The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness

[Guest guest]

Another nice surprise yesterday was that my ex-husband Alan paid a visit

and brought me a book that he knew I'd appreciate. It's called, " The

Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness " by Jerome

Groopman, MD. Dr. Groopman is a wonderfully insightful, compassionate

physician with a gift for writing. I've read his books " Second Opinion "

and " The Measure of Our Days. " I highly recommend both.

From the introduction:

" Hope is one of our central emotions, but we are often at a loss when

asked to define it. Many of us confuse hope with optimism, a prevailing

attitude that " things turn out for the best. " But hope differs from

optimism. Hope does not arise from being told to " think positively, " or

from hearing an overly rosy forecast. Hope, unlike optimism, is rooted

in unalloyed reality. Although there is no uniform definition of hope, I

found one that seemed to capture what my patients had taught me. Hope is

the elevating feeling we experience when we see - in the mind's eye - a

path to a better future. Hope acknowledges the significant obstacles and

deep pitfalls along that path. True hope has no room for delusion.

...

Clear-eyed, hope gives us the courage to confront our circumstances and

the capacity to surmount them. For all my patients, hope, true hope, has

proved as important as any medication I might prescribe or any procedure

I might perform. Only well into my career did I come to realize this.

...

Personal experience opened my mind. For some nineteen years after

failed spine surgery, I lived in a labyrinth of relapsing pain and

debility. Then, through a series of chance circumstances, I found an

exit. I felt I had been given back my life. I recognized that only hope

could have made my recovery possible.Rekindled hope gave me the courage

to embark on an arduous and contrarian treatment program,

and the resilience to endure it. Without hope, I would have been locked

forever in that prison of pain. But I also sensed that hope had done

more than push me to take a chance and not give up. It seemed to exert

potent and palpable effects not only on my psychology but on my

physiology.

...

Every day I look for hope, for my patients, for my loved ones, and

for myself. It is an ongoing search. Here I tell what I have found. "

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org