A Delicate Balance: Living Successfully with Chronic Illness (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Being sick is hard work..." (more)
Key Phrases: fibromyalgia treatment program, people with fibromyalgia, health care partner, Miryam Williamson, Mary Ann, Kathy Hammitt (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738203238
• ISBN-13: 978-0738203232
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #390,306 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Chronic Illness Books on the Market, June 30, 2000

By	Courtney L. Lewis "Sassy Librarian" (Kingston, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Delicate Balance (Hardcover)

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.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of this kind., March 23, 2001

By	Edith S. Tyson (Warren, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Delicate Balance, August 31, 2009

By	S. L. Nelson "CFIDS survivor" (Marston, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.