The Plunger List

At my darkest time with lupus, I would fall asleep hoping that I would not wake up in the morning. When I kept waking up morning after morning, realizing that I was still here, still sick, still in pain, I began thinking of ways to hasten the process. I thought about putting on a huge pile of clothes and jumping in the deep end of the pool in the apartment complex where I lived. Pretty scarey! I still had enough presence of mind to realize that I needed to do something ASAP before I thought this was normal! So I took myself to a psychiatrist and that was a disaster. I left him and left the prescription behind. When I returned a few weeks later, he commented that I looked so much better and that the meds must be working. I asked him to check my chart and when he did, the prescription fell out. He was puzzled. I gestured for him to come close and hissed, "I got a huge PLUNGER and got my head out of my butt." I figured that if I was going through this, then others must have gone through it too, and some of them must have written. Having no money, I trotted off to the public library and read and read and read. So instead of a "bucket list" I am offering you my "plunger list."

The Language of Letting Go-Melodie Beattie
The Relaxation Response-Herbert Benson
Beyond the Relaxation Response-Herbert Benson
Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia amd Other Invisible Chronic Illnesses-Katrina Berne
Guilt Is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson-Joan Borysenko
Minding the Body, Mending the Mind-Joan Borysenko
The Power of the Mind to Heal-Joan Borysenko
Being Sick Well-Jeffrey Boyd
Intoxicated by My Illness-Anatole Broyard
Mind Your Heart-Aggie Casey
Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by a Patient-Norman Cousins
Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired-Paul Donoghue and Mary Siegel
The Immune Power Personality-Henry Dreher
The Chronic Illness Workbook-Patricia Fennell
The Will to Meaning-Viktore Frankl
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda-Arthur Freeman
Stigma-Erving Goffman
Illness and the Art of Creative Self-Expression-John Graham-Pole and Patch Adams
Mind Over Mood-Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky
Anatomy of Hope-Jerome GroopmanThe Measure of Our Days-Jerme Groopman
Miracle of Mindfulness-Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace Is Every Step-Thich Nhat Hanh
500 Tips for Coping with Chronic Illness-Pamela Jacobs
You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought-John-Roger and Peter Williams
Coming to Our Senses-Jon Kabat-Zinn
Full Catastrophe Living-Jon Kabat-Zinn
Wherever You Go, There You Are-Jon Kabat-Zinn
Minding the Body-Ellyn Kaschak
On Death and Dying-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Living a Life that Matters-Rabbi Harold Kushner
When Bad Things Happen to Good People-Rabbi Harold Kushner
Stress Relief and Relaxation Techniques-Judith Lazarus
Living a Health Life with Chronic Conditions-Kate Lorig, et al
The Healing Mind-Paul Martin
A Delicate Balance: Living Successfully with Chronic Illness-Susan Milstrey-Wells
Care of the Soul-Thomas Moore
The Complete Guide to Your Emotions and Health-Emrika Padus
Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions-James Pennebaker
Writing to Heal-James Pennebaker
Molecules of Emotion-Candace Pert
We Are Not Alone: Learning to Live with Chronic Illness-Sefra Kobrin Pitzele
Taking Charge: How to Master the Eight Most Common Fears of Long Term Illness-Irene Pollin with Susan Gollant
The Chronic Illness Experience-Cheri Register
Overcoming Indecisiveness-Theodore Isaac Rubin
Stress without Distress-Hans Selye
365 Presciptions for the Soul-Bernie Siegel
How to Live Between Office Visists-Bernie Siegel
Love, Medicine, and Miracles-Bernie Siegel
The Art of Getting Well-David Spero
After Any Diagnosis-Carol Svec
It's Not All inYour Head-Susan Swedo
You Are Not Your Illness-Susan Noble Topf
Spontaneous Healing-Andrew Weill