Hope for the Best,Plan for the Rest

Hope for the Best,Plan for the Rest - theHumm May 2024

By John Pigeau

“Life changes fast,” Joan Didion wrote. “Life changes in the instant.”

For many of us, that “instant” can come in a doctor’s office, when we’re told we have a life-changing illness. That instant can be overwhelming. Our minds can quickly be flooded by powerful emotions: fear, anger, sadness, confusion, helplessness. To make sense of things, to figure out what it all means, and to know what to do next, we sometimes need help.

Dr. Sammy Winemaker and Dr. Hsien Seow have written an invaluable new book that aims to do just that.

It’s called Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest: 7 Keys for Navigating a Life-Changing Diagnosis, and it’s meant to empower people with practical tools to take charge of their diagnosis and navigate the health care system with confidence, knowledge and calm.

“While your diagnosis cannot be changed,” the book reminds us, “the way you experience your illness can.”

The book’s authors, doctors who have spent decades researching and caring for thousands of seriously ill patients, will be giving a free talk in Almonte at the Old Town Hall on Wednesday, May 22 beginning at 2:30pm. This event is presented free of charge by Mill Street Books, but registration is required. Please contact the store at 256–9090 for more information.

Vicki Bassett will be moderating the event. Bassett is a long-time nurse who has spent most of her career working clinically and in leadership roles in acute care hospitals in Ottawa, Owen Sound and Almonte. More recently, she has been working as a Nurse Educator in primary care at the Ottawa Hospital Academic Family Health Team.

Bassett is passionate about sharing the book’s positive, practical, hopeful message. She thinks Hope for the Best, Plan for the Best is an invaluable resource for anyone facing a serious illness.

She notes a key passage Dr. Winemaker writes in the Preface: “This book is filled with hope. Although I cannot change that you received a life-changing diagnosis, I hope to improve your experience living with it.”

Bassett says, “This is my hope for all who read the book as well, and why I am so passionate about sharing this incredible resource.”

“Very simply,” she adds, “the messages of the book ring true and make so much sense in my experience, as a nurse for over 40 years. As I read the book, I found myself saying ‘yes, yes, yes!’ I love the creative way the authors distilled their experience and research into the ‘7 keys’ for navigating a life-changing diagnosis.”

“The stories included in the book, illustrating the benefits of ‘being in the know’ versus the harms of ‘being in the dark,’ resonate with my experience as a nurse, and personally. The practical tips provided for patients and families provide invaluable guidance,” she adds.

Like the doctors who wrote the book, Bassett is mindful that our healthcare system is currently lacking when it comes to the availability of physicians — particularly specialists — and that people may not have access to the care they need, nor the information. She believes Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest is a book that might help bridge those gaps for some patients, as well as their loved ones.

“With our health care system’s complexities and stresses,” she explains, “I believe the ideas in this book can help patients and families feel more in control, less anxious and ultimately more prepared to walk the often difficult road of adapting to a life-changing diagnosis. As a nurse, I see the gaps, I hear the distress, and I believe this book can help patients, families and health care providers work better together, to achieve better outcomes.”

Many life-changing illnesses can cause people to be in a great deal of pain, sometimes too much pain to read a book. What then? I asked Bassett. As a long-time nurse, she understood how that would be problematic.

“I have experienced severe back pain at times during my life, and in those times the last thing I would be interested in doing would be to read a book,” she says, “especially a book that required some focus and reflection. All I think about at those times is how to get comfortable — get some sleep, etc. — and what I can do to make things better.”

Still, she says, if you have someone taking care of you, the book may be quite helpful.

“If there is someone in your ‘inner crew’ who is up to reading the book with the goal of learning more about how they might be helpful — or how to navigate the situation as a caregiver — then hopefully the book would be useful in this way.”

Helpfully, the book also comes in audio format.

One thing the book advocates is asking questions of health care providers. Information, after all, is power. And patients deserve to get all the vital information they need.

Bassett agrees wholeheartedly.

“I work in primary care and patients can request ‘long’ appointments when they have a concern that will need some time,” she notes. “If you have a family doctor, this should be possible. This isn’t always an option with specialists though,” she points out.

However, “one thing I can suggest is using key # 7 from the book — Invite Yourself,” she says. “Prioritize the most important question(s), and at the beginning of the appointment be respectfully assertive and state what it is you would like to discuss. This takes planning and thought to make sure that you make the best use of the time you have with the doctor, to address your most pressing concerns. If more time is necessary after that, ask to book another appointment sooner rather than later.”

Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest is filled with practical, engaging, helpful suggestions like this. As one palliative care physician writes, “This book is like a conversation with a wise coach on adapting the system so that health care is tailored to your individual preferences.”

Bassett thinks so too.

“This book is life-changing, I believe, in its wisdom for all of us,” she says. “No one wants to think about facing a life-changing diagnosis — but the reality is many of us will, or someone we love will. This book is practical and creative in its approach and has the potential to significantly help patients and families on these difficult journeys.”

For more information about this talk, please visit millstreetbooks.com/events or call Mill Street Books at 256–9090.

David Desormeaux — A Journey ofJoy and Discovery - theHumm May 2024

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

Many books are written about the therapeutic value of creating art, and art therapy has become a respected and growing field of professional practice that nurtures emotional healing. Carleton Place artist David Desormeaux is a compelling testament to its claims. His recent immersion in the delights and challenges of watercolour painting has renewed his joie de vivre.

His eye-catching paintings bring joy to observers too. David renders familiar and frequently overlooked ob......

Hope for the Best,Plan for the Rest - theHumm May 2024