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Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully: A Journey With Cancer and Beyond

Nancy Manahan & Becky Bohan
Beaver’s Pond Press (2008)
ISBN 9781592981793
Reviewed by Tish Obal for RebeccaReads (5/09)

 
“Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully: A Journey With Cancer and Beyond” is a timely memoir of a woman who was loved not only by her family but the community she lived in. This book shares the wisdom of living and dying well, both spiritually and medically. The authors went on this journey through Diane’s last days and stayed the course of her choices of how she would die. One of the authors is her sister-in-law and she had access to Diane’s journals. You will be able to read outtakes of these journals throughout the book.

Diane and her husband, Bill, are medical professionals and often use holistic remedies. This is an amazing peek into a woman's life just as she receives the news of her diagnosis of breast cancer. After much thought and research, they choose a mixture of orthodox medicine and holistic therapies. They consciously go about their lives after her five year mark and then comes metastasis. This book makes me wonder, when did death become the big secret it is today? When did it become something we don't prepare for and plan for or talk about?

Diane planned everything once she knew that all treatment would be stopped. She planned the music that would be playing in her bedroom, who would be there, what PJ's she would have on. She also planned who would bathe her body and dress her after she died. She was not to be embalmed. The wake was to be held immediately after her death. There would be a memorial service several days later.

This book feels like a wakeup call to reclaim an important part of our lives that we shy away from. As a retired RN who has dealt with death for over 30 years, I feel comfortable talking about how to plan one’s own choices for their final days. This book includes a number of guides that are helpful in the planning. “Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully: A Journey With Cancer and Beyond “ by Nancy Manahan & Becky Bohan should be a must read for healthcare professionals, funeral directors, and anyone who wants or needs to plan their final days.

In my opinion, this is one of the best books around discussing death in a new, yet old fashioned way. I have already begun to write up my own plan. The authors succeeded in writing a touching and intimate look at very private time in a life. One would think that his book would be sad but I came away from it exhilarated to know that the end of life can be as beautiful as the beginning, as it should be.

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