Rating: 
Summary: A Book for Almost No One
Review: As promised, I've been thinking it over for the last four years, and I still think this is a very narrow, out-of-date book that is relevent for very few women. If you're newly dx'd, forget it. It will depress you, and possibly scare you -- not only because so many of these women are struggling with serious disabilities, but because they have very narrow, tiny lives. No matter how MS treats you, life doesn't have to be like this! I'm glad these women found each other, but it's kind of like hanging out with Donna Reed if she had a serious disability. There really is more to life than this -- and there certainly is more to life with MS!
Rating: 
Summary: Bravo-to The Froup
Review: Being a member of on-line support groups I found this book to be exciting and fasinating. No truer words were ever spoken when stated, "Read this book, and you will feel among friends, a member of the group-and that someone Finally understands." Finally someone has put down in words the discussions and tight bonds, that those of us feel with our fellow MS Sisters and Brothers. You will laugh and you will cry. You will hear of their triumphs, and their defeats. You will learn, and you will listen.
Rating:
Summary: Essential to MSer's and those close by them
Review: Beware of this review since I have been friends with the author of WOMEN LIVING WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS for over thirty-five years. Even so, believe me when I say this volume is engaging, enraging, frank, well-written, humorous, and a must for any person with multiple sclerosis or for any person close to such an individual. I think that upon reading this book, a person with MS would experience an emotional release through hearing from those who UNDERSTAND. It will encourage a person to find support and show it is possible to be supported and to live well with MS.The book flows smoothly even with the numerous transitions required to share the views of the many MSer's represented by Ms. Nichols. The multiple (no pun) contributors format could have been one of the book's weaknesses, but turned out to be a strength. Whether or not you have multiple sclerosis or another chronic disease, reading this book will make you wonder at the flexibility and resiliency of the human spirit--all twenty of them.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to my life!!!
Review: Having lived with M.S. for over 20 years, I've read everything I could get my hands on. Nothing I read reached me like Women Living with Multiple Sclerosis. I loved it. Ms. Nichols and her "froup" members made me feel so welcome, so understood, so OK about myself. The book was so unabashedly frank, so helpful, and so very on target that I bought copies for two women friends with M.S., and gave my book to my mother and several other friends to read, just so they could see what it's like being ME, in layperson's terms, with no clinical mumbojumbo. This book is fabulous! Every woman with a diagnosis of M.S. - and all those who love her - should read this book. We really are all in this together, and there is so much for us to learn and share.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to my life!!!
Review: Having lived with M.S. for over 20 years, I've read everything I could get my hands on. Nothing I read reached me like Women Living with Multiple Sclerosis. I loved it. Ms. Nichols and her "froup" members made me feel so welcome, so understood, so OK about myself. The book was so unabashedly frank, so helpful, and so very on target that I bought copies for two women friends with M.S., and gave my book to my mother and several other friends to read, just so they could see what it's like being ME, in layperson's terms, with no clinical mumbojumbo. This book is fabulous! Every woman with a diagnosis of M.S. - and all those who love her - should read this book. We really are all in this together, and there is so much for us to learn and share.
Rating:
Summary: VALIDATES MY EXPERIENCES
Review: HAVING LIVED WITH MS FOR TEN YEARS, I AM A VORACIOUS READER OF ANYTHING ON THIS TOPIC. I GROW WEARY OF THE SYRUPY ATTITUDE, SO HAVE BEEN DELIGHTED BY THE REALISTIC APPROACH TO THE VERY REAL CHALLENGES OF M.S. THESE WOMAN DISCUSS ISSUES, THAT TEN YEARS OF SUPPORT GROUPS HAVE NOT ADDRESSED FOR ME. THE TEXT VALIDATES CONCERNS I HAVE HAD, THAT DOCTORS COULD NOT PROVIDE ANSWERS FOR, NO MATTER THEIR QUALIFICATIONS. IT IS INCREDIBLE TO READ CONVERSATIONS, THAT I HAVE HAD WITH MYSELF. AND IT IS WONDERFUL TO HEAR FROM STRONG WOMEN WHO KNOW THAT USING AIDES IS A SIGN OF STRENGTH, NOT WEAKNESS.I LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT BOOK, BUT IN THE MEANTIME THIS BOOK WILL BE A PRESENT TO BOTH MY MOTHER AND MY PHYSICIAN.
Rating: 
Summary: Not uplifting as I had hoped...
Review: I had hoped to find a book filled with encouragement. However, that is not how I felt while reading this book. As a woman living with MS, I have found that a positive attitude is the only way to go. Much of this book bemoans the limitations MS has placed on the lives of the writers (and some is simply whining-sorry ladies). I would have loved to read more of what inspires them to live their lives to the fullest.
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY PERFECT-read it in 2 days, felt like I was a part
Review: I must praise the author for achieving such a feat. I have quoted the book so many times; so much of it resonates with what I am experiencing. My favorite chapter (though I loved them all) is Chapter 4--If it Looks like a duck.... I am going through this now. I reread parts of it often just to feel the support and understanding that is palpable in the pages. I feel almost like I know the 'cast of characters,' like Renee and Lori and Joy and Helen and Donna.... My only complaint is that it wasn't even longer!!! I sure hope this turns into a series!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for those with "benign" or newly diagnosed MS
Review: I purchased this book after reading the numerous enthusiastic reviews on this site. I was disappointed to find that the women who participate in the author's on-line support group are older and predominately have a more disabling form of the disease. There was only one women whose age and disease course are similar to mine, and she was largely not heard from in the book. While I did find information about a few symptoms I've had (and thought were my imagination) and about frank topics such as sexual dysfunction, the book contained little other information I could relate to. There was some medical discussion, but it consisted mainly of group members' diagnostic experiences which occurred prior to the advent of modern tools. I would have been interested to read about what medications the group members were taking to slow the progression of the disease and their experiences taking these drugs, but found no such dialogue. The group's use of terms such as "froup" and "flutters" were mildly annoying. The use of the term "MonSter" to describe MS patients or the disease was objectionable. I do not choose to give the disease that much power. All in all, the group seemed to be a boring clique I would not wish to be a part of. I would not recommend this book for anyone who is newly diagnosed, has a milder form of the disease, or is seeking up to date medical information.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a book that tells it like it is.
Review: I was afraid I would find another book of inspirational stories that somehow miss the mark when it comes to understanding what we with MS experience. Instead, I found a book that tells it like it is, that depicts some of the ordeals we go through from getting the diagnosis to dealing with employment, families, friends, physicians and the MonSter in general. I feel like I finally see some of my own experiences in black and white. No, it isn't all filled with continual roses, but rather it shows the ups and the downs that are a given with a long term, continually changing disability. I thank the author for being so frank and hope that others with MS can now know they are not alone and those without MS can can now understand a little about our lives.
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