Beyond Embarrassment

Reclaiming Your Life with Neurogenic Bladder and Bowel

Non-Fiction - Health - Medical
241 Pages
Reviewed on 12/22/2015
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Author Biography

A farm girl from Prunedale California, JoAnne Lake an insistent patient, forthright and wordy because she is one of five million people in America with bladder problems and wants to start a conversation. She likes to tell it like it is.
The secret of her success is embracing the state of affairs with luminosity and honesty and taking the punch away. She does not want to be remembered in connection to the toilet yet she sees toileting dysfunction as the last frontier of subjects that needs to have a mature conversation. Her writings come from life experiences and emotions as a patient, mother, educator, and friend.
After journaling her private thoughts and feelings, she started writing a highly successful blog in 2012 to educate and inspire others with bladder and bowel problems. This is her first book.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Beyond Embarrassment: Reclaiming Your Life with Neurogenic Bladder and Bowel by JoAnne Lake and 'bio-sleuth' Julia Parker is JoAnne’s honest and open story and her will to succeed in spite of having to face physical and medical challenges. JoAnne’s story will encourage medical practitioners to share this with their patients and increase the patients’ will to overcome the condition and lead a normal and successful life. The story is not only motivational to those with a neurogenic bowel and bladder, but for all those who are struggling with life’s hurdles. The book helps in giving confidence, empathy, and support to patients who are trying to overcome a very intimate health issue.

The book covers the topic extensively right from what a neurogenic bladder is (which has symptoms and stigmas similar to incontinence), and then goes on with all the details relating to it. I would recommend this book to all medical practitioners, caregivers who are working with these patients, and spouses so that they are able to understand the psyche of the patient while handling them. The book is honest and can be a balm to all those wanting to live their life normally. Readers can feel JoAnne’s despair, grief, and hopelessness through her words, and her will to live life like everyone else despite having a neurogenic bowel and bladder.

The advice on how to cope with a neurogenic bowel and bladder on a daily basis is very helpful and it’s also useful in raising awareness amongst the general public and medical professionals, and equipping them to recognize symptoms. It’s a book that will connect with readers and give them the strength to face life despite the adversities that mar them. A well written book that handles the topic of neurogenic bowel and bladder very nicely and gives hope to all those facing this hurdle in their personal lives. An appendices list suggests products, books, and websites, and the glossary is especially useful.