To Wake in Tears: Understanding Interstitial Cystitis

Rating:
Summary: This book helped me totally recover from IC
Review: I saw some other reviews 2 or 3 years ago on how this book had helped other women so I bought it back in the spring of 2001. I had suffered from IC for 12 years. I didn't know what to do to get better - I wasn't improving from medications that I had been on from doctors and I was feeling very discouraged and scared. So, I read this book (along with Along the Healing Path, her 2nd book) and was amazed how much I could relate to Catherine's story and the hope I felt afterwards. I KNEW I had to try some of the things she did to heal. What is great about this book is most of everything she suggests is natural and non-invasive. I have always felt that our bodies should be able to heal without a bunch of drugs and surgery. I was noticing some improvements with my symptoms within a few weeks and I gradually kept getting better and better. It took me about 2 years for the last symptoms to finally go away. Everyone heals differently so it definitely requires patience and believing you will get well. Don't give up! This book also helped me heal the IBS symptoms that I was experiencing for a number of years too. I can't tell you how grateful I am to God for guiding me to Catherine's books. ...

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!
Review: This book is probably one of the best investments into your health that you can make! Compared to the cost and the lack of effectiveness of traditional medical care when it comes to complicated and chronic conditions like IC, Katherine Simone's book is probably the smallest initial investment in your health that you can make that will pay the highest dividend.

I got the book soon after being diagnosed with IC (after many years of searching for answers, of course), and it was a real inspiration. I laughed; I cried, and I couldn't put it down! After all the depressing information about IC I was getting, this book was so encouraging. Suddenly, it seemed that it is possible to at least alleviate symptoms long term without harsh and barbaric treatments that are based on a superficial assumption that all bladder symptoms must be caused by the bladder only and that's the only organ that we're going to treat.

The author explores causes of IC from the whole body approach and its connection to other seemingly unrelated conditions. But unlike books written by traditional doctors, her explorations of IC causes are at a much deeper level built from the ground up without any presumptions. She doesn't insult her readers with self-evident and trivial suggestions like "Don't wear tight clothes." Her treatment suggestions are not aimed at just covering up bladder symptoms but are rather wholesome and are aimed at the underlying causes.

But, the fact that IC seems to be a part of a "bigger" picture within the body is now being echoed by studies of ICA and the Endometriosis Association (a portion of women with Endo have IC and vice versa). The fact that bladder surgery is a desperate, but not viable option is also echoed by ICA. However, try to be open-minded and non-judgmental when you read the book as it is going to be different from traditional medical advice. Some things will ring true and some may not. For instance, while the vast majority of ideas made a lot of sense to me, there is at least one treatment that is probably not for me. But, it's OK to disagree. This is the whole point, and Katherine Simone makes it clear throughout her book. You have to find what will work for you and not someone else. One approach does not fit all. But, one idea that I couldn't have agreed with more is that, at some point you realize that if you want to really get well, you have to take a proactive approach to your health.

It will be hard to find a book written with so much compassion and understanding. I really appreciated the author's candid narrative about her experiences. At some places, I felt that it was me she was talking about, so I would place the opened book in front of my husband's newspaper and say "Read this! I couldn't have said it better.'

In any case, what do you have to lose?! If you find that the holistic approach is not for you, fine, but now you at least know that alternatives do exists. And if you try to follow Katherine's path and it helps you even a little bit, well, then it would be priceless:)


Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for All IC patients
Review: To Wake In Tears has something for all IC patients to gain. Even if all that the author tried to help herself does not work for you, there will be something in the book that will make your life a little bit easier, less painful and definitely more in control of your life. If you do not come away after reading this book with some positive things to try for your IC, you either 1. don't have IC, or 2. Your mind is closed to any new ideas about treating the entire body instead of just your bladder. Every urologist should be giving this book out to their newly diagnosed patients to let them see that there is help for them and their world need not be over just because they have IC. I applaud the writer so very much for taking the time to bring this book to the public.