I really like this book. I keep several copies on hand, and when I hear of someone with coping with a stroke in the family I have one to give to them right away.

I found this book after my mother suffered her first stroke. I only wish I had found it earlier, it would have saved me a lot of frustration. I didn't understand what my mom was going through or her thoughts. The book opened my eyes. Now that I'm a medical social worker I recommend it highly to everyone who is a family member or caregiver of a person who had suffered from a stroke. Thank you Elaine for your time, research. It's a great little book of knowledge, I'm ordering 10 copies to give to my clients. MSW, LSW

Book has been reprinted (1996) in paperback and is available thru Amazon for $8.8

This book is okay. It's more of a "comfort" book that a pracitcal guide. If you need inspiration to actually start freelancing from home this book is for you. If you've been freelancing for a while and want solid advice you can safely skip this one.

I'm happy to say that I own a copy of this most wonderful book! It offers Guidelines and Insights into what a True Freelance Writers Life could be like. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies! I do know that Procastrination is an Enemy of mine. I've forgotten how many times I've had Writers block,reading this book has helped me overcome those rough,trying times that afflict all of us writers from time to time.
Enjoy!! :>)

I have been writing on my own for a while but with no purpose. I found that her book gave me purpose and direction. It put all my hopes and aspirations onto a solid path. She is very humerous and real. At the same time she manages to stick to the point and get it across. Her positive words really make you think that this could become a reality. Despite my busy life with the children I feel like this is something I can undertake. The book also gave the names of great reference books that will help me focus my writing in certain directions. Her point about writing things that pertain to your life, like raising children, marriage or being a woman opened up a world of material for me. She does a good job also on informing the reader on how to research an article or book with out getting lost in the research and never actually writing. I think that the book is very reader friendly in every aspect.

While this book addresses some very serious dangers that we probably all ought to be aware of, and know how to avoid, it also stresses some very rare problems, which may result in over-paranoia for some readers.

I think it's vital to know what the actual risks are that we might need to face, but I think creating a "dangerous environment" is not at all helpful, and perhaps this author, in his attempts to help, has done a bit too much of that in this book.

For instance, he writes that adverse drug reactions result in 140,000 deaths per year. Pretty intense. He discusses ways to prevent this from happening to oneself or one's loved ones. Very good information.

The five pages he devotes to infant abductions, however, is a bit extreme, I think. In From 1983 to 1996, 89 infant abductions occurred in hospitals. Which, of course, is way too many, but I think that the prioritizing of the issues in this book leaves something to be desired.

After reading just a little of it, I began thinking that hospitals were horribly dangerous places to be, and I had to really look at the facts presented in order to see that the presentation of the facts was more horrifying than they needed to be.

I really like the advices for how to protect oneself in a hospital, but I think it could have been presented better.

...Sheldon Blau's introduction confirms your worst fears - firstly, that things can and do go wrong, and secondly, that it is reasonably easy to fix it - if you know what is wrong. I read this book after having to fight medical personal for four days to take notice when we said there was something seriously wrong with our son, who was bleeding internally. When we finally got to hospital, I had a fair idea what was wrong with him, and tried to negotiate a way to sort it out. But there was one big difference between me and Sheldon Blau. I was just a mother. In the end, I was proven right, but not before a whole raft of "situations" became majors, with me having to step in twice, saying over my dead body. The things that really struck me about Sheldon Blau's comments was that he could not address the one thing he did not feel, which was intimidation, and resultant fear of authority, because as a doctor he had "authority". The major hurdle for parents was not one he had to face. As parents, when you believe you are right, and doctors are wrong, the first thing that hits you is fear. And sure enough, the first question you will be asked, when you question authority, is "What medical school did you go to?". Then the tactics start, to attempt to have you removed from the hospital, and subtle things to make your "life" while you try to protect your child hell. Intimidation in a big scale. None of these things Sheldon Blau experienced, because it was not done to him. They wouldn't dare. I rated the book five, because on the mechanical things that you need to do, this book is the best I've read. But what happens when you switch on a tape-recorder in hospital? It might be tolerated (barely) if you are a medical person - but as a parent it is interpreted as a threat, and instantly, the way you are treated and viewed changes. In some cases, management then becomes "aggressive".

So when I titled my review "This is just the beginning" , I meant that I would like Elain Shimberg and Sheldon Blau to follow up by writing a book about coping strategies for parents to survive all the things which are never done to medical patients. It is so desperately needed.

Another issue unresolved is that most people who do fight, are educated and articulate. We were. We won - and we probably saved our son's life by preventing dangerous treatment he didn't need, and stopping them giving a drug intravenously when it should have been given orally. But I couldn't help thinking as I looked around the ward at all the other mothers who had no assertiveness, no knowledge, no realisation that the medical library was just 200 yards down the corridor - that for their children, if anything went wrong and their child died, the standard answer would be "we did our best" when in fact far from being heroes, the medical people had silently buried their mistakes.

This book is fantastic for educated assertive people - and possibly useful for others. There is still a crying need however, to address the plight of the average Ewen Mee who hasn't a clue how to fight, because they deserve a lot better than they are dished up with at the moment.

