The Invisible Kingdom
Reimagining Chronic Illness
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Narrated by:
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Meghan O'Rourke
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By:
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Meghan O'Rourke
About this listen
A landmark exploration of one of the most consequential and mysterious issues of our time: the rise of chronic illness and autoimmune diseases
A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: These are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. Renowned writer Meghan O’Rourke delivers a revelatory investigation into this elusive category of “invisible” illness that encompasses autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and now long COVID, synthesizing the personal and the universal to help all of us through this new frontier.
Drawing on her own medical experiences, as well as a decade of interviews with doctors, patients, researchers, and public health experts, O’Rourke traces the history of Western definitions of illness, and reveals how inherited ideas of cause, diagnosis, and treatment have led us to ignore a host of hard-to-understand medical conditions, ones that resist easy description or simple cures. And as America faces this health crisis of extraordinary proportions, the populations most likely to be neglected by our institutions include women, the working class, and people of color.
Blending lyricism and erudition, candor and empathy, O’Rourke brings together her deep and disparate talents and roles as critic, journalist, poet, teacher, and patient, synthesizing the personal and universal into one monumental project arguing for a seismic shift in our approach to disease. The Invisible Kingdom offers hope for the sick, solace and insight for their loved ones, and a radical new understanding of our bodies and our health.
©2022 Meghan O'Rourke (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“An authentically original voice and, perhaps more startlingly, an authentically original perspective….The book is not only a memoir of her illness, but also a document of years of research.” —Andrew Solomon, National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon, in The New York Times Book Review
“The Invisible Kingdom is an important and powerful book in many ways, but perhaps its most valuable contribution is the way it articulates the loneliness and frustration of having symptoms that superficially resemble the pains and pressures of contemporary life in the United States while being much more severe.”—The Nation
“[O’Rourke] gives shape and color to the invisible life of patients whom society has failed. She offers hope for patient-driven change. Most important, she provides an account that many will be able to relate to—a ray of light into those isolated cocoons of darkness that, at one time or another, may afflict us all.” —The Wall Street Journal
Featured Article: Best of the Year—The 15 Best Bios and Memoirs of 2022
There are few stories more compelling or more intimately told than those soul-baring memoirs that seek not just to recount the experiences of one's own life, but to draw some greater commentary on the big existential questions. What does it mean to be human? What is our purpose in being here? How much of who we are is purely self-determined? Exceptional in both their prose and narration, these listens represent a few of the year's best memoirs.
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Modern Gonzo Tour de Force
- By S. Frank on 11-12-11
By: Gary Greenberg
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Peace, Love & Healing
- Bodymind Communication & the Path to Self-Healing: An Exploration
- By: Bernie S. Siegel
- Narrated by: Bernie S. Siegel
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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A classic of patient empowerment, Peace, Love & Healing offered the revolutionary message that we have an innate ability to heal ourselves. Now proven by numerous scientific studies, the connection between our minds and our bodies has been increasingly accepted as fact throughout the mainstream medical community. In a new introduction, Dr. Bernie Siegel highlights current research on the relationships among consciousness, psychosocial factors, attitude, and immune function.
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horrible horrible
- By Honestly on 02-09-15
By: Bernie S. Siegel
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Chronic
- The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again
- By: Steven Phillips MD, Dana Parish, Kristin Loberg
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt, Thomas Allen
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this timely book, Steven Phillips, MD, and his former patient, Sony singer-songwriter Dana Parish, reveal striking evidence that a broad range of common infections, from COVID-19 to Lyme and many others, cause a variety of autoimmune, psychiatric, and chronic conditions. Chronic explores the science behind what makes them difficult to diagnose and treat, debunks widely held beliefs by doctors and patients alike, and provides solutions that empower sufferers to reclaim their lives.
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A must read book
- By Amazon Customer on 03-01-21
By: Steven Phillips MD, and others
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Like a Mother
- A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy
- By: Angela Garbes
- Narrated by: Roxana Ortega, Angela Garbes
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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What to listen to after What to Expect.... A badass, feminist, and personal deep-dive into the science and culture of pregnancy and early motherhood that debunks myths and dated assumptions, offering guidance and camaraderie to women navigating one of the biggest and most profound changes in their lives. Like most first-time mothers, Angela Garbes was filled with questions when she became pregnant. What exactly is a placenta? How does a body go into labor? Why is breast best? What are the signs and effects of postpartum depression?
