Life on Cripple Creek: Essays On Living with Multiple Sclerosis - Softcover

"Often those with MS are considered disabled or 'crippled,' a previously defamed word that Kramer tries to place in a new light. Far from being crippled, she is a magician, turning essays into inspiration. Any person affected by a disease that has created mental or physical change should open this book; the pages will magically fly by." -- Foreword "Always enlightening, insightful, and often humorous as well, Kramer takes readers through what most would consider to be mundane tasks such as shopping or housekeeping. Mundane, that is, to anyone not living with a chronic illness that can change from day to day...Kramer's ability to present her reality, unvarnished, makes it a book you can't put down." -- About.com"Life On Cripple Creek: Essays On Living with Multiple Sclerosis is a profound, heartfelt, touching memoir by essayist and journalist Dean Kramer of the matter-of-fact daily trials of living with MS." -- Midwest Book Review...a number of essays on living with multiple sclerosis written by a gal who's been there...It's a survivor's guide, a road map into the unknown, a very special look at a very brave and articulate person. If you know someone who has this sneakiest of diseases, let them and their caregivers read your copy - they'll then know they aren't alone." -- The Courier Gazette"Kramer's peaceful and easily readable book will be meaningful to both the disabled and able-bodied reader." -- Curve"...a fellow MSer with enough perspective on her disease to see humor in the midst of the falls, fears and embarrassments we now call life . -- New Mobility"... Dean Kramer allows us to peek inside the windows of her rustic home in rural Pennsylvania and share a day in her life with a chronic illness. We follow her to the raspberry patch; we ride across the great expanse on her scooter; we laugh with her as she struggles to flee a swarm of bees. And what we come away with at the end of the day transforms us: Life's lessons are learned from the way we are being, and not necessarily from what we are doing. And when we keep our eyes wide open, what may seem ordinary can become our greatest gift." -- Margot Russell, author of "When the Road Turns"

How would you pick out a pair of shoes when aesthetics can no longer be the driving force behind your decision, yet you aren't ready to dress like your elderly neighbour? What would you do if, after boarding your scooter in the morning and making your way to the raspberry patch behind your house, you stumbled upon a hornet's nest? Discover what it's like to live with Multiple Sclerosis, to laugh at MS, to come to terms with a disease that demands so much of your life.Most of the books and other informative material currently available on MS miss the emotional mark. People in the MS community are yearning for material that speaks to them, that tells them the truth about things, and that offers them the opportunity to alternately feel sadness and laugh out loud. MS is their reality and, often, they aren't given the proper tools to befriend it. Accompany Dean through her failures and victories. Experience life through her eyes. Many books convey the struggles of living with a life-changing disability. But Life on Cripple Creek goes further to show that with inner strength and a sense of humour the intrinsic land mines one encounters with this disease need not be devastating. With beauty and joy, laughter and tears Dean brings us Life on Cripple Creek.