Book Review- "Life Disrupted" by Laurie Edwards
Topic: Book Reviews
“Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties” by Laurie Edwards, 2008, Walker & Company; NY, NY 

Laurie Edwards is a journalist and educator in her late twenties who has lived with chronic illnesses since childhood. “Life Disrupted” is about the delicate balance of having as full a life as possible despite chronic illness mixed in with hospital stays, doctor visits, medical testing and treatments. Laurie chronicles her story, as well as the stories of others in their twenties to mid-thirties who are living with chronic illness; managing college, careers, relationships, marriage and parenthood. Most of the patients profiled have been dealing with chronic illness since childhood. Laurie also shares her parents’ stories- they themselves have battled chronic illnesses throughout adulthood. 

This is an optimistic, hope-filled book, which has something to offer for anyone who has a chronic illnesses or who loves someone who does. While the main emphasis is on life for chronically ill adults in their twenties and thirties, this book is insightful for all chronically ill adults regardless of age who are struggling with work and career goals, relationships, family issues, and balancing marriage and parenthood with chronic illness.
 
One especially hopeful sign on the college education front is a growing number of colleges and universities are working with chronically ill students to develop coursework adaptations which will allow these students to be able to attend college and earn their degrees despite suffering from life-altering chronic ailments. 

The book ends with an appendix of resource websites in various categories including: employment, education, health insurance and advocacy, as well as sites for family members and chronically ill teenagers.
 
Laurie, her family and friends represent the best-case scenario, or at least the better-case scenario when it comes to managing life with chronic illness- they have access to quality healthcare and much needed specialists, they have health insurance coverage (most of the time anyway), they have employers who are willing to work with them to accommodate their health situations, or in the case of one woman she left her office job to start a small homebased business while having a spouse with a traditional job. The one person who was forced to leave her job due to her illness is married, so she has both financial support and health insurance coverage through her husband. Laurie and her friends may not be making as much money as they would if they were perfectly healthy, but they’re not living in poverty, are not going without access to decent quality healthcare, and aren’t mired down in the social services system. They’re not stuck fighting for Disability benefits or struggling to get by financially on the meager amount of financial support Disability gives, nor are they among the disabled/ill stuck on welfare. None are living with and are being supported by relatives or friends, or are part of the disabled homeless population. What we very much need in our society is for more chronically ill adults to have education/career/job/healthcare/relationship/family outcomes that are as positive, hopeful and productive as Laurie’s and her friends’ lives.