This is a warm, wise book about illness, pain, loss, and death. Gayle Heiss puts health problems in their proper context—as part of the human condition, not aberrations visited upon an unfortunate few. Rather than detailing medical conditions and their treatments, Finding The Way Home clarifies the life-altering emotional and spiritual shifts that are part of coming to terms with human vulnerability.

 

Finding The Way Home explores the complex interactions that the ill have with their families, friends, health care providers and the world at large, and gently allows love, understanding, and open communication to point the way to a richer, more meaningful existence.

Based on the author's personal experiences and on the experiences of hundreds of people who have attended her weekly support groups, Finding the Way Home explores the difference between disease (a biological condition) and illness (the individual human experience of it), between curing (the alleviation of symptoms) and healing (the healthy integration of all life experience, including illness), and between pain (physical distress) and suffering (the loss of meaning, connection, and hope in the face of pain).

As a witness rather than expert, her humility is refreshing and her reflections honest. Her "area of expertise" is a profound understanding of individual differences and the ability to provide a supportive context for fellow-sufferers. Excerpts from support group discussions gives the reader the rare opportunity to hear ill people talk honestly and openly with one another. Anyone touched by health concerns will want to share Finding the Way Home with others. The inner world of illness is portrayed with clarity and compassion. Here is a book for anyone trying to live wisely, no matter the state of his or her health.

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