Fighting for Your Life : How to Survive a Life-Threatening Illness [Paperback]

Jerome Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

A complete guide to reversing disease, extending your life and improving its quality, this is a book for those with life-threatening illnesses and their caregivers, whether professionals or family, friends and loved ones. It presents a comprehensive survey of factors that affect healing and what you can do to make them work for you. It guides you through a maze of difficult decisions, giving you guidelines for choosing the best options for survival. The book's exercises help you identify any inner struggles, emotions and beliefs that may lead you to give up or resign yourself to dying. It suggests methods and resources for tearing down such obstacles and fighting your way back to health.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gift to the victims of disease who choose to be survivors and to all privileged to walk with them." -- The Rev. Dr. Richard B. Gilbert, Executive Director, The World Pastoral Care Center

"A powerful look through the eyes of someone who has been there....I heartily recommend it!" -- John H. Frykman, Ph.D., MFCC, Founder/President, The Cypress Institute

"A rich, expansive, useful book that can serve as a valuable resource for anyone dealing with a life-threatening illness." -- Judy Tatelbaum, MSW, author of "The Courage to Grieve" and "You Don't Have to Suffer"

About the Author

Jerome Wolfe is the cofounder of PLUS/Positive Living for Us, a weekend seminar and series of workshops presenting life-saving options for HIV-positive people. He also facilitated PLUS groups and served as its Executive Director from 1987 to 1990, when the Los Angeles Shanti Foundation took over the PLUS programs. Wolfe also facilitated ongoing support groups for persons with life-threatening illnesses and for caregivers at Marianne Williamson's Los Angeles Center for Living.

PLUS has since been expanded to include seminars for women, African Americans and Latinos (in Spanish). It has also been offered in many other cities, including Honolulu, Charlotte, Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Tucson and San Diego.

Since 1990, Wolfe has been the primary caregiver for three elderly family members, supporting them through their last illnesses. He has done the same for numerous other people, some of them close friends. In 1992 he was appointed to the Monterey County HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee and served as its Chairperson from 1998 to 2000.

In 1994 Wolfe started volunteering at the Monterey County AIDS Project, where he designed and facilitated training sessions for the Speakers Bureau. He is a frequent presenter for schools and civic organizations on HIV education and prevention. In 1998 Wolfe became a pet therapy practitioner for patients at the Beverly Healthcare Convalescent Hospital and the Monterey Pines Convalescent Hospital, and he has continued to volunteer at PLUS seminars in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: William Hamilton; First Edition edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967629608
• ISBN-13: 978-0967629605
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,906,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Empowering Review of How to Handle a Challenging Diagnosis!, May 19, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Fighting for Your Life : How to Survive a Life-Threatening Illness (Paperback)

Your attitude and actions have a big impact on how your health will respond to the treatments you receive when you are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses like some cancers, AIDS, and extreme forms of heart disease. Most patients lack the will and the skill to find out what attitudes and actions will help the most. This book will help you with both. Having read widely on this subject, I was impressed by the thoroughness of the references to research studies. The many sidebars of inspiring examples of sucess (and the opposite) help connect the information to your emotions.

One of the book's strengths is that it discusses different illnesses in detail. So, if you have just been tested as HIV positive, you can read the book from that perspective. If you have just found that you have breast cancer, you can do the same thing. Not every disease is covered, but the most common and terrifying ones are.

The book is written for the active, alert person who is in a position to take charge of her or his own treatment. The book's main weakness is that it does not connect this information to how a son or daughter could use it to help an elderly parrent who may not have the ability to be the point person in the treatment. There is also no information for professional caregivers. Spouses will also probably wish there was more on how they can help.

Here are the chapter titles:

Your Options (the factors that influence health and the role that your response plays in recovery);

The Shock of Being Diagnosed;

Self-Esteem;

The Will to Live;

A Realistic Appraisal (avoid false hopelessness and false hope);

Victimhood and Accountability (avoiding passivity);

Feedback (trial and error for improvement);

Empoewrment (role in long-term survival);

Culture, Religion and Empowerment;

Negative Emotions, Self-Esteem and Healing;

Stress, the Body and the Mind;

Dealing with Emotions;

The Benefits of Illness (don't let them drag you down!);

Your Health Care Providers (selection and relationships);

Medical Treatments (how to choose);

Resources for Treatment Information (you will probably find out more than your physician knows);

Drug Treatment Compliance (take all those pills!);

Lifestyle Changes;

Support (especially how to get some, if you don't have it);

Service and Activism (start looking out rather than feeling sorry for yourself);

The Spiritual Dimension of Living and Dying (what this experience can teach you); and

Putting Your Affairs in Order (power of attorney for health care, wills, and funeral arrangements).

Each chapter ends with helpful exercises to apply the lessons to your situation.

As the author points out in the prologue, this is not a how-to book. "There is no single recipe for success, let alone a magic bullet."

The author reports tat he has found that those who do best are those who "learn what their options are, choose what they consider the best course of action, learn from trial and error and develop their own unique treatment strategy." The book reflects that observation. I agree with that point of view, based on my own experiences with improving my health and helping others to do the same.

The key lesson is that you have more influence on how your life will turn out than your physician does. And you can choose not to use that influence . . . or to do so. I suggest that you choose the latter!

You can also see this book as a metaphor for conducting all aspects of your life. You're in charge! Start acting like it!

May your heart, mind, and body enjoy many wonderful healing experiences as you develop your approach to dispersing disease . . . and may God be with you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could be the most important book..., April 2, 2001

By 

Elissa Kartman "Bohemian Woman" (San Leandro, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fighting for Your Life : How to Survive a Life-Threatening Illness (Paperback)

..you'll ever. read. A claim easily made, but quite possibly valid here! While the title sounded a bit hyped, the contents are remarkably comprehensive in terms of the types of diseases and ways of combatting them. Wolfe has done his homework: experts in medicine, research, psychology, nutrition, were all drawn upon in the support of the central idea: that you can reverse disease. Wolfe's own life experiences bring this home!

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guide to Understanding Patient Rights and Options, April 4, 2001

By 

Robert Bonacci (Marina California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fighting for Your Life : How to Survive a Life-Threatening Illness (Paperback)

This book is a wonderful guide to understanding what rights and choices a patient has. I found the information to be easy to understand and the exercise at the end of each chapter helped tie everything together. There are probably many medical facilities, doctors, and care providers that would rather the patient didn't learn the facts presented in this book. A MUST READ!!!!!!