Living under the Sword or Dying with Jesus

Living under the Sword: Psychosocial Aspects of Recurrent and Progressive Life-Threatening Illness

Author: Austin H Kutscher

This collection of essays by a renowned set of doctors, nurses, and caregivers examines the recurrence of disease as it relates to a host of mental and physical illnesses, including Alzheimer's, hemophilia, AIDS, cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, choriocarcinoma, Tay-Sachs, Huntington's disease, and suicide.

Table of Contents:

1	Recurrence - What Is It?	1
2	Living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis	7
3	Recurrent Attempted Suicide: A Psychiatric Case Study in Medical Ethics	11
4	Alzheimer's Disease: A Multi-Edged Sword	21
5	Hemophilia and AIDS: The Double-Edged Sword	27
6	Living with a Chronically Suicidal Person	33
7	Hypnotherapy and Biofeedback in the Management of the Cancer Patient	41
8	Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Enhancing the Quality of Life through Occupational Therapy	45
9	Life after Choriocarcinoma: Fourteen Years Later	51
10	The Psychosocial Effects of Choriocarcinoma	55
11	The Way It Was - And Is	61
12	Psychosocial Aspects of Tay-Sachs and Other Fatal Metabolic Diseases	67
13	Functional Reconstruction of the Head and Neck Cancer Patient: Living Under a Triple Threat	77
14	The Challenge of Chronic Renal Failure	83
15	Recurrent Hospitalization in Adults with Medical Illness	89
16	At Risk for Huntington's Disease: A Model for Living	97
17	Progressive Deafness: Isolation and Stigma	105
18	Psychotherapeutic Treatment of the Dying Cancer Patient	109
19	Attitude of Professional Caregivers to Management of Life-Threatening Illness	123
20	Ice on the Slope	133
21	The Roller Coaster Ride of Terminal Illness: Psychosocial and Cultural Interventions	137
22	Coping with the Emotional Vulnrability of Children with Recurring and Life-Threatening Illnesses	143
23	Nurses' Perceptions of Nursing Care and Responses toward Patients with Recurrences of Disease	153
24	Recurrence of Cancer: A Crisis of Courage	161
25	Coping With Progressive Illness: The Family and the Patient	169
26	Walking Up Those Stairs: Opening the Door and Keeping in Control	173
27	The Impact of Recurrence on the Pediatric Patient, Family, and Medical Staff	181
28	Nonverbal Communication and Sexuality in the Care of the Chronically Ill	187

Books about: The Bowel Book or Coping with an Anxious or Depressed Child

Dying with Jesus: Meditations for Those Who Are Terminally Ill, Their Families and Their Caregivers

Author: Angela M Hibbard

Dying with Jesus is for people who are dying and for their caregivers, whether family members or pastoral-care professionals. Each page contains a Scripture passage with a brief commentary, a meditation intended to capture the thoughts and feelings of the dying person, and a response from Jesus. The booklet can be used as a single extended meditation or it can be read a page at a time in any sequence that is helpful. Page headings indicate the theme found in the meditation and can guide the user to the appropriate page for a given moment.

The meditations, rooted in the experience of dying people, may help to identify and give words to many painful thoughts and feelings. By reading a given meditation together chaplains, family members, or the dying person may be able to initiate a difficult but necessary conversation. It is hoped that Dying with Jesus will reveal some of Jesus' human struggle and will make it accessible to all who are facing the same frightening reality. All who use it are especially encouraged to share the feelings and memories it calls forth. This gift of shared experience will enlighten those who accompany the dying and will create a bridge between the gospel story and those of us who hear it today.