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Microchimerism - interesting at first, then profoundly healing
- By Emily Virgil on 09-10-18
By: Angela Garbes
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Falling into the Fire
- A Psychiatrist's Encounters with the Mind in Crisis
- By: Christine Montross
- Narrated by: Christine Montross
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Falling into the Fire is psychiatrist Christine Montross's thoughtful investigation of the gripping patient encounters that have challenged and deepened her practice. Beautifully written, deeply felt, Falling into the Fire brings us inside the doctor’s mind, illuminating the grave human costs of mental illness as well as the challenges of diagnosis and treatment. At once rigorous and meditative, Falling into the Fire is an intimate portrait of psychiatry, allowing the reader to witness the humanity of the practice and the enduring mysteries of the mind.
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Buy this book! and READ it
- By joyce on 08-15-13
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Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.
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Engrossing to physicians & lay persons alike
- By C. White on 03-08-19
By: Thomas Hager
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Heart
- A History
- By: Sandeep Jauhar
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, the human heart seemed beyond our understanding: an inscrutable shuddering mass that was somehow the driver of emotion and the seat of the soul. As cardiologist and best-selling author Sandeep Jauhar tells in The Heart, it was only recently that we demolished age-old taboos and devised the transformative procedures that changed the way we live. Deftly alternating between historical episodes and his own work, Jauhar tells the colorful and little known story of the doctors who risked their careers and the patients who risked their lives to know and heal our most vital organ.
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Fascinating Insight
- By Ironcharles on 10-27-18
By: Sandeep Jauhar
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The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind
- My Tale of Madness and Recovery
- By: Barbara K. Lipska, Elaine McArdle - contributor
- Narrated by: Emma Powell
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2015, Barbara Lipska - a leading expert on the neuroscience of mental illness - was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to her brain. Within months, her frontal lobe, the seat of cognition, began shutting down. She descended into madness, exhibiting dementia- and schizophrenia-like symptoms that terrified her family and coworkers. But miraculously, the immunotherapy her doctors had prescribed worked quickly. Just eight weeks after her nightmare began, Lipska returned to normal. With one difference: she remembered her brush with madness with exquisite clarity.
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Be Prepared To Feel Insane--
- By Gillian on 04-11-18
By: Barbara K. Lipska, and others
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Human Heart, Cosmic Heart
- A Doctor's Quest to Understand, Treat, and Prevent Cardiovascular Disease
- By: Dr. Thomas Cowan
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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While serving with the Peace Corps in Swaziland, Thomas Cowan encountered the work of Rudolf Steiner and Weston A. Price - two men whose ideas would fascinate and challenge him for decades to come. Both drawn to the art of healing and repelled by the way medicine was - and continues to be - practiced in the United States, Cowan returned from Swaziland, went to medical school, and established a practice.
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Worthless
- By Martin on 11-04-16
By: Dr. Thomas Cowan
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A Nation in Pain
- Healing Our Biggest Health Problem
- By: Judy Foreman
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Published in partnership with the International Association for the Study of Pain, A Nation in Pain offers a sweeping, deeply researched account of the chronic pain crisis, from neurobiology to public policy, and presents practical solutions that are within our grasp today. Drawing on both her personal experience with chronic pain and her background as an award-winning health journalist, she guides us through recent scientific discoveries, including genetic susceptibility to pain.
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Broad but superficial.
- By J. P. Murphy on 07-03-15
By: Judy Foreman
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The Heart Healers
- The Misfits, Mavericks, and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of Our Lives
- By: James Forrester MD
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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At one time heart disease was a death sentence. By the middle of the 20th century, it was killing millions, and, as with the Black Death centuries before, physicians stood helpless. Visionaries, though, had begun to make strides earlier. On September 7, 1895, Ludwig Rehn successfully sutured the heart of a living man with a knife wound to the chest for the first time.
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Great review of the landmark achievements in Cardiology.
- By Trauma NP on 12-14-15
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Counterclockwise
- Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility
- By: Ellen J. Langer
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
If we could turn back the clock psychologically, could we also turn it back physically? For more than 30 years, award-winning social psychologist Ellen Langer has studied this provocative question, and now has a conclusive answer: opening our minds to what's possible, instead of clinging to accepted notions about what's not, can lead to better health at any age.
