The Art of Getting Well: A Five-Step Plan for Maximizing Health When You Have a Chronic Illness

by David Spero

Book Overview

A majority of chronic illnesses have no medical cure. The best therapy, asserts the author, is self-care. This comprehensive guide suggests healthy behaviors and holistic approaches while acknowledging the barriers people face in applying them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0897933567
• ISBN13: 9780897933568
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Hunter House Publishers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A great book from a knowledgeable, wise, and compassionate author

The Art of Getting Well, by David Spero, is a very informative, enjoyable, and inspiring book for those of us with chronic illnesses. David has included many helpful examples, from his own and other's lives, of what works and what doesn't. He describes standard and alternative treatment options for the reader to consider. He also gives many valuable ideas to help the chronically ill have better lives whether or not their condition improves. I highly recommend this book.

The Art of Living Well

You don't have to have a chronic illness to get a lot out of Spero's "The Art of Getting Well." Maybe that's because living in our fast paced and relatively crazed culture qualifies all of us as chronically ill. Whatever the case, the accessible style and reassuring tone of this book give you the confidence and motivation to make real changes in your life. I'm especially pleased that Spero does not fall into the "blame the victim" camp. Getting sick is not our fault, although we can have a say in how or whether we get well, up to a point. Sometimes our luck runs out, but our spirit can still remain strong, furthered along by the compassion of bonafide healers and primo storytellers like Spero. Get two: one for yourself and one for a friend.

The Art of Getting Well: Maximizing Health and Well-being

This book is both eloquent and down to earth, chock full of interesting anecdotes and inspiration. You can feel the writer's humanity and courage in each page and feel the warmth of his hope. His vitality and tenacity in tackling problems and elucidating others' strengths and vulnerablities is fascinating! He is a gifted writer and has a sensitivity and compassion that come through as he relays his personal experiences and those of people he has helped through his career as a nurse and a personal coach. A must read!

A wise and gentle guide

The hard thing about living with a chronic illness is that you have to deal with it on so many levels: physical symptoms, the choice of caregivers--and then the job of relating to them, information from the internet, lifestyle changes, emotions, spiritual dimensions, and more. The unique thing about this wise and compassionate book is that it addresses issues of living with a chronic illness on all those levels and more, with a gentle, down-to-earth humor that provides its own emotional support on the spot (an example is the title of the first chapter: "Studies show life is hard.") This must be because the author is both a nurse and a person living with MS--as well as a very talented writer. Throughout the book are many stories of people -- and in one case a plant -- who are doing better by using one of the ideas described. I've read a lot of advice books--another unique thing about this one is that it's not pushing any one approach. The author starts with a description of some basic orientations necessary to take care of ourselves. It gives information about a wide range of strategies for self-care, with step-by-step directions for getting started and information about where to learn more. It also gives brief descriptions of many places to get help from others and how to find them. I think the Art of Getting Well will soon be seen as an indispensable support for anyone living with a chronic illness-actually it contains a lot of wisdom that anyone could benefit from!

Excellent manual to wellness

The Art of Getting WellThis book is for anyone coping with a chronic condition. Mr. Spero's book is a friendly companion to the not always friendly art of living with a chronic condition. Having lived with Multiple Sclerosis for 14 years, I have yet to find a book that so plainly and straightforwardly tackles the multiplicity of issues faced by those who choose wellness over illness. It is at once a teacher of the issues, a giver of strategies, and an offering of a method. I will read this book again and again to help remind myself to choose wellness and I will share it with others who seek the same. This is truly a well organized, thought provoking look at what it takes to be well...