• Hardcover: 227 pages
• Publisher: Womens Pr Ltd; ; (May 1990)

• Hardcover: 226 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.00 x 8.75 x 6.25
• Publisher: Warner Books; ; (January 1998)

• Hardcover: ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.00 x 9.75 x 6.50
• Publisher: Crossroad/Herder & Herder; ; (August 1996)

What Ralph Nader did for the consumer movement in his book Unsafe at Any Speed, Marta Russell has accomplished in her riveting BEYOND RAMPS. No one, left, right, or center, who reads this book about the role of the 'disabled' and the 'terminally ill' and the way they are treated will come away unchanged. Russell has centered our attitude in a historical stream of thought, which will at first make people stunned and ashamed, and then cause us hopefully to change the way we behave.

• Paperback: 256 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.67 x 7.62 x 5.01
• Publisher: Common Courage Pr; ; (June 1998)

In this extremely well written book, Luba Vihanski reviews one hundred years of research on spinal record regeneration. She describes the many angles from which this topic has been approached. She explains what was previously believed and what the experiments demonstrated. Many diagrams and photographs make the topic more clear. The researchers involved are not left out in the dark: You get a feeling that you know them.

This account is illuminating and very easy to read, even for a neophyte like me without medical training. One piece of advice: read the appendix on the spinal cord before and after injury before you read the rest of the book.

• Hardcover: 286 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.97 x 9.27 x 6.26
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press; ; 1st edition (October 15, 2001)

USA Today
"What makes Driscoll the best in her business is her mental toughness."

Jackie Joyner Kersee, Female Athlete of the Century, winner of six Olympic medals
"...Determined to Win is a touching and uplifting look into the life of a very special person and friend."

• Hardcover: 224 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.83 x 8.58 x 5.79
• Publisher: Harold Shaw Pub; ; (September 2000)

• Paperback: 464 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.97 x 9.05 x 6.04
• Publisher: Plume; ; (October 1997)

This eloquent memoir is small in size but huge in emotion. To do justice to this book, read it with an open, searching heart. Then ask yourself, as this author did, what would YOU feel and what would YOU do if your child, an adolescent, was left paralyzed from the neck down? In those first days when your child couldn't even speak what would you think about? That's the painful situation author Richard Galli found himself facing after his son Jeffrey was paralyzed after a freak accident in a swimming pool, an accident which left him unable to move from the neck down.
This account is a heartfelt, painfully honest description of the first ten days after the accident (when Jeffrey is basically unconscious) and what many readers have found hard to believe is how Jeffrey's father could contemplate ending his son's life. But I understood how his understanding of the life his son had lived before the accident and the horror of the life his son would lead afterwards, in all their limitations, could lead him to contemplate his son's death. In the end, it is Jeffrey himself who is the final determinant of his life or death. I won't give away the ending but simply recommend you read this one.

• Paperback: 198 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.49 x 8.26 x 5.58
• Publisher: Griffin Trade Paperback; ; (November 2001)

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: No Limits Communications; ; (November 1, 2001)

More than a story of pluck and resilience this book delivers joy in its reaffirmation of what nourishes us: loving relationships. Relationships with husband, son, daughters, and friends--both old and newly formed in recovery-- and relationships to the land, to its bounty. It seems impossible for someone so connected to life to ever give up on it easily. Kumin narrates, in journal form, her struggles and how she didn't quit.

Kumin's life unfolds in this book. We see the stoic formed when her adored father "hovered in the doorway" when she was ill as a child; the horse lover who takes "deep pleasure" in seeing her horses in action; the gardener describing cauliflower and broccoli lovingly planted in May from seeds started on living room windowsills; and the poet who says of her farmhouse, "All of my doors are held open by stones."

The mother and wife are here, too. Kumin's daughter, Judith, spends months with her mother. It is comforting to read of a supportive, caring, daughter/mother relationship that flourishes during a time of great stress. Kumin is not afraid to tell us about moments of guilt and despair: "How I feel about my accident is quite simply that I screwed up everybody's life by living through it."