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Surprisingly disappointing
- By Stephen on 06-23-09
By: Ellen J. Langer
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The Last Best Cure
- My Quest to Awaken the Healing Parts of My Brain and Get Back My Body, My Joy, and My Life
- By: Donna Jackson Nakazawa
- Narrated by: Karen Saltus
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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One day Donna Jackson Nakazawa found herself lying on the floor to recover from climbing the stairs. That’s when it hit her. She was managing the symptoms of the autoimmune disorders that had plagued her for a decade, but she had lost her joy. As a science journalist, she was curious to know what mind-body strategies might help her. As a wife and mother she was determined to get her life back. Over the course of one year, Nakazawa researches and tests a variety of therapies including meditation, yoga, and acupuncture to find out what works.
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Amazing book, but struggled with the voice.
- By erin norton on 01-05-18
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One Doctor
- Close Calls, Cold Cases, and the Mysteries of Medicine
- By: Brendan Reilly
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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An epic story told by a unique voice in American medicine, One Doctor describes life-changing experiences in the career of a distinguished physician. In riveting first-person prose, Dr. Brendan Reilly takes us to the front lines of medicine today.
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Simply Brilliant
- By Jan on 06-20-14
By: Brendan Reilly
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For those with disability and not
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The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness
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In her harrowing, defiant, and unforgettable memoir, Sarah Ramey recounts the decade-long saga of how a seemingly minor illness in her senior year of college turned into a prolonged and elusive condition that destroyed her health but that doctors couldn't diagnose or treat. Worse, as they failed to cure her, they hinted that her devastating symptoms were psychological. The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness is a memoir with a mission: to help the millions of (mostly) women who suffer from unnamed or misunderstood conditions.
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💯 a valuable use of your money AND time. 💯
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How to Be Sick (Second Edition)
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In 2001, Toni Bernhard got sick and, to her and her partner’s bewilderment, stayed that way. As they faced the confusion, frustration, and despair of a life with sudden limitations - a life that was vastly different from the one they’d thought they’d have together - Toni had to learn how to be sick. In spite of her many physical and energetic restrictions (and sometimes, because of them), Toni learned how to live a life of equanimity, compassion, and joy.
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Essential read for anyone sick/in pain
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Chronic illness creates many challenges, from career crises and relationship issues to struggles with self-blame, personal identity, and isolation. Beloved author Toni Bernhard addresses these challenges and many more, using practical examples to illustrate how mindfulness, equanimity, and compassion can help listeners make peace with a life turned upside down. In her characteristic conversational style, Bernhard shows how to cope and make the most of life despite the challenges of chronic illness.
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For those with disability and not
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The Long Goodbye
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What does it mean to mourn today, in a culture that has largely set aside rituals that acknowledge grief? After her mother died of cancer at the age of 55, Meghan O'Rourke found that nothing had prepared her for the intensity of her sorrow. In the first anguished days, she began to create a record of her interior life as a mourner, trying to capture the paradox of grief - an endeavor that ultimately bloomed into a profound look at how caring for her mother during her illness changed and strengthened their bond.
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Really great. Loved it.
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Sick
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For as long as writer Porochista Khakpour can remember, she has been sick. For most of that time, she didn't know why. All of her trips to the ER and her anguish, pain, and lethargy only ever resulted in one question: How could any one person be this sick? Several drug addictions, three major hospitalizations, and over $100,000 later, she finally had a diagnosis: late-stage Lyme disease. Sick is Khakpour's arduous, emotional journey - as a woman, a writer, and a lifelong sufferer of undiagnosed health problems - through the chronic illness that left her a victim of anxiety....
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Very disappointing
- By Emily on 07-17-18
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Unwell Women
- Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World
- By: Elinor Cleghorn
- Narrated by: Hanako Footman
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Elinor Cleghorn became an unwell woman 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a long period of being told her symptoms were anything from psychosomatic to a possible pregnancy. As Elinor learned to live with her unpredictable disease, she turned to history for answers, and found an enraging legacy of suffering, mystification, and misdiagnosis. In Unwell Women, Elinor Cleghorn traces the almost unbelievable history of how medicine has failed women by treating their bodies as alien and other, often to perilous effect.
