The Taking Control book series
A 360° view of how to put your life back together while living with A chronic illness
A small note from the author…
“I started writing these books only six weeks after I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. You see, I had laid in hospital frantically searching for ‘The Plan’… I needed a plan to tell me how to find a way forward after this life-changing news. But despite endless Internet searches and talking to so many medical specialists who were far smarter than me, I found that no one could give me the information I needed to wrap my mind around how I was going to move forward with life.
It became blatantly obvious to me - very quickly - that I would need to develop my own plan. The idea for these books started taking shape from that point forward. It was crystal clear that this would be a three book series, examining how to live with MS from all angles; that of the person diagnosed with the disease, their carer and supporter network, right through to the incredible MS nurses who also travel the chronic illness journey alongside all the other stakeholders.
Stories are a fundamental dimension of human experience and I have always believed in story telling to change a perspective, educate and inform… and to simply entertain! This series of books was six years in the writing. It is thorough, geographically and experientially diverse, and most of all honest.
I hope the stories in the Taking Control series resonate, provide comfort or even make your own world a better one to thrive in.”
Taking Control:
A collection of inspiring stories for people living with MS.
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Specifically written for someone newly diagnosed with MS or a chronic illness.
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Inspirational stories about creating a better life after being diagnosed with MS.
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Practical advice & over 100 tips to help you put your life back together.
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Each week, 200 people are diagnosed with MS, adding to the approximately 2.5 million people living with the condition worldwide. Despite this large number, so little is really known about the condition and it can be difficult to find practical, real-life advice that you can put into action. Taking Control is an inspiring journey through the lives of 15 people living with MS. Read how they were diagnosed & address their greatest fears to go on & create a new life. Practical advice and over 100 tips for anyone living with a chronic illness.
Taking Control Together:
Real life stories on caring for yourself and a loved one with MS.
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Those closest to the person living with illness - be it parents, a spouse, children, siblings or friends in the support network.
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First-hand accounts & advice on caring (and importantly self-care) for those who make up the support network.
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A guide to help you overcome feeling isolated or alone when caring for someone with a chronic illness.
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Chronic disease affects far more than just the person diagnosed. It can be a steep learning curve and a very confusing and emotional time for those closest to the person living with the illness - be it their parents, spouse, siblings, children or the friends that make up their close support network.
'Taking Control Together' is the companion resource to the best-selling book 'Taking Control.’ It seeks to explore the complex relationship between sufferer and supporter, the potential guilt, fear and inability for those closest to the person with MS to control a disease that so little is known about.
This book is a comprehensive compilation of interviews of the family, friends and professional carers of people living with MS and will be an important resource demonstrating how others have dealt with a wide range of situations. It aims to guide the all-important support network in how to look after their mental, emotional and physical well-being whilst supporting someone with a chronic illness.
As with ‘Taking Control’, this book seeks to explore the journey of 15 different people, each detailing their unique journey whilst also revealing commonalities of everyone profiled.
Taking Control Compassionately:
Stories of the unique human spirit inherent in MS Nurses globally.
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People with MS - & their families - who want to learn how to piece together the puzzle of living with a chronic illness.
Anyone considering a career in specialist nursing.
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The many & varied challenges distinct to MS nurses…. from symptom management, treating homeless & refugee patients, the ritual of medicine & the philosophies that shaped their practice.
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So many more tricks that you can put in your toolbox to live life to the fullest.
That ‘taking control’ of MS is not only possible but empowering.
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“Taking Control Compassionately” reveals the ardent path of Specialist MS Nurses from around the world.
“A specialist nurse is one of the first people you will meet and speak to after you have been told you have a life-changing illness,” explains Ms Kingsford Smith. “They sit beside you as you try to wrap your mind around the quagmire of chaos you have just found yourself dumped in. Indeed, they will hold your hand and help you process the diagnosis and then gently guide you through those scary and uncertain early days.
“Specialist nurses become a one stop shop,” continues Ms Kingsford Smith. “As the stories throughout this book will illustrate, they can be considered part psychologist, part councillor, part clinician, part medical interpreter, part social worker, part educator, part mediator…. and the list goes on.”
Taking Control Compassionately chronicles the life and work of 15 Specialist MS Nurses from around the world – from Boston to Beirut to Birmingham and Brisbane – allowing the reader to peek behind the curtain to see how specialist multiple sclerosis nurses help their patients piece together the puzzle of chronic illness.
Conversations traverse across the philosophies that shaped their practice – such as the ritual of medicine, story theory in patient consultations, symptom management and treatment development through to the many and varied challenges distinct to the nurse’s own environment, including nursing in a rural and remote location, treating refugee and homeless patients & the unique challenges of paediatric MS. Personal accounts and patient anecdotes illustrate the hidden and often enormous lengths MS nurses go to in providing care – and indeed better lives – for those they treat.
Taking Control Compassionately are stories that need to be told. It is inherently about the very hopeful outlook for people living with MS, in no short measure because of the tremendous pride, empathy and practical skills MS nurses bring to the table.
Jillian is addicted to coffee, shoes, dachshunds and story-telling.
