The Trajectory of Illness and the Mystery of Healing - Softcover

James K. Struve MD; MS

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982254490 ISBN 13: 9780982254493

Publisher: Speedwell Press, 2012

Synopsis

The question, what keeps persons well when they are sick? is the question addressed by this book. The X factor we discovered in our resarch was the personal experience of brokenness within the illness trajectory, and the response of willingness, a phenomenon not only of the radical acceptance of being sick but also the adaptation to an orienting force manifest in the brokenness, to assail and work out the event of illness. Willingness was the letting-go of the prospect of total healing without letting go of a sense of substantial personal responsibility to engage, reduce, eradicate, change, or deal with the illness. Willingness stemmed from a source full of big-picture thinking, purpose, and power. For those willing, the door was opened to change unhealthy lifestyles, to get a life when sick, and to discover strengths for living. Those with the willingness characteristic did not portray themselves as victims of their illness nor did they let their illness define their identity. Illness was incorporated into their work and spirit. The willingness characteristic shortened or softened the physical, psychological, and social adaptation requirements of being sick, that is, the grief and coping-with-loss component of the illness. Willingness allowed the inflow of an orienting force or sense of coherence that found its existence through loss of control while sick. Our study focused on those with lifestyle, chronic, and life-limiting illness. Those persons who came to us with obvious self-limited episodic illness, e.g. cold, sore throat, were excluded. Aaron Antonovsky interviewed survivors of Nazi concentration camps who had not only lived through the experience but also had moved through and past it and had productive lives. Dr. Antonovsky describes a sense of coherence common to all in his research among those who survived well. There must emerge a discovery or experience of a broader context of meaning, manageability, and comprehensibility than what the catastrophic or threatening event itself dictates. When I ask a patient about his or her spirits, I understand that I am asking how is their sense of coherence in life and about how their orienting force is playing out today. Drs. Brand and Antonovsky are describing a way of seeing things in life, a sense of purpose, a way of trusting, and a way of facing reality straight on that really helps when one is sick. What one s anchor in life is and the transformability or willingness that results becomes really important when one is sick. The anchor allows for manageability, sustainable purpose and maintenance of perspective even when one is faced with the incomprehensible. Spirit, grief, health, and illness interact. In her spirit, Marcie experienced a place of rest and refuge from the forces that would deny her health and future. She grieved her illness and still had to adapt to the circumstance of facing a potentially life-threatening disease. Her already-acquired life management skills were helpful so also the supportive personal and family supports and access to medical care. However, it was willingness aligned with a higher purpose, perspective, and power that brought her to a new place with her illness. Important as they are, healing is more than curing disease and adapting to illness. As I hope to demonstrate, it is about spirit as well. It is one thing to come to terms with illness and fundamentally another to come to terms with God.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. James Struve s desire to connect faith and science began in the 1960s at Augsburg College and continued at the University of Minnesota Medical School. While serving in the 1970s as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Army, Jim saw children in orphanage in Da Nang, Vietnam. Since 1976 Jim has practiced whole-person medical care in Minneapolis, taking time off to study Granger Westbergs church-based clinic in Hinsdale, Illinois, completing one unit of chaplaincy training with pastors at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, and finishing a masters degree in clinical research at the University of Minnesota. From 1980 through 1991, Jim operated a neighborhood clinic housed entirely within Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, after which he co-directed the Fairview Pain Management Center, still medically directs Redeemer Health and Rehabilitation Center, and works in medicine and geriatrics at Bloomington Lake Clinic, now a part of the Fairview Healthcare System.

Review:

This is a challenging book; it pushes the reader, whether provider or laity, to seek the rest of the story in our clinical encounters. It drives us to seek to understand the deeper meaning of illness and to seek success in whole person healing. It s not an easy read but pushes toward resolution and success in our patient interactions as we confront the mystery of healing. It validates our deep desire as primary providers to truly help our patients and find meaning for ourselves as well. The author stubbornly prohibits us from dealing with illness and suffering at a superficial level. --Paul S. Sanders M.D., Corporate Medical Director, Benedictine Health System, Cambridge, Minnesota.

About this edition

• Publisher: Speedwell Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0982254490
• ISBN 13: 9780982254493
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 94
• Editor: Paul Nockleby