In the end will you or your hospital have control over your life? The Grievance: A Real Life-and-Death Story is a deeply moving personal memoir - much of it in riveting real time - of a husband's cautionary tale of the whirlwind of circumstances, decisions and emotions surrounding the death of his vibrant wife whom he knew and loved for more than 50 years. Just 40 days earlier, she was playing tennis and bridge and doing yoga - then she was gone. She had a living will that specifically stated what medical procedures were not acceptable and it was handed to staff upon arrival at "The Hospital," one of the best teaching hospitals in New York City, where it languished in a loose-leaf binder. Like Atul Gawande's New York Times bestseller Being Mortal and The Institute of Medicine's report Dying in America, readers will want to add The Grievance to the growing national conversation on end-of-life issues in America. Its intense personal perspective will engage and empower the average person in this very real life-and-death struggle. The experience has turned the author into a vocal advocate for patient choice and quality of life for the dying. Anyone who has ever loved deeply will immediately be drawn in by the first chapter, the "Goodbye" of intimate and charming recollections, but it is the gripping, colorful real-time text messages between Abrams and his adult daughter, Meredith, and email exchanges with friends that will make readers stay as everyone (doctors and family alike) attempts to unravel the unusual circumstances of a rare disease that eventually takes Sandra Abrams' life. The Grievance is a record of keen observations and anecdotes about our hospital system that doesn't seem to work as it should, of its humanity and its inhumanity, of our institutions and the knee-jerk reactions of a society still unable to handle death. It is the voice and warnings of someone who has "been there" for those who will be - all of us - if not for ourselves, for someone we love. Abrams questions why end-of-life in America has to be so brutal and champions necessary change, providing the tools and resources for those who "wish to avoid well-engineered end-of-life traps." Abrams says, "Doctors are trained to save lives at almost any cost, supporting length of life, when they should be trained to support quality of life. The medical default position is to prolong life. The default system should be to honor a patient's choice first in an advance directive that is included in our electronic medical records." Join the Conversation Readers who wish to join the growing conversation on end-of-life issues in America are invited to go to the author's website, found inside the book, and share their reactions and experiences. With Medicare now deciding to fund end-of-life conversations, it is more important than ever that consumers know how to proceed in a thoughtful manner. Says Abrams, "Each person experiences death only once and, therefore, is a novice. Hospitals must do a better job in the way they honor and educate their patients and their families on the best way to die. To ignore their obligation 'to do no harm' violates the basic tenets on which the medical establishment was founded. Other nations have discovered how to provide their citizens dignity at the end-of-life. Why don't Americans have the courage to do so?"

The Grievance: A Real Life-and-Death Story

Abrams, Lawrence

Parenting & Relationships

No Harm Press

Today in the name of increased national security, are we wiling to return to the broad brushstrokes which demonize, deport and deprive working class people of their dignity? Now that Donald Trump is president  Twenty Life Lessons  explores America during the 1950's and 1960's. Was it really as great for working Americans as Trump claims? The author remembers how Senator Joe McCarthy and F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover persecuted many working class Americans including his parents. For years his father had his life disrupted by the FBI which discovered no evidence for a criminal indictment. The FBI then conspired with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to deport him. Abrams establishes a direct link between the bullying of McCarthyism and those of Donald J. Trump. Yet this memoir is optimistic in that people can lead resilient, meaningful lives and overcome bullies whether on a street corner in Brooklyn or in the corridors  of power in Washington D.C. Focusing on his family for four generations, Abrams gives the reader a gift of how to find fulfillment. Legacies are invaluable; they transmit the richness of life to future generations. In Twenty Life Lessons, Abrams reflects on his life experiences and finds in them poignant lessons for his young grandchildren. These “teachable moments” touch on everything from work and play to love and loss. They are anchored in Abrams’s own experiences as he witnessed McCarthyism ravage his parents’ lives, worked to become a master teacher, and struggled to cope with immense personal loss. Twenty Life Lessons is a treasure trove for young readers and a challenge to anyone who has a story to tell. It is an inspiration to find meaning in our memories and embark on the rewarding work of communicating that meaning to others.  This memoir challenges readers who want to pass on the importance of life to their children and grandchildren to do so. Twenty Life Lessons is Abrams's blueprint on how to lead a good life. Each chapter is designed for readers to judge the beliefs and values expressed. This introspection is especially important considering the vast social and political divide currently plaguing our country. People on both sides of the schism are dissatisfied and need to look inward before they can effectively communicate without anger to each other. This memoir has two voices. The first is a child who discovers the government suspects his loving parents of being communists. The second is of a grandfather trying to explain to his grandchild how to achieve the safety of a good life. Abrams weaves the effects the government's institutional persecution of his parents and the subsequent choices he made to protect himself and those he loves. The insights are "lessons" in human dignity. Using his grandparents' FBI files, Abrams reinvigorates our current debate over national security and civil liberties. His skills, as an educator and story-teller, empower the reader to assert a common humanity which is in sharp contrast to the bullies and demagogues who wish to amass power, instill fear and stymie change.

Twenty Life Lessons: A Memoir

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Books by No Harm Press

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the No Harm Press publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Grievance: A Real Life-and-Death Story

Twenty Life Lessons: A Memoir