My family is going through a tough time right now. My Uncle is critically ill and we’re praying for his recovery. He has serious cardiac issues so this stint in ICU is pretty bad.

All of the memories and emotions got me to thinking back on my diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis. There’s shock, fear and denial of course but as it all sinks in you begin to want to know about your condition and get the best medical care available. My biggest concerns were my children especially Peanut who was only 5 at the time. She hadn’t even started Kindergarten.

I remember thinking that I wanted to be her mother and how could I when I had a chronic illness? After finding a specialist in this disease and making some medical decisions about surgery and other types of treatment and after a lot of prayer, I started to settle into the life of a person with a life long disease.

I pursued information, other people, anything I could to help me to live my life the best way possible. One of the books I found that really helped me and that I still read parts of every once in a while is Living Well with Chronic Illness by Marcia Van’t Land.

The author was like me in many ways, very active with her family and church. I did the same but also worked one full time and two part time jobs! I was the “go-to” person, always volunteering for church, school or community projects. I never sat still.

Mrs. Van’t Land is a Pastor’s wife and mother of three. She was the one the church members went to with problems, concerns, complaints and prayer. Suddenly she was unable to walk normally and after going through numerous tests was diagnosed with Acute Intermittent Porphyria.

Her book teaches and guides people with chronic illness how to cope, keep their faith, understand why they are not cured by God, how to deal with their doctors and just day to day advice of living your life as best as possible.

There are many devotions and quotations throughout the book that can help anyone cope with difficulties in their lives, but in particular health issues.

This book is always in my cabinet with my other medical books. It helps me and I’ve recommended it to others with chronic medical conditions.