Vasculitis Books

Since my son was only 3 years old both he and I have suffered from a deadly form of vasculitis, Polyarteritis Nodosa. We both became ill in the year 1983, which makes it almost 24 years now that we have both had vasculitis. It has been a deeply life-changing experience for my son & I -- and for our wonderful extended family and supportive group of friends & medical caregivers.
As Ms. Schwar so eloquently describes in writing of her own experiences, we also made a decision to live our lives in the most positive manner possible, seeking to do what we have called "live well." Much like Ms. Schwar, who "decided to turn her back to death's door in favor of feeling hope and seeing the smile in her daughter's eyes every day," we gradually learned to look on the experience of illness as an opportunity to grow spiritually, to become better human beings -- to the point, where today, now that my son has grown to become a fine man; and that I, along with my immediate family have become far more understanding & aware -- I finally have the strength and understanding to write a book myself, the manuscript now almost complete.
My hope is that by writing a book about our experience that it may help others suffering from vasculitis, Polyarteritis Nodosa, or any other chronic illness to live well with their disease.
Thanks to Ms. Schwar for the inspiration she has given to patients, physicians, writers and others dealing with vasculitis and chronic illness.

Best To All,
BJ Seal

It is difficult enough for anyone to be diagnosed with this rare disease called TA and knowing that there is a resource out there to help us through this baffling condition, makes me more calm and gives me more strength to live. What Sheri, the author did in writing this book is that she has paved the way to better understand the uniqueness of this disease. Her title of the book "sick and tired of being sick and tired" aptly describes the process of fatigue,lack of energy, pain, not feeling well etc. that all TA sufferers go through and whose symptoms go undetected or misdiagnosed for years, only to be found out in the later stages of the disease. This book helped me a lot in coping with TA and living life everyday in a positive light.

This book is a must read for anyone that suffers from TA or any disease that is rare. It helps to know that you are not crazy or alone in the suffering that you and your family go through. Sherri has been through hell and makes you laugh as she tells you some of the trials she has gone through coping with this disease. Everyone in the family of a TA patient should read this book.It is wonderful and gives you hope to keep on keeping on!!!!

I also suffer from Takayasu's Arteritis and this book helped a lot! Schwar's casual and often humorous view of her life threatening disease, is inspirational and "down-right entertaining!" She tells it like it is, but doesn't bore you with too much technical/medical information.
I live in a small town, so to have access to more information about TA was highly beneficial for me. If you know anyone with a chronic disease, this book is great!

This woman is dear to my heart. She has lived through soooo much and has told all of us about it. She has made me see how blessed I am to have my life and I never take that for granted.
Sheri has the courage and strength of many. She is a true and lovely spirit. I am so blessed to have her in my life. I am so blssed to have read this book.
Buy it and read it, it will change your life!

This book is an essential addition to the library of every rheumatologist, internist, and dermatologist.

This treatise, both usable and scholarly, is destined to become known as the authoritative source on the topic.

So you've just been given the diagnosis of Behcet's Disease, a rare autoimmune rheumatic condition that seemingly no one has ever heard of before. I have the disease myself, and I enjoyed reading how others like me are coping. This book offers in-depth personal stories of Americans who deal with Behcet's Disease on a daily basis and can help you feel less alone. Check out Joanne Zeis's other books and resources too for the best patient information available!

My father was recently diagnosed with CNS Vasculitis based on tissue obtained from a craniotomy. There's still little help on the internet about this very rare disease, and the website [CNSV.net] seems to have gone away. I was hoping for some information that might help with the interpretation of the pathology reports. While this book is good for an overall look at some of the possible causes and treatments of CNS Vasculitis, it wasn't as comprehensive as I was hoping it might be. I realize that this could be because CNS Vasculitis (Angiitis) is still largely a puzzle to physicians and researchers and most of the data is still obtained post-mortem, however, given the severity of the treatment regimens, I was hoping to find more conclusive evidence about their efficacy, as well as more clearly defined diagnostic criteria.

If you don't know much about this rare disease, this is a good primer. It just might leave you with more questions than answers, though.

Central Nervous System Vasculitis is extremely rare, so I was very pleased to discover Dr. Schmidley's book here on Amazon. I am not a medical professional, but I found it a very helpful summary and synthesis of just about everything known about Central Nervous System Angiitis (also called Central Nervous System Vasculitis -- CNSV) as of 1999. The first 4 chapters deal with clinical aspects, pathology & pathogenesis, diagnosis & therapy, and angiographic & postpartum matters. The remaining chapters concern CNSV in association with other diseases. I found the book well organized and very useful, even if difficult to understand at times. I would recommend it to medical professionals and to others who are strongly interested in this subject.

My wife was diagnosed with Central Nervous System Vasculitis early in 2001, and we found no patient-oriented information on the Internet at that time. Since then, we have discovered CNSV-net [url] -- a resource for people with CNSV, their families and the health care community. People who are interested in Dr. Schmidley's book will be interested in CNSV-net.

House Unauthorized is broken down into four sections: essays about the show, essays about House as a character, essays about the psychology of House's character, and essays about the other characters. I found the essays in the first two sections a bit weaker than the others, although there were some gems. On the show as a whole, the argument about critical audiences and the rare moments House tries to dumb itself down in "That Was A Ten" is interesting, as was the look at House's character from a British viewer's perspective. The rest of the second section consists largely of essays comparing House to other well-known characters: M*A*S*H's Hawkeye Pierce and Sherlock Holmes.

There are several essays in the latter half of the book that I found particularly interesting. "How House Thinks" is a breakdown of the methodology employed by real-world doctors in diagnosing diseases, and how/why House's techniques are comparable to or illustrative of the typical highly-experienced medical professional. "House Calls" uses cognitive psychological research to discuss why House's theories and diagnoses are so often accurate. "But Can He Teach?" analyzes how House influences and teaches Cameron, Chase, and Foreman throughout the first three seasons of the show. "Does God Limp?" discusses how House's chronic pain affects his psychology and diagnostic skills.

This book is definitely intended for people who enjoy thinking critically. That said, it's not a difficult or boring read by any means.

I didn't find the book anything to get excited about. I would not buy again.