Books on Health Issues | allergictolifemybattle

I met Shirley last fall just as Allergic to Life was published. She contacted me because she also had experienced several horrible health issues. We connected immediately and it was wonderful to find someone who understood what it was like to have multiple health issues and sensitivities to medications. We have both since become board members of Rave Reviews Book Club and strengthened our friendship.

During our conversations Shirley talked about a book she had just published preserving a piece of history among a small catholic community (she is an amazing historian). She also told me that she one day also wanted to write a book about her own medical issues.

I am pleased today to share Shirley with all of you and an excerpt from her upcoming book.

shirley slaughter

Shirley Harris-Slaughter
Author and RRBC Member

Kathryn, thank you so much for inviting me on a tour of your website. You asked me to talk about my health issues and here is an excerpt from my soon-to-be-released book…

“A Common Sense Approach To Overcoming A Medical Crisis”

Soon-to-be released Book Excerpt

It all began to spiral out of control around 1991 when my mother passed away. That was the most traumatic time in my life. I watched her go through surgery five years before for cancer and then five years to the day, the cancer returns. The doctors didn’t have any answers that I could see. They just did what they always do—treat the patient with chemo and offer up no real solutions.

I watched her and took care of her from the beginning when she first got the diagnosis to the end when she lay dying in her bedroom down the hall from where I slept. The stress of her ordeal took its toll on me but I didn’t actually get seriously ill until it was all over.

We got the bill from the hospital and it added up to about $200,000. And for what? You couldn’t understand the charges on that long statement. It was just too complicated.

I said to myself, “There has got to be a better way and I’m going to find it.”

I did not know what was lying in wait right around the corner; waiting to grab hold and take me on a long horrible ride.

I had a difficult time trying to overcome health issues and I am happy to say I did it and my life is back to some semblance of normalcy. After the entire episode was over, I realized that I needed to do something with my life. I refused to believe that this was it—that it’s over. And so I got involved in community-related projects, and wrote a book to preserve our community’s history.

I was having conversations all the time about women’s health and people were giving me so many compliments including how gorgeous my hair is that I was prompted to write a book sharing my tips.

A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO OVERCOMING A MEDICAL CRISIS will be available soon!

Bio:
Shirley Harris-Slaughter is a community activist having been a school board trustee in the Oak Park School District and mentored four freshmen girls in the Winning Futures Program. Shirley loves trains, vintage clothes, and old buildings with historic significance. So it was a natural that she would write about growing up in historic Royal Oak Twp. and keep alive a Catholic Community that was about to lose its history and identity. It seems that everything she loved closed down and she was not about to let any of it be forgotten. Shirley joined Rave Reviews Book Club because she recognized the need to support fellow authors in order to move forward in her own endeavors. She already had a thriving relationship with twitter followers including Nonnie Jules, President who was supportive and a mentor; and Kathryn Treat, Board Director. “We all had the same goals so it was a natural fit.” Shirley did a book review on “Allergic to Life” during the formation stages of the book club and was learning how to tweet.

Book title: Our Lady of Victory, the Saga of an African-American Catholic Community.

Slaughter CoverImage