Product Description

A sensitive, hopeful exploration of maximizing your quality of life while living with chronic illness

Chronic physical illnesses-such as lupus, Sjogren's syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, inflammatory bowel disorders, Lyme disease, interstitial cystitis, multiple sclerosis-take their toll on every aspect of a person's life. Though millions of people manage to cook, care for children, or work despite their disability, they do so with fatigue, pain, and the grinding uncertainty of living with chronic illness.

A thoughtful exploration of this experience, A Delicate Balance provides both up-to-date practical advice and inspiration for the millions of Americans who struggle daily against chronic illness. From locating a suitable health-care provider and making sense of the powerful emotions that accompany chronic illness, to seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, A Delicate Balance is informed by in-depth, personal interviews with patients, care providers, and family members. The result is a compassionate and immensely hopeful book for anyone touched by a chronic disease.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #431698 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

Amazon.com Review
"Chronic illness doesn't come with an instruction manual," says Susan Milstrey Wells--so she wrote one. Afflicted with Sjögren's syndrome (an autoimmune disease that dries the eyes and mouth), fibromyalgia (a painful muscle disorder), and interstitial cystitis (a chronic inflammation of the bladder), she knows the ins and outs of coping with chronic illness. In A Delicate Balance, she provides a compelling mix of useful information and real-life stories (including an appendix of resource numbers for various medical and self-help organizations) to help others find the will and the way to survive and thrive.

Wells characterizes the onset of a chronic illness as the beginning of a journey toward understanding, accepting, and healing, and she organizes her book to help lead the reader on that journey. The first few chapters deal with the psychological stages of illness and the perseverance that's often needed to get an accurate diagnosis and find a suitable health care partner. Middle chapters detail the search for treatment and the effects of chronic illness on personal relationships and the ability to work. The final chapter offers the optimistic view that chronic illness is a gift--albeit one that you don't want and can't give back, but that will ultimately teach you many important life lessons. Yes, chronic illness changes your life, she writes, but such change is not necessarily bad--and having a guide like this can help you through it. --Nancy Monson

From Library Journal
Many people suffer from chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and Crohn's disease, and though their suffering is great, it is often invisible to others. Wells, a journalist and health writer who suffers from fibromyalgia, Sjogren's syndrome, and interstitial cystitis, has written this book in the hope of helping herself and others attain a balance between completely giving in to disease and denying that they are ill. Though the writing style does not enliven the subject, Wells gives good advice on finding a doctor, accepting illness, working with a chronic disease, maintaining relationships, and searching for both conventional and alternative treatments. She also offers insight into chronic illness from both her point of view and that of a number of other chronically ill people she interviewed. The comments of her interviewees are the most compelling part of the book. Recommended for public libraries and patient education collections.?Stacey Hathaway, Fordham Health Sciences Lib., Wright State Univ., Dayton, OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Susan Milstrey Wells has been a professional writer and editor for more than twenty years. She is a member of the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation Board of Directors and lives in Halfmoon, New York.

Customer Reviews

One of the Best Chronic Illness Books on the Market
This is an incredibly well written book with a balance between narrative insights and valuable technical information. The author is quite candid in her personal experience with chronic illness and the resources at the end of the book are excellent and not the usual "run of the mill". I love her quote about the importance of first person narratives. "For those of us who are ill, chronic illness sets us apart. But when we read about the experiences of others, we realize we are not alone and that healing is available to all of us, regardless of our disease."

While Wells includes the usual information about good doctor/patient relationships and the importance of spirituality and alternative methods of healing, her real strength lies in her incredible ability to get the emotional heart of the various aspects of being chronically ill. I found her chapter "From Denial to Acceptance and Back Again" to be amazing in its clear articulation of the emotional stages of chronic illness and the profound isolation that can result from that experience. Everyone with a chronic illness should read and keep this book in their personal health library.

One of the best of this kind.
If you have a chronic medical problem, and you want to prove you can go on working, get this book; if you need to get a disability retirement and you want to prove that you are entitled to it, get this book. If you just want to know that somebody understands, get this book.

A Delicate Balance
I was not terrible impressed with the book. I found it a difficult book to get into and didn't find a lot of information helpful.
I did find some suggestions helpful, but not as much as I expected.

I picked the book and put it down several times, thinking I would find something I missed in the first reading. I was disappointed to find I didn't learn anything new.