Own Your Care

Dr. Jeanne Lee has written a definitive road map to help patients and their families navigate a healthcare system under siege during times of uncertainty and turmoil. Like Dr. Lee, I encounter patients who didn't know what to ask their doctors or what answers to expect while making critical life-care decisions, especially during medical crises and end-of-life care. Her book explains the practice of palliative care, a specialty both Dr. Lee and I have chosen, and I applaud her commonsense, empathetic, and understanding approach. And best of all I admire her comforting voice at a time when our patients need us the most. -Edward T. Creagan, MD, FAAHPM; John and Roma Rouse Professor of Humanism in Medicine, professor of medical oncology, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine; author of Farewell: Vital End-of-Life Questions with Candid Answers from a Leading Palliative and Hospice Physician and How NOT to Be My Patient: A Physician's Secrets for Staying Healthy and Surviving Any Diagnosis Like Handbook for Mortals, written a decade ago by Dr. Joanne Lynn, Dr. Joan Harrold, and Janice Lynn Schuster, Own Your Care: A Family Guide to Navigating Complex Illness, Changing Health, or Unexpected Prognosis by Dr. Jeanne Lee will empower patients and their families to define their goals, hopes, and worries and communicate these to their caregivers. It is a comprehensive guide for all the areas patients and families worry about and have to navigate as they journey through a serious illness, including the challenge of creating advance directives. [This book] is accessible, practical, and useful, validating the many different choices about care that patients make. I will recommend it to my palliative care and oncology colleagues and the patients and families with whom I consult. -Janet Abrahm, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School; institute physician, Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; author of Comprehensive Guide to Supportive and Palliative Care for Patients with Cancer Own Your Care by Jeanne Lee is a one-stop source for a family looking for guidance as they support a loved one with a serious illness. Although written for the family, many people living with a serious illness could find this helpful, and healthcare providers would also find this a nice refresher on how to support those struggling in their community. -F. Amos Bailey, MD, FACP, FAAHPM, professor of medicine, emeritus director, Master of Science in Palliative Care/Interprofessional Palliative Care Certificate programs; emeritus director, community-based Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus Dr. Lee's book is a gem! It reads like a trusted friend or adviser is guiding you and your family through what can be a difficult and confusing time. Chock-full of practical and sound advice, this should be required reading for every family! -Dr. Mary Lynn McPherson, professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, University of Maryland This is a humane, balanced, expert guide to many of the challenging questions and issues that arise in caring for a loved one with serious illness. There are no simple answers here, but rather a thoughtful and compassionate approach for patients and families to find their own way through this phase of life with an expert guide to help them. -Susan Block, MD, professor of psychiatry and medicine, Harvard Medical School