Pebbling the Walk: Surviving Cancer Caregiving [Paperback]

Steve Reed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

Pebbling the Walk will change the way you think about cancer and chemotherapy, and perhaps even the way you think about life, death, and love. Steve Reed writes about his own experiences as a caregiver and offers advice to others in language that is uncomplicated by intimidating medical and psychological terminology. Each short, digestible chapter includes useful and encouraging suggestions for how to enhance the quality of life for those with cancer and ultimately turn cancer treatment into a constructive and life-affirming experience for both patient and caregiver.

Take time to collect pebbles and search for four-leaf clovers. Inspire your patient’s appetite with a variety of menu options. Learn to dance. Keep a calendar of medications and treatment appointments. Steve Reed’s suggestions and instructions for caregivers range from the practical to the whimsical and silly. Few know better than Reed, who has been a caregiver to seven family members, the serious and overwhelming nature of a caregiver’s duties. But no one knows better than he how to infuse even the most dire circumstances with humor and joy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steve Reed is a professional writer who served as caregiver for seven terminally-ill family members. Most recently, he cared for his wife, Marthy, as she battled breast cancer. While she was going through eleven months of chemotherapy, Marthy asked Steve to write Pebbling the Walk. This work of nonfiction is based on their experiences together and on Reed’s experiences with other family members in his care.

After his sister, Karen, died of lymphoma in 1994, Steve Reed moved back to his hometown of Vashon Island, Washington. While preparing his family’s property, he re-met Marthy, who had been among his first friends when he arrived on the island at the age of seven. They had lost touch after high school, but were reunited by what Terry Tempest Williams calls "the shared landscape of grief." Marthy and Steve now live together in a small cottage with a river stone fireplace in the woods on Vashon Island.

Steve Reed currently works as a technical courseware designer for IBID Publishing, a columnist for Northwest Prime Time News, and a contributor for Beachcomber and The Ticket (both weekly newspapers). He has also written features for Pacific Maritime Magazine. Pebbling the Walk is his first published book of nonfiction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Blue Heron Publishing; 1st edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936085630
• ISBN-13: 978-0936085630
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,469,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The essential book for all caregivers!, October 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Pebbling the Walk: Surviving Cancer Caregiving (Paperback)

This is a funny, inspiring, and beautifully written book you will want to share with everyone, especially those facing the challenging times of taking care of a loved one. Steve Reed shares his amazing personal experiences as a family caregiver in a totally honest, personal, and jargon-free way that makes you feel you have a friend going through the process with you. Without ever shying away from the difficult realities that face the seriously ill and their families, he helps bring out the joy in everyday moments that each of us, no matter what the circumstances, can continue to experience. I spent most of last year helping my mom during her cancer treatments, and found this was exactly the book I needed to keep all of us going strong. I can't wait to share it with others who need the same encouragement!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pebbling The Walk, September 26, 2001

By 

Kathy Larson (Gig Harbor, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pebbling the Walk: Surviving Cancer Caregiving (Paperback)

When I became a caregiver for my best friend, who was to undergo a Stem Cell Transplant for leukemia, I looked for a book like Pebbling The Walk, but couldn't find one. The only advice I had received for my journey as a cancer caregiver was from a Social Worker at the hospital, who said: "Don't burn yourself out."

After eight hard months of battling his cancer together, my friend passed away. I was such a physical and emotional wreck, that I became seriously ill. I spent a month in Critical Care and another month in a rehab hospital learning to walk and talk again. I was a major care receiver for many months.

Steve Reed's advice is currently assisting me with a friend who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. I had found his book in my church library.

Mr. Reed has spoken to my heart, as well as to my head, by honestly explaining how he felt as a caregiver. I am able to relate to his fear, hope, anger and frustration. I agree with him that an undying sense of humor is the most important life preserver of all, for both patient and caregiver.

His simple writing style, usable "tips" and common sense approach enable those undertaking the formidable task of cancer caregiving, to survive and even thrive.

"Pebbling The Walk" is like a friend that you can call in the middle of the night and tell anything to. Steve Reed has "been there" before us and walks hand in hand with us as we offer love and support to others.