Rosalind Joffe

I don't suffer from the specific diseases addressed in this book but as a cancer survivor understand the issues of living with illness. The style of the book is a upbeat and positive which can at time feel a little disrespectful to the struggle of the women who deal with these diseases. On the other hand others will find the tone life affirming and inspiring. There are many practical matters which are dealt with head on and good advice is given. I would consider sharing this book with women dealing with auto immune disease knowing they could glean some good bits and leave the rest.… (meer)

I received this book through the LibraryThing Earlier Reviewer program.

I started out thinking that this book would be of interest to me because of my autoimmune issues, but not particularly applicable to where I am in my life and career right now. As I read, I realized that aspects of it were relevant to me now, and that which aspects are relevant to me will undoubtedly change over time. I can see myself periodically rereading chapters of this book in order to get me thinking about where I am, what I'm doing, and where I want to end up - and how my autoimmune illnesses influence that without completely restricting my options. Further, I would think that many of the ideas and strategies covered in this book would be applicable to those suffering from other chronic health issues, not just autoimmune illnesses.

However, there were several things that really bothered me about this book. The first, and most obvious, was the use of "girlfriend" in the title and throughout the book. Were the authors trying to use it to connect with the reader? I found it to be jolting and artificial, as I did the exhortation to "develop my warrior spirit."

Additionally, when the authors defined the stages of chronic illness in Chapter 4 (denial, anger, grief, and acceptance), they mentioned Kubler-Ross's stages of grief but relegated those stages to their own "grief" step. However, I had the impression while reading, further enhanced by reviewing the Kubler-Ross stages later, that the authors' stages of chronic illness owed an awful lot to Kubler-Ross...

Two things that I particularly liked about the book were its friendly style (with the exception of the aforementioned use of "girlfriend") and the numerous stories and examples that were used throughout the book to illustrate various concepts and states of mind.… (meer)

I think the advice in this book is valid. It does make sense to try to keep working through ones various bouts of autoimmune disease, or even through bouts of other life changing circumstances. I am amazed by how much support the people Joffe describes in her vignettes have received in the work place. My experiences have not been quite so understanding, nor as forgiving. I think it is inspirational to read that others have had better luck finding ways to remain working even though they don't feel well. I am a bit disturbed though by the number of people she mentions who decided that they would go into educational administration because they had wanted to be teachers, but couldn't keep up with the classroom work, so being an administrator was somehow perceived as easier. I think the work of a good administrator is just as difficult, or should be, so I am concerned that these might be the folks who are just getting by, and perhaps ought not to be trying to organize the systems. But then again, a vignette hardly tells the whole story.… (meer)

I got this book through the LibraryThing early reviewer program.

This is a must-read for women with autoimmune disease, especially if they are interested in being/staying employed. The text is a little too self-consciously sassy in places for my taste, and I wish they went a bit more into what they mean by being a warrior and having warrior spirit (I know what I think that means, but they didn't talk much about what they think it means, which I would have liked), but there is walth of good information in this book. The authors cover interviewing when you have a chronic illness, "coming out" to coworkers, considering self-employment as an option, and plenty of other material as well. The book is filled with stories from women the authors interviewed and from the authors' own lives, which makes the ideas and suggestions seem a lot more realistic. Good stuff!

Also published on my booklog.… (meer)