Drawing on input from people with long-term ailments, this book points the way to achieving the best possible life under the circumstances.

This guide provides inspiration, advice on emotional coping, and support on living your best life with chronic illness from someone who's been there. The emphasis in this book is on LIVING your life, not just enduring it.

When Doctors Put Two-Year-Old Lori Hartwell on dialysis after her kidneys mysteriously stopped working, they didn't expect her to live. That was the first time she beat seemingly insurmountable odds to survive, and she continues to one-up the statistics today. In Chronically Happy, Hartwell shares her remarkable story and introduces the principles she's relied on to thrive while living with a chronic disease. Hartwell's wisdom covers a range of subjects, from dating and working to building self-esteem and deepening relationships. Through anecdotes and workbook-style exercises, Chronically Happy helps people with illness. If you have a chronic illness, Chronically Happy is the tool you need to shape the life you've always envisioned but never thought possible. Book jacket.

THE CHRONIC ILLNESS WORKBOOK brings clarity and order to what feels like an unmanageable and isolating experience. It shows both those who are ill and those who care for them how to live a full and meaningful life despite undeniable difficulties. Using her extensive experience with chronic illness patients, Patricia Fennell has created an original, comprehensive, research-validated approach that considers not only the physical aspects of chronic illness, but the psychological, social, and economic apsects as well.

While learning about ways to bring some fun into the lives of those who are long-term confined to home or hospital, the reader discovers that the book is really about hope, dignity, and love. The underlying theme throughout is that while providing support for your loved one whose health is inescapably diminishing, you must not lose sight of the fact that the patient desperately needs to feel loved, to be considered a whole individual who happens to be sick, and to maintain a sense of still being in control. Methods are discussed for steps that need to be taken as the end of life nears for some. Maintenance of the caregiver’s health is discussed as well as methods to avoid burnout. The Appendix contains a long list of potential websites for both the caregiver and receiver. It’s not a long book…along the way you will find it’s a story of the relationship of a sick young woman with those who loved her and wanted to make her shortened life one that was full, filled with love, hope, and meaning. It won’t take you long to read the book, but you will feel enriched at its conclusion.

A self-help guide for those who are chronically ill. When we live with a chronic illness or disability, our spirit is tested. And though we may have no say in our sickness, how we meet its spiritual challenge is entirely up to us. This is the message of Martha Cleveland's heartening book, which maps the spiral of emotional pain that steals the energy of the chronically ill--and shows how to turn this spiral into a path toward spiritual growth. Cleveland herself turned to the Twelve Steps for support during almost two decades of a recurring illness that defied diagnosis. In this book, she shares what the Twelve Step program teaches her about living with chronic illness--coping with feelings of pain, anger, hopelessness, and isolation--and about offsetting such negative emotions with spiritual wellness. An invitation to choose joy over despair, her book reveals how chronic illness can open the spirit to acceptance, serenity, and fulfillment.

The new edition of best-selling Chronic Illness: Impact and Intervention continues to focus on the various aspects of chronic illness that influence both patients and their families. Topics include the sociological, psychological, ethical, organizational, and financial factors, as well as individual and system outcomes. The Seventh Edition has been completely revised and updated and includes new chapters on Models of Care, Culture, Psychosocial Adjustment, Self-Care, Health Promotion, and Symptom Management. Key Features Include: * Chapter Introductions * Chapter Study Questions * Case Studies * Evidence-Based Practice Boxes * List of websites appropriate to each chapter * Individual and System Outcomes