Though death is an ultimate reality of life, no amount of preparation can help us overcome the void that occurs with the death of our loved ones. The eventual shape that mourning takes is colored by the emotional connection we sustained with that person.
Every person has his unique way of dealing with loss, and we can’t say that one method is better than other. Today, we have come up with a list of 15+ books in which the authors have sustained this loss and eventually found a way to deal with it. Finding hope in the wake of a tragedy is not always easy, and these authors vividly narrate their struggles. This list also includes few books written by medical practitioners who have witnessed these losses by families they cared for. These stories of sickness, death, and bereavement, followed by renewal are heartbreaking and healing at the same time. Our aim of putting this list together is the hope that they may be of interest, perhaps inspiring but most of all, providers of hope in moments of personal crisis. Please let us know your thoughts.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
By: Atul Gawande
Atul Gawande, a medical practitioner himself, looks at medicine from a different perspective. He talks about how medicine can improve not only life but also the process of its ending. What is it to grow old in today’s era? Is death a medical problem or a human problem? Read this book to get the answers.
All the Things We Never Knew: Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness
By: Sheila Hamilton
This book is written by Sheila Hamilton, a reporter, who shares the story of her last three months with her husband, and another year after he dies. In today’s fast-paced world, it is tough to examine the delicate line between stability and chaos. The author misses the clues of her husband’s mental illness. Anyone who has a loved one who has mental illness can relate to her story.
Colors of Goodbye: A Memoir of Holding On, Letting Go, and Reclaiming Joy in the Wake of Loss
By : September Vaudrey
How will a person react after his/her child’s death? Will they be shaken to the core? September Vaudrey, a doting mother, has to deal with a sudden death of her 19-year-old daughter. As the book title suggests, this book is about holding on the pain and then letting it go so as to reclaim joy in the wake of loss.
Living with Loss: One Day at a Time
By: Rachel Blythe Kodanaz
Rachel Blythe Kodanaz shares some tips, hopes, optimism, introspection, and self-discovery for people who have recently lost a loved one. She gives realistic advice to the readers to gently guide them through their grief. The short entries of Living with Loss are easy to read, and it enables readers to embrace their everyday lives with and without their loved ones.
Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief: Elaine Mansfield
Elaine and her husband Vic, whom she was married for 42 years, dies of cancer. She, at his death bed, promises him that she will find a way to be all right, and she kept this promise. She takes us through her journey of through grief and how she gets the hope and determination to live up to the pledge.
Determined to Matter: A Family Facing Inoperable Brain Cancer
By: Jen O’Hara
Shannon O’Hara, a beautiful and vibrant 12-year-old girl is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Her parents ran a blog to keep the near and dear ones updated about the condition of Shannon, and this book is a result of that. It takes us through last year of Shannon’s life and the emotions of the parents.
Eat Ice Cream for Supper: A Story of My Life with Cancer. A Guide for Your Journey
By: Kathy Manning Gronau
Kathy Manning Gronau had to deal with cancer twice, once when it became the cause of his husband’s death and later when she is diagnosed with cancer. She takes us through her medical, psychological, and emotional journey through cancer to survivorship.
Sooner or Later: Restoring Sanity to Your End of Life Care
By: Damiano De Sano Iocovozzi
What if you are told that your loved one’s disease is incurable or at an advanced stage where no medicine can help much? How to control your intense wave of emotions and what should you do to remain sane? How should you proceed and what to ask from specialists? You can get answers to all these questions and much more in this well-written, easy to read book.
Finishing Well: My daughter’s journey home
By: Janice Pitchford
Janice Pitchford’s daughter is diagnosed with cancer. A registered nurse herself, how will she deal with these emotions? How will her daughter take this news and live a life to the fullest, a life span that is considered a sort by many? This book will certainly help you in appreciating the moments you live.
Until Further Notice, I Am Alive
By: Tom Lubbock
Tom Lubbock, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and was told that his life span is short, keeps a record of those years after the diagnose and gives us a glimpse of how one may feel at the end of his life. The writer has filled this book with optimism and he gives us the encouragement to live the life as it comes.
By: Marion Coutts
Marion Coutts is the wife of Tom Lubbock is the author of this memoir. She starts writing this book since Tom was diagnosed with brain tumor and takes us through this incredible journey of love, hope and faith. We have published a book review of “The Iceberg” which you can read here.
The Space Between: A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life
By: Virginia A. Simpson
As a bereavement care specialist, Dr. Virginia Simpson has devoted her career to counseling individuals and families grappling with illness, death, and grieving. But when her own mother, Ruth, is diagnosed in 1999 with a life-threatening condition, Virginia is caught off guard by the storm of emotions she experiences, forced to inhabit the role of caregiver.
Courageous Confrontations: Lives Transformed by Life-Threatening Illness
By: Richard H. Helfant
As a bereavement care specialist, Dr. Virginia Simpson has devoted her career to counseling individuals and families grappling with illness, death, and grieving. But when her mother, Ruth, is diagnosed in 1999 with a life-threatening condition, Virginia is caught off guard by the storm of emotions she experiences, forced to inhabit the role of caregiver.
Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care
By: Koshin Paley Ellison
This book isn’t about dying. It’s about life and what life has to teach us. It’s about caring and what giving care means.
In Awake at the Bedside, pioneers of palliative and end-of-life care as well as doctors, chaplains, caregivers and even poets offer wisdom that will challenge, uplift, comfort—and change the way we think about death.
If you have read any of the listed books or any other book that deals with the similar situation and you would like to share your review with the readers, you can contact us at admin@psychonephrology.com. We would love to hear from you.
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