injury affect sexuality. This information alone will help many people who are experiencing problems in their sex lives as a result of the illness itself or the treatments for it. It also presents suggestions for how people can help themselves to solve their problems. Helpful resources are included at the end of each chapter for further information and help. Each chapter contains stories of people who have experienced sexual problems as a result of illness or injury and many readers will see themselves in these examples. Just knowing that other people have the same sorts of problems may be a comfort. In addition, the information and explanations in the book can be helpful in starting a conversation with health care providers about problems in sexual functioning. Readers will come away with a better understanding of how they can cultivate sexuality during and after battling illness and injury.

Everyone knows someone who's sick or suffering. Yet when a friend or relative is under duress many of us feel uncertain about how to cope. Throughout her recent bout with breast cancer, Letty Cottin Pogrebin became fascinated by her friends' and family's diverse reactions to her and her illness: how awkwardly some of them behaved; how some misspoke or misinterpreted her needs; and how wonderful it was when people read her right. She began talking to her fellow patients and dozens of other veterans of serious illness, seeking to discover what sick people wished their friends knew about how best to comfort, help, and even simply talk to them. Now Pogrebin has distilled their collective stories and opinions into this wide-ranging compendium of pragmatic guidance and usable wisdom. Her advice is always infused with sensitivity, warmth, and humor. It is embedded in candid stories from her own and others' journeys, and their sometimes imperfect interactions with well-meaning friends. How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick is an invaluable guidebook for anyone hoping to rise to the challenges of this most important and demanding passage of friendship.

Do You Want To See The Sick Be Healed? Have you desired to lay your hands on the sick and see them be healed? Have you ever tried to do it but felt disappointed with the results? If that describes you, then we have good news! Many years ago, Rick and Denise Renner felt the same way. So Rick dove into the Gospel to discover how Jesus healed the sick. From that time on, the Renners have seen multitudes of people healed, and now, in this powerful teaching, Rick is sharing what they learned. In each of these valuable lessons, you will discover: The types of sicknesses Jesus healed. The methods Jesus used to heal the sick. The use of "therapy" in the healing ministry of Jesus. That healing belongs to anyone who believes. That healing IS in your hands. If you're ready to heal the sick like Jesus did — and as He commands us to do — then this teaching is sure to encourage you! Don’t wait to dive into these lessons and learn about the healing power that Jesus has given you.