We Are Not Alone: Learning to Live with Chronic Illness

As webmaster of Scleroderma from A to Z (sclero.org), a 550+ site that is available in 11 languages, I have read dozens of health and medical books. This remains my #1 personal favorite due to Sefra's practical advice for learning how to understand and cope with chronic (and often baffling!) illness.Sefra spoke several times for our state scleroderma organization. She was always lively, entertaining, and a huge hit with the crowd. Sefra passed away last year, right after another surgery. It never feels right for someone so geniuine and full of life and love, and a comforting shoulder, to be so suddenly gone from our midst. Thankfully, she left behind her words, her wisdom, and her wit to keep us company. Please get this book. Read it and cherish it, and you will know, for sure, that you are not alone when it comes to dealing with chronic illness.

Pitzele, who has two chronic illnesses, has really put together a very informative and readable book. I liked her lists and her description of where to put things in the grocery cart. This book should be read in tandem with Cheri Register's Living with Chronic Illness--Register does a better job of handling the emotions, while Pitzele does well at practical matters. I also liked her book One More Day, a meditation book for chronically ill people. One drawback--Pitzele seems to be hard-nosed in dealing with feelings, discussing how people should pull themselves together and be adults. I think there is a time for going through one's emotions, and that is why I recommend reading Register's book alongside.