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Profound Read; A Sincere Stepping Stone to Understanding My Own Why
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By: Elinor Cleghorn
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When Chronic Pain & Illness Take Everything Away
- How to Mourn Our Losses
- By: Esther Smith
- Narrated by: Sarah Carleton
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Chronic pain, illness, and disability take so much away. Sometimes it seems as though they take everything we have ever loved and held dear. Our physical abilities and our jobs. Our current passions and future dreams. Our finances and our friends. Our sense of community and our ability to engage the world in ways we could before. Chronic pain takes away our sense of self and who we always thought ourselves to be. How in the world are we supposed to deal with this fact?
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When chronic pain and illness take everything away
- By barbara cruz on 04-03-18
By: Esther Smith
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How to Do Life with a Chronic Illness
- Reclaim Your Identity, Create Independence, and Find Your Way Forward
- By: Pippa Stacey
- Narrated by: Pippa Stacey
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Rather than focusing on the medical side of long-term conditions, this book contains bespoke advice for the parts of everyday living that often go unspoken - from practical advice on friendships, dating and independent living, to more reflective guidance on rediscovering your identity and learning to self-advocate. Chronic illness affects everybody differently, but we all want to find joy where we can and make the most of what we have. This book exists to help you take accessible steps towards that goal and build a life that truly feels like yours.
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This is needed!
- By Frederik Rudbäck on 07-24-24
By: Pippa Stacey
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A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain
- By: Imani Perry
- Narrated by: Imani Perry
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
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Performance
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Story
Imani Perry’s Audible Original A Dangerously High Threshold for Pain tells the dramatic story of her ongoing struggle with lupus—an autoimmune disease that attacks multiple organ systems—and what we can all learn from those who are grappling with chronic illness. It’s a powerful and poetic story that evokes the works of Susan Sontag, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Audre Lorde.
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Powerful
- By Melissa Medley on 03-11-23
By: Imani Perry
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Through the Shadowlands
- A Science Writer's Odyssey into an Illness Science Doesn't Understand
- By: Julie Rehmeyer
- Narrated by: Julie Rehmeyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Julie fully expected to be breathing at the end of the trip - but driving into Death Valley felt like giving up, surrendering. She'd spent years battling a mysterious illness so extreme that she often couldn't turn over in her bed. The top specialists in the world were powerless to help, and research on her disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, was at a near standstill. Having exhausted the plausible ideas, Julie turned to an implausible one. Going against both her instincts and her training, she followed the advice of strangers she'd met on the Internet.
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Gives me a whole new respect for patients w this
- By JJ Edwards on 11-13-22
By: Julie Rehmeyer
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In the Kingdom of the Sick
- A Social History of Chronic Illness in America
- By: Laurie Edwards
- Narrated by: Holly Fielding
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Now more than 133 million Americans live with chronic illness, accounting for nearly three-quarters of all health care dollars, and untold pain and disability. There has been an alarming rise in illnesses that defy diagnosis through clinical tests or have no known cure. Millions of people, especially women, with illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain, and chronic fatigue syndrome face skepticism from physicians and the public alike.
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Solid but repetitive, sub-par narrator
- By S. Yates on 07-28-16
By: Laurie Edwards
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POTS: What It Really Is & Why It Happens
- By: Patrick Ussher
- Narrated by: Brian McKiernan
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is currently defined as a "syndrome", a collection of symptoms for which the root cause has not yet been identified. This book aims to rectify this by arguing the case for POTS being considered a form of neurological injury to the limbic system following an antecedent trauma, such as a viral illness, pregnancy, surgery, or psychological trauma (or a combination).
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Only The Authors Opinions on Specific Treatment...
- By Ciera Mathias on 03-26-21
By: Patrick Ussher
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How to Wake Up
- A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow
- By: Toni Bernhard
- Narrated by: Deon Vozov
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Using step by step instructions, the author illustrates how to be fully present in the moment without clinging to joy or resisting sorrow. This opens the door to a kind of wellness that goes beyond circumstances. Actively engaging life as it is in this fashion holds the potential for awakening to a peace and well-being that are not dependent on whether a particular experience is joyful or sorrowful.
