Another Good Book: AfterShock
I was going to link to the article in my local paper, the Oregonian, about this cool book, but here we are on June 11, and the article on June 5 is nowhere to be found on their website. Transitory news. (As one used to see on bumperstickers mocking the paper's then advertising slogan, following the breaking of a scandal about Oregon's senator in an East Coast paper, "If it matters to Oregonians, it's in the Washington Post.")
The book is AfterShock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You - Or Someone You Love - A Devastating Diagnosis by Jessie Gruman, Ph.D. Here's the website.
Since it is an almost universal human experience in the modern, western world, that we will someday stroll into a doctor's office and stumble out into a changed world, changed only by the words spoken aloud by the doctor or other health professional, this book is for everyone I know. Almost everyone of us will get such a diagnosis in our lifetime. Or someone we love will.
This looks like my kind of book. It looks like real, practical advice, both about what to do to respond to the medical crisis, but how to handle the emotional aftermath.
The article in my local paper said, if you don't need this book now, don't read it now. Buy it, and keep it on the shelf, or lend it to someone who does need it now.
I'm not sure how to handle that advice. I have diabetes, type 2. Does that qualify as a devastating diagnosis? Type 1, yes, devastating, absolutely. But Type 2?? My diagnosis was years ago, although the more current issues of chronic foot pain have been pretty devastating. And, with diabetes, there's often a devastating diagnosis or complication in the future, hopefully the far future.
I think I'll buy it.
The book is AfterShock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You - Or Someone You Love - A Devastating Diagnosis by Jessie Gruman, Ph.D. Here's the website.
Since it is an almost universal human experience in the modern, western world, that we will someday stroll into a doctor's office and stumble out into a changed world, changed only by the words spoken aloud by the doctor or other health professional, this book is for everyone I know. Almost everyone of us will get such a diagnosis in our lifetime. Or someone we love will.
This looks like my kind of book. It looks like real, practical advice, both about what to do to respond to the medical crisis, but how to handle the emotional aftermath.
The article in my local paper said, if you don't need this book now, don't read it now. Buy it, and keep it on the shelf, or lend it to someone who does need it now.
I'm not sure how to handle that advice. I have diabetes, type 2. Does that qualify as a devastating diagnosis? Type 1, yes, devastating, absolutely. But Type 2?? My diagnosis was years ago, although the more current issues of chronic foot pain have been pretty devastating. And, with diabetes, there's often a devastating diagnosis or complication in the future, hopefully the far future.
I think I'll buy it.
posted by Lori Rode @ 9:24 PM
2 Comments:
At 9:01 AM,
Aimee said…
I was diagnosed a Type 2 Diabetic about 4 weeks ago. I was devastated--for about a week... and then, as my BG started hovering closer to normal for the first time in who-knows-how-long, I suddenly felt better. About EVERYTHING.
I feel like this diagnosis has given me my life back, and I'm so grateful to know now, while I'm young and haven't sustained any organ damage, so I can continue to live a long and healthy life.
I found you through the new PDX Knitters who Blog. I hope we can meet some day--I'd like to ask you about cooking with diabetes. And so many other things!
At 10:41 AM,
Chrissie in Belgium said…
Hmm, buying such a book in advance takes guts! It feels sort of like "accepting" that shit WILL hit the fan. I KNOW that is not logical, but that is how it feels. I don't have the guts to buy it. You buy it and tell me if it was good! What a chicken I am. Thank you Lori for understanding my silence!
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