Surviving Illness

Do you live with a chronic, debilitating, yet invisible condition? You may feel isolated, out of step, judged, lonely, or misunderstood - and that's on top of dealing with your actual illness. Take heart. You are not alone, although sometimes it can feel that way. Written by a blogger who suffers from an invisible chronic illness, Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness offers peer-to-peer support to help you stay sane, be your own advocate, and get back to living your life. This compelling guide is written for anyone suffering with an illness no one can see.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most recognizable structures to define a modern city. Yet, for author Kevin Hines the bridge is not merely a marker of a place or a time. Instead, the bridge marks the beginning of his remarkable story. At 19-years-old, Kevin attempted to take his own life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge - a distance which took four seconds to fall. Recently diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, Kevin had begun to hear voices telling him he had to die, and days before his attempt, he began to believe them. The fall would break his body, but not his spirit.

Since its first publication in 1983, Surviving Schizophrenia has become the standard reference book on the disease that has helped thousands of patients, their families, and mental health professionals alike. In clear language, this much-praised and important book describes the nature, causes, symptoms, treatment, and course of schizophrenia, and explores living with it from both the patient’s and the family’s point of view.

Early in her career, Kelly Turner, PhD, a researcher, lecturer, and counselor in Integrative Oncology, was shocked to discover that no one was studying episodes of radical remission, when people recover against all odds without the help of conventional medicine, or after conventional medicine has failed. She was so fascinated by this kind of remission that she spent eight years travelling through 10 countries to learn what factors that people experiencing this phenomenon encountered.

Each year, more than 230,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 30 to 40 percent of patients who are diagnosed will eventually relapse. But the good news is that more men are being cured of this disease than ever before. Now in a revised third edition, this lifesaving guide by Dr. Patrick Walsh and award-winning science writer Janet Farrar Worthington offers a message of hope to every man facing this illness. Listeners will discover their risk factors, simple changes that can reduce the risk of developing the disease, treatment options, and more.

Drs. Meghan Jobson and Juliet Morgan specialize in treating long illness; from their work on the frontlines with long COVID, they know that all long illnesses shares many of the same hallmarks. Using evidence-based integrative medicine, they have put together a program that legitimizes long illness and validates concerns where other physicians often dismiss them. In Long Illness, you’ll find an unparalleled, holistic approach to healing.

Weeks after giving birth, Holly Frances went from being a healthy 26-year-old new mom to paralyzed and on life support—in less than 72 hours. Diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Holly was trapped in her body, unable to move, speak, or hold her newborn daughter. Life Support tells the story of how Holly struggled to overcome the despair, hopelessness and physical pain, to regain her health and get back to being a mother to her daughter.

Despite all her best efforts to break the cycle of catastrophic, destructive patterns of mental illness, Anna Berry found herself at the end of her rope - unemployed, penniless, homeless, and in the throes of a psychotic episode that threatened to destroy her life. Alone and unwell, she manages to find her grip on life, seeks the help she needs, and embarks on a life and career that illustrate that mental illness does not have to be ruinous.

Actress and photographer Kris Carr thought she had a hangover, but a Jivamukti yoga class didn't provide its usual kick-ass cure. A visit to her doctor confirmed her "liver looked like Swiss cheese", covered with cancerous tumors. Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips gathers the lessons learned and advice offered from Carr's own journey, as well as the experiences of her cancer posse. Personal stories and candid revelations abound in this scrapbook of advice, warnings, and resources for the cancer patient.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the shocking mortality figures obscured the fact that death is not the only adverse outcome of the virus. Today, as many as 30 percent of COVID-19 survivors still experience symptoms long after their acute illness has passed, with cognitive and mental health problems especially prominent. For long haulers, this struggle with Long COVID has irrevocably changed their lives. In Clearing the Fog, neuropsychologist Dr. James C. Jackson offers people suffering from Long COVID and their families a roadmap to help them manage their “new normal.”

In My Two Elaines, author Marty Schreiber, former governor of Wisconsin, watches his beloved wife, Elaine, gradually transform from the woman he fell in love with in high school, and who diligently supported his political career, to the Elaine who knows she is declining and can’t remember how to cook a meal, and finally to the Elaine who no longer recognizes Marty or their children. Beyond sincere, practical advice, My Two Elaines gives the listener permission to feel the full spectrum of emotions, including humor, even in the face of this relentless illness.

What if you could use cancer to evolve more fully into love? David Maginley has been there - four times. His cancer led to a near-death experience and a career helping thousands face this disease. Through profound storytelling, David brings you to the core of the cancer journey to discover the hero within.

Richard Carlson Jr. was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 21 years of age. His illness first manifested when he was an early adolescent. Modern psychiatry greatly failed Richard for over a decade. Then, after an incident involving the police, he truly understood that his diagnosis was real, and finally began the long process of recovery. Over 10 years later, his life is greatly improved. In the course of his treatment, Richard also recovered from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and lethargy.

Chronic Christmas is an Advent calendar full of self-care tips to help people with chronic illness savor the holiday season as never before. Author Lene Andersen has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for most of her life and is a health advocate and writer. Using her distinctive conversational style infused with warmth and humor, she has crafted a unique guide to an enjoyable Christmas season. Each Advent entry will enable the person with a chronic illness and their friends and family to connect in ways both effortless and fun.

Wise and embodied, fearless and necessary, Being (Sick) Enough is both a wild awakening and a love letter to your whole self: the pains and suffering, joys and brightness, and vital connections that hold each of us as we navigate what it means to be here, like this, right now.

Surviving Myotonic Dystrophy is about Ann S. Woodbury’s struggle to care for her family who have a rare disease - myotonic dystrophy (DM). Ann’s four children and her husband have DM. In 1998, at the time of the diagnosis, even the doctors didn’t know all of the effects of DM or that it was a brain disorder. Listening to this book will take you on a journey of understanding this disease and its effects on Ann’s family members.

An inspiring and unforgettable memoir that provides hope to others who are experiencing depression, mania, or psychosis, RESILIENT is a deeply personal account about life with mental illness, hearing loss and resiliency. Liz's journey provides encouragement for patients, families, friends, and healthcare workers by showing that recovery is possible.

A support group from breast cancer diagnosis through treatment to rehabilitation and recovery, this book combines inspiring Chicken Soup for the Soul stories written just for this book and accessible leading-edge medical information from Dr. Julie Silver of Harvard Medical School. Patients and survivors will find comfort, strength and hope.

Approximately 12 percent of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. The good news is with improving information and technology more men are being cured than ever before. Learn the risk factors, treatment options, and more in this simple and easy to understand program.

Edie Falco, Sheryl Crow, Athena Jones, Heidi Heitkamp, and an inspiring array of other breast cancer survivors and "previvors" lend their voices to this collection of powerful stories.