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The Smooth River : finding inspiration and exquisite beauty during terminal illness : lessons from the front line / Richard S. Cohen ; foreword by Lynne Holden, MD.

by Cohen, Richard S., author.

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[United States] : Smooth River, Inc., [2021]

Horowitz, Marcia, 1952-2020 -- Health.

Cohen, Richard S.

Pancreas -- Cancer -- Patients -- United States -- Biography.

Cancer -- Patients -- Family relationships.

9781737503408 (paperback) :

1737503409 (paperback)

xix, 266 pages ; 22 cm

Foreword -- Prologue -- 1. The suddenness of it all -- 2. The problem: The conventional saying "attitude is everything" is not everything -- 3. The attitude that is everything: The Smooth River -- 4. Getting the diagnosis -- 5. Taking the hit: adapting to the new realities -- 6. Stepping into the breach to manage care and life -- 7. Choosing your doctor carefully -- 8. The medical plan: limited options -- 9. The life plan: finding silver linings everywhere -- 10. Managing pain and other symptoms: the rotation of pill bottles -- 11. Peering over the edge: heart-to-hearts -- 12. Keeping your eye on the medical road and both hands on the wheel -- 13. Preparing for the end -- 14. Discovering spiritual beauty within the storm -- 15. Dealing with problems that will come -- 16. Beyond the protocols (after two chemos failed) -- 17. Making our home safe and patient-friendly -- 18. Room 413: our final home -- 19. Marcia's wishes -- 20. Making the funeral, burial, and bereavement holy -- 21. Carrying out Marcia's legacy -- 22. Life after death -- 23. Smooth River Lessons -- Epilogue -- Appendix 1: Our log (condensed) -- Appendix 2: Marcia's booklist -- Appendix 3: Resources -- Acknowledgments -- About the author.

"The Smooth River" is the remarkable story of how a well-known public relations expert and her husband met her stage 4 pancreatic cancer head-on. With vigor and strength, they deployed all they and medicine had to offer. But, in contrast to narrow conventional approaches, the couple developed a far more expansive view of what strength means in response to a crisis for which there are no medical cures. They called this the Smooth River. This clear-eyed transcendent perspective was so vital that they wouldn't let anything disrupt it - not cancer's lethal march, not the strongest chemos and their failures to work, not the frequent episodes of severe pain, not how society expected them to think or act, not the process of dying itself. "The Smooth River" demonstrates how to treat one's life as bigger - and far more important - than any medical condition, any tragedy, any setback of any kind. With effusive warmth, refreshing candor and practical detail, it describes how to personalize Medical and Life Plans that affirm the value of a patient's being and guide their loved ones. Its invaluable lessons show how to face the possibility of dying with sanctity and comfort, to view it as an opportunity for personal growth, finding inspiration and intense beauty in the experience - in life itself. There are lessons in the Smooth River approach for everyone. - back cover

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