Surviving Your Spouse's Chronic Illness [Paperback]

Chris McGonigle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1999

The emotional and psychological impact of caring for a chronically ill spouse.

When one's spouse is diagnosed with a serious illness, two lives are devastated. The partner is a victim, too. Author Chris McGonigle, who was a well spouse for fifteen years, draws on her own personal experience and on that of the many other men and women whom she interviewed and who spoke frankly to her about what it is really like to take care of a chronically ill spouse. Her honest book reassures readers that they are not alone in what they feel and are going through. The topics covered include initial reaction to the diagnosis; denial; communication; what losing the sexual part of marriage means; anger; violence; parenting; and spirituality. A final section tells where to turn for help. Through the wisdom and compassion of the many voices in the book, readers will learn how others cope and what they themselves can do to survive.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chris McGonigle, PH.D., is a journalist who has written many articles for Women's Work, Family Circle, and other national magazines. She lives in Helena, Montana.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Owl Bay Publishers; 1st edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805055738
• ISBN-13: 978-0805055733
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #970,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Recommended, but with certain reservations., March 31, 2000

By 

Edith S. Tyson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surviving Your Spouse's Chronic Illness (Paperback)

Part of my job is to review and recommend books in the chronic illness category. I borrowed this from the library, with hope, for this subject is not much written on (as distinct from "caregiving" in general.) It is certainly a complete, and fully accepting, description of a desperate situation (from the author's own experience, and those of others that she interviewed.) Don't look to this book for instructions on how to give a bed bath, it is not that kind. Look to it for an honest approach, without the "plaster saint" image, to feelings and stressful emotions. (The opening words, spoken by the author to her understanding parents are, "I wish he would die.") HOWEVER - no matter how much this book is to be honored for its completeness and honesty, there is a warning: Not everyone will accept her solution to her husband's impotence: She took a lover, with her husband's tacit approval, "As long as I don't know about it." If you can't accept this kind of thing, give this book a miss.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Guide for Spouses, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Surviving Your Spouse's Chronic Illness (Paperback)

Excellent guide for spouses coping with the chronic illness of their wife or husband. Written in an informed and sensitive manner, this book is sure to be a "godsend" to anyone coping with a new diagnoses of a spouse.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A godsend for partners whose spouses are ill., February 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Surviving Your Spouse's Chronic Illness (Paperback)

A wonderfully frank, caring work that deals with the reality of being the well spouse with a chronically ill partner. Addressing the issues of denial, anger, sex, and money, among others, the author shares her own experiences, and those of numerious other couples in coping with the emotional trauma of a partner's long term illness. The information should relieve lots of guilt, and give well spouses a "first aid kit" of devices to aid their own well-being.