All this is written within a flowing narrative style that is groomed by this writer's cumulative knowledge of what is important in language and life.

Maxine Kumin is one of my favorite poets. I cheered when this well-paced chronicle lead to a spring when this writer was finally back in the "peaceful kingdom" of her farm in New Hampshire. I am grateful the author has offered a book that allows us to witness her struggle as she looked inward and reached out.

• Paperback: 208 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.57 x 7.05 x 5.52
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company; ; (November 2001)

Spinal cord injury or disease can result in severe disability and can permanently alter a person's future; nevertheless, many patients with damaged spinal cords lead long and productive lives with the help of modern care. Even high cervical lesions can be managed when great effort and attention are devoted to the many medical consequences of spinal disease; Christopher Reeve is perhaps the most public example of someone who is leading a meaningful life despite a devastating spinal injury. Furthermore, there is growing excitement that research advances in areas such as stem cells and neurotrophic factors will facilitate spinal cord regeneration and functional recovery. For these reasons, Spinal Cord Medicine is a timely review of the causes and consequences of spinal cord disease. Spinal cord injury is fortunately a rare occurrence, but because improved management has increased life expectancy for patients with injured spinal cords, there are now approximately a quarter of a million such patients in the United States. Care of these patients requires a multidisciplinary approach that frequently involves emergency room physicians, orthopedists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, urologists, physiatrists, and persons providing psychosocial support. The editors of Spinal Cord Medicine stress the need for and importance of a coordinated approach. The book encompasses all aspects of spinal injury. The initial seven chapters present the history, anatomy, imaging, epidemiology, and general acute management of spinal cord injury. The next 11 chapters deal with medical aspects of spinal cord damage, such as pulmonary management and the neurogenic bladder. Chapters on rehabilitation are followed by nine chapters dealing with diseases that cause nontraumatic spinal cord injury. Overall, the authors have done an admirable job of presenting all aspects of spinal cord injury.

• Hardcover: 655 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.50 x 11.25 x 9.00
• Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Publishers; ; 1st edition (December 15, 2001)

The best so far. "Must read" for nurses working in Spinal COrd Injury areas - acute or rehab. "Must have" book for orthopaedic/spinal units.

• Paperback: 723 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.50 x 11.50 x 9.00
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Pub; ; Second Edition edition (January 1992)

• Hardcover: 888 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.75 x 12.75 x 7.50
• Publisher: Amer Academy of Orthopaedic; ; (February 1996)

All of us can become disechanted with life on occasion, but Force a Miracle "forces" you to look at life from a different perspective. Every so often a book comes along that begs you to read it. This is that book! Filled with everyday observations that make you stop and think just how lucky you are, it's part memoir, part self-help, part funny papers, ALL inspiring. Check it out whenever you get to thinking. "We don't know what real problems are." This book really proves that. A testament to the inner human strength to overcome extreme adversity, to triumph and continue a worthwhile and self-rewarding life. A story to make us appreciate life and take nothing for granted. Darryl is truly an inspiration. Extremely well written infused with a self-deprecating sense of humor - a must read!

• Paperback: 240 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.64 x 9.24 x 6.02
• Publisher: Writers Showcase Press; ; (June 2002)

• Paperback: 500 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.25 x 11.25 x 8.75
• Publisher: Aspen Publishers, Inc.; ; (January 1998)

• Paperback: 308 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.54 x 11.00 x 8.25
• Publisher: Unknown; ; (October 2002)

Nobody makes it through life without experiencing loss. Understanding the common emotions that accompany losing someone is hard to do. A book like this is a MUST HAVE!!! I highly recommend this book!!!
 

• Paperback: ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.50 x 8.36 x 5.42
• Publisher: Pathfinder Publishing of California; ; 2nd Revision edition (June 1990)