My mom is a patient of Dr. Blau. He treats her for her rheumatoid arthritis, and is a wonderful diagnostician and doctor. A year ago, he mentioned his book to her, but she was not interested in reading it, because she had never been in the hospital. Five months later, she was hospitalized with a heart attack. While recuperating, she asked me to purchase this book so she could read it. She did read it, and three months later, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She is in the same hospital as Dr. Blau was, and as she now recuperates, she leaves his book on her bedside table. My mom has become a lot more savvy thanks to her rheumatologist. As her daughter, I have embraced my role as health care advocate with increased vigilance. So thank you, Dr. Blau, for a fine book that may help to save lives, or at the very least,to prevent needless pain and suffering!

While this is an easy book to read, understand and even use in your quest to avoid the pain and symptoms of IBS there are several serious shortcomings. First, the author is a layman. She is not a doctor, does not treat IBS or practice any sort of health care. She is a writer. A good writer who draws from a variety of medical sources and credits them diligently, but still not a doctor or academic.

This is also a highly 'womanocentric' book. Of all the examples cited in the text I found ONE that was not a female. While woman are more likely to suffer from IBS than men in America this is still more of a 'womans book' and focuses at length on issues that do not concern the other gender at all. I will not, for instance, be experiencing any greater onset of symptoms during menstruation.

The author advocates adding fiber to the diet. This is sound advice supported by most, if not all doctors and nutritionists. While she mentions the difference between soluable and insoluable fiber she says "You needn't worry about which fiber is which..." (p.161) This couldn't be worse advice. Insoluable fiber causes many of the symptoms of IBS to worsen and is not recommended by any other sources I have found. Read other books on IBS, there are some great ones right here on Amazon, or check around the web where there are hundreds of resources for people with IBS. Nobody else recommends adding insoluable fiber to your diet, and most sources recommend eliminating it.

Finally, the bulk of the book does not concern IBS directly at all but is filled with 'holistic' approaches to all around wellness. This sounds nice but I'm not looking for a book on "Developing Coping Skills", "Exploring Biofeedback", "Learning Personal Relaxation Techniques", or "Talking to Yourself". these are all chapters in Ms. Shimberg's book. I have yet to find anyone else who links talking to myself with relief from a colon spasm.

You will find no list of potential food triggers, nor a discusion of meal planning or preparation. The author says that everyone is different so what triggers one person's symptoms is ok for another. While this may be true there are many food groups that most authorities agree are difficult to digest and should be avoided. Simply ducking the whole issue does not help me find reflief.

To summarize, this book offers no new information or research... it is by a layman. It offers a plethora of "New Age" treatments which have no proven benefits in treating IBS. And it actually has some outright bad advice in it. i.e. not worrying about which type of fiber you add to your diet.

If you are seeking an understanding of your pain and a strategy for relief, look elsewhere.

It has taken the doctors a long time to diagnose me for IBS. The doctors are not much help except for medication. This book gives you details of what a person goes through and ideas on how to control it or relief it. One of the main topics is stress. Stress causes a lot of the problems with IBS. This book gives you ways to cope with the stress and what you need to watch for in foods. I share the information in this book with many people that I meet who have IBS. I bought two books. The other book does not even begin to show you how to cope with IBS. I would recommend this book to anyone with digestive problems if for no reason except ways of coping with digestive problems.

Thank goodness that at last there are many books available about IBS (or whatever name you may have been calling your high-strung digestive system), but this one is a great one to start with. Right on the cover it lists several of the names IBS has been called over the years. It's short, which lets you then move on to books related to the specifics of your own condition, which it emphasizes again and again varies widely from person to person. I especially liked the chapter "Kids with IBS", a subject close to the hearts of any of us who have been long misunderstood (and too often blaimed) for having this disorder. We each develop our own way to cope, and how great to read the chapter "Talking to Yourself" and discover that I really wasn't crazy after all. A great book to start with, but don't stop here because the truth really will set you free (or at least help you live with it).

This book calls itself an "easy-to-read, problem-solving guide," and that's pretty accurate. Written by a stepgrandmother with a refreshing and mature approach, this book focuses on solutions, not excuses. The advice is straightforward and free of hard to understand theory. There are quotes from stepparents throughout the text that illustrate the subjects well.

Early in the book, the author discusses communication in a stepfamily. She gives valuable advice for all relationships, active listening skills, and details on holding a family meeting. She also focuses on the marriage partnership. "Your spouse comes first," she says, and then offers ways to protect and nurture the marriage.

You'll enjoy the "Myths and Misses" chapter where the author discusses common misconceptions stepparents have. There is also help with handing the blended money as well as building and blending family traditions. The chapter on discipline is excellent, with thorough and specific guidelines and a reminder on how to interpret and understand a child's behavior. There's help on getting along with a former spouse and a full chapter devoted to stepgrandparenting.

The most helpful portion of the book may be the discussion on stress -- how to recognize, manage and reduce it. The "twelve ways to trip with steps" make it easy to understand, and then prevent, the little things that can add up to the big fallout. The author concludes with "Twelve Secrets for Successful Stepparenting," and while they seem simple, they are the valuable basics for building a happy new family.

This is a great resource for anyone starting a stepfamily. It considers many issues that may not be thought of until it is too late. This book covers issues such as communcation, discipline, religion, and many other topics. It will help new stepparents effectively deal with their new role as parent. A must read if you are in this new role.