A book for all reasons
In previous posts I have mentioned, here and there, books and people who or which have had a profound impact on me – in general and more specifically since being diagnosed with MS. In a couple of these posts I mentioned that in February 2009, some two months after being diagnosed with MS (which instantly gave me an explanation for events of the previous 16 years) I attended a live-in 5 day MS residential run at the Gawler Foundation in the natural Australian bushland about and hour and a half’s drive outside Melbourne. That course was facilitated and run by Dr Ian Gawler (the Nelson Mandala of cancer in my opinion) – and by Professor George Jelinek.
Professor Jelinek has recently had a revised and updated version of his book (the book that I read) published by Allen & Unwin … here’s a link to the book.
Apart from having MS, and from having his mother suicide from advanced MS, George is both a practising medical specialist and an academic in a specialist field of medicine. If good can come out of bad (and note, this is a philosophy of mine – it does) George getting MS has been a great benefit to the rest of us. Because of the harrowing nature of his mother’s debilitation and demise – and George’s involvement as the then medical student in the family – when he was diagnosed with MS he was hit with a tsunami of emotions, but rather than being overwhelmed he had the personal drive, AND the professional expertise, to drill down and research all there was to know about MS .. and in the subsequent 12 years he has continued to do so, culminating (for the moment at least) in the book.
To follow George’s book is a major lifestyle change. But it works! It is in my opinion the most superlative book in the world, to date, on MS and how to overcome its effects. I could not recommend it highly enough. Best wishes, KB