Book Review: Strategies & Solutions for Taking Back Your Life

Webster in his Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines chronic as "marked by long duration -- frequent recurrence ... constantly vexing, weakening, or troubling." Personally I am not certain of the word "constantly." Luckily with some cancers, a person may have a period of remission, a chance to live a stable and significant life. All sounds wonderful, but in the minds of most people, there is always a threat that "it" (still have trouble with the "C" word) once again will relentlessly return to uproot lives, both ours and our caregivers.

My own experience with breast cancer did not prepare me for a bout with lung cancer two years ago. I really could not believe that another "C" had invaded my space and necessitated have the lower lobe of one lung removed...a further hindrance to a normal life. My survival mode did not kick in until I finally ditched my recliner and took my life back. By trial and error, I learned the hard way! I couldn't walk any distance without being winded or my ribs cramping up from a mastectomy on one side and lung surgery on the other. My body was overweight and my self-esteem low. Last year I started an exercise program with Curves. This program stretched my endurance, maintained my new weight and made me feel that, at least for now, I had new vitality for other community activities that built up my self-esteem.

What a blessing it would have been to have the following book. The text pushes long-term self-management skills with exercises implementing plans for workouts, diet and medical care. The author teaches coping skills for circumstances that cannot be remedied. These skills are good for all ages and all types of diseases, but best of all, for just every day health living--physically, socially, and psychologically.

Please, especially if you are newly diagnosed, check out the Cancer Treatment Center's wonderful library, including the book The Chronic Illness Workbook : Strategies and Solutions for Taking Back Your Life by Patricia A. Fennell, LCSW.

The Chronic Illness Workbook is a journey of self-discovery and enables the reader to overcome the challenges of a chronic illness. Susan M. Wells, author of A Delicate Balance: Living Successfully with Chronic Illness, thinks that this book should be kept by your bed with a highlighting pen -- that it is almost like Ms. Fennell has read your diary and you will know that she is on your side. High praise! Delving into every aspect of this topic from the Four Phases (Crisis, Stabilization, Resolution, Integration) to health care to caregivers, the text is compelling and addresses chronic illness in general. Through numerous mental exercises (I have copied several), a person will gain insight, make order out of chaos, understand how to establish meaning out of suffering and integrate a past life into the new life that now exists.

Reviewed by Katy Hawkins, from Bosom Buddy Network newsletter, Summer 2004. Reprinted with permission.