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Excellent
- By Michelle on 09-16-13
By: Toni Bernhard
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Medical Gaslighting
- How to Get the Care You Deserve in a System That Makes You Fight for Your Life
- By: Ilana Jacqueline
- Narrated by: Lori Prince
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For women, the possibility of experiencing medical gaslighting—having a healthcare provider dismiss or ignore their concerns without considering appropriate testing or creating a treatment plan—has always been a very real and present danger, with consequences ranging from self-doubt and emotional stress to delayed diagnosis and death. And being a woman of color, transgender, or disabled only compounds the risk. In Medical Gaslighting, you’ll equip yourself with the tools you need to be fully heard at every step of the process.
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This should be required reading
- By Amazshop .222222 on 10-02-24
By: Ilana Jacqueline
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The Country of the Blind
- A Memoir at the End of Sight
- By: Andrew Leland
- Narrated by: Andrew Leland
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
We meet Andrew Leland as he’s suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: he’s midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from sightedness to blindness over years, even decades. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in. Soon— but without knowing exactly when—he will likely have no vision left. Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him.
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Lovely and accurate depiction of the world of the partially sighted or blind
- By Vanessa on 09-21-23
By: Andrew Leland
What listeners say about The Invisible Kingdom
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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- Alohastate
- 04-11-22
So relatable
She speaks with honestly, intelligence, and empathy. This book touched my heart and helped me come to terms with my autoimmune illness.
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- JMorgan
- 06-05-22
True insight
O’Rourke accurately and insightfully lays before the reader the difficulties the chronically ill face in our medical system and provides a window into the suffering, trauma, and hopelessness those of us with chronic illness face when doctors and friends alike suggest that the illness is “in our heads”
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- Mother of Chickens
- 06-25-22
another masterpiece in the chronic illness library
a touching account of one woman’s journey into the illness community — a community that no one wants to join, but are so thankful is there. Meghan is open about the challenges faced by both the ill and those that love them — when there is no clarity. This is a well researched book with the flare of an english professor. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand how others have traversed the modern medical world. As a lyme sufferer and caretaker, I also enjoyed her chapter on long COVID and share her hope that progress will be made to benefit the entire chronic illness community.
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- Beverley Foster
- 01-03-23
Tiring for all
Exhausting at times… always for Meghan!!! She us right about providers ….hope better by now!
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- Elly Johnson
- 01-29-23
So good!
Powerful and important. Narration is easy to listen to. Great balance of story and science.
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- NonprofitAtty
- 04-05-23
Wonderful
This book is such a great perspective on chronic illness. Should be mandatory reading for all healthcare providers.
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- LVogel
- 03-19-23
Intelligent, accurate and beautiful
For anyone suffering from autoimmune disease (or their loved ones) this book offers an experience of validation. The writing is clear, scientific, and laced with a detective’s curiosity. She knows the doubts and uncertainties and expresses them in a way that helped clarify my own narrative. I found myself tearful more than once with recognition. The quotes are literary and beautiful, the research is smart, and one comes away from this with a deep sense of having been seen and understood.
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- jayjo
- 06-04-23
Invaluable testament
This personal account, threaded through with pithy and perfectly chosen literary, historical and medical research, is far from merely anecdotal. I enjoyed O’Rourke’s reading for the most part, and moved through the chapters quickly and eagerly. As a person who’s struggled with chronic auto-immunity in my own body, I feel indebted to the author’s tender, thorough treatment of the complex profile of disease in the modern world.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-18-24
Quite a Journey of Self Reflection on Long Term Illness
Her illness plagued the author to seek medical care and lament its failings to find a true solution. But it also showed her determination to do what she could to improve her life while ill. I was touched by her ups and downs as i too have had chronic illness my whole life.
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- Shasta
- 03-20-22
It is excellent
This is the most realistic explanation of living with chronic illness I have ever come across. I’m so grateful she wrote this book now. I’m high risk and the complete isolation covid quarantining has caused has been absolutely brutal. I’ve been abandoned by friends, family, medical professionals, and now society as you all force the embrace of a new normal. No matter the cost. I wish my family would listen to it, but they won’t. If you have a chronically ill friend or family member it would probably mean the world to them if you read this book and talked to them about it.
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3 people found this helpful