Alison Bonds Shapiro - Healing into Possibility: The Transformation Lessons of a Stroke

Healing into Possibility reminded me that there is a time to learn to surrender and a time to become proactive, ambitious, and determined to engage in the transformational lessons of a dire diagnosis. I needed to stop reading Alisons text periodically and just think. This is the mark of an important book inner looking.

I have repeatedly seen Alison Bonds Shapiro positively affect the attitudes of patients at crucial points in their recoveries. What Alison teaches can be helpful to everyone, regardless of their circumstances.

Alison Shapiro unexpectedly met herself along the roadway of her life and, practicing courage, discipline, and mindfulness, learned that healing begins within. From the trauma of brain stem strokes, she discovered her greatest resource: the psyches desire to heal, to grow, and through us to bring something more fully into the world. While forever changed and deepened, her dialogue with the psyche led her back to an engaged, productive life.

Healing into Possibility skillfully illuminates the path from tragedy to transformation. While Alisons strokes may have caused a degree of brain damage, her mind has become as clear as her heart is open. This is an uplifting book full of good common sense. It beautifully illustrates that healing is much more than a response to good medical care. Its a spiritual practice.

This book is a night-light for times of darkness and loss, enabling us each to find our own way home to our wholeness and the rest of our lives. Healing into Possibility will remind you of the hidden power in every human being, including yourself.

Alison Bonds Shapiros authentic and optimistic account of her recovery from a series of brain hemorrhages gives not only hope but a pragmatic approach that will be helpful to those who experience this kind of life-changing event. By telling her story, with insights at every turn, she has provided not just a good read but a very important book for patients, families, and healthcare providers who live in the world she has experienced.

Healing into Possibility comes from the authors heart and will give readers what its title states. It can coach you and help to transform you so you can live up to your potential.

This extraordinary story of recovery bears witness to the power of intention and perseverance in healing and transformation. In this inspiring account of her personal journey, the author brings hope to anyone struggling to overcome physical limitations and aspiring to engage in a fulfilling and meaningful life.

INTO

INTO

An H J Kramer book

published in a joint venture with

New World Library

Copyright 2009 by Alison Bonds Shapiro

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee as to the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given nor liability taken. The authors experiences throughout this book are true, although some identifying details such as name and location have been changed to protect the privacy of others.

Edited by Nancy Carleton
Text design and typography by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shapiro, Alison Bonds.
Healing into possibility : the transformational lessons of a stroke / Alison Bonds
Shapiro ; foreword by James S. Gordon.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-932073-24-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Shapiro, Alison BondsHealth. 2. Cerebrovascular diseasePatientsBiography.
3. Cerebrovascular diseasePatientsRehabilitation. I. Title.
RC388.5.S467 2009
362.196810092dc22
[B]

First printing, June 2009
ISBN 978-1-932073-24-9
Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

New World Library is a proud member of the Green Press Initiative.

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H ealing into Possibility is Alison Bonds Shapiros account of her remarkable recovery from two life-threatening, life-challenging bleeds into her brain stem, the part of the nervous system that governs our most vital functions, including breathing and heartbeat. It is an enormously inspiring and deeply practical guide for anyone who has been affected by a stroke, an accident, or any other form of cataclysmic injury.

Alison takes us step-by-step actually, hand-in-hand is the way it felt to me on her journey. She begins with her initial disbelief and denial just a little low blood sugar she thought, as she began to wobble on her feet and continues through the fear and despair she experienced as she came to realize the threat to her life and the damage to her way of living that the two strokes brought with them. Waking in a hospital bed, she discovered that she could no longer control her bowels or bladder, that she could not speak or see clearly or move her left arm or leg. Later she found out that she, like others who suffer brain stem strokes, had had a less than 50 percent chance of survival.