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Super Sick: Making Peace with Chronic Illness
by
Superheroes aren't sick. This has been Allison Alexander's observation, anyway. They don't lie in bed all day because they're in too much pain to get up. They don't face the challenges of the chronically ill—difficulties that include socially inappropriate topics like mental illness, sex, and diarrhea. The latter, of course, would be exponentially worse in a spandex suit.
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Allison Alexander's book Super Sick: Making Peace with Chronic Illness taught me wonderful things, exposing many of my perceptions and giving meaning to my experiences with my family that has chronic illness. I picked up this book because I have been curious about this topic and my aunt has a chronic illness. Though they have different illnesses, there is still something to be learned from similar situations and sometimes, the best way to learn something that someone wont say is to read about i ...more
The quote that jumped out at me from this book:
"Having a high pain tolerance does not mean I feel pain less than anyone else; it just means I don't show it as much as others."
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"Having a high pain tolerance does not mean I feel pain less than anyone else; it just means I don't show it as much as others."
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Allison Alexander, in her book Super Sick: Making Peace with Chronic Illness, shows how her lifelong search for examples of sick characters in pop culture, has uncovered "heroes" with whom she can identify. She shares those stories to help others with chronic illness learn the same lesson she has: "The best superheroes aren't omnipotent, perfect characters; they have flaws just like I do. They are broken, just like I am. There's strength in that brokenness, and maybe that in itself is my superpo
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All of us hate being sick, but what if you were sick and knew that you wouldn't get better? It is something I have never thought about much until having read Super Sick, a well written, descriptive, personal, educational, and ultimately hope-filled detailing of Alexander's life living with a chronic illness. Alexander opened my eyes to the difficult life that many people around me live every day. She helped me see that health shouldn't be taken for granted nor seen as a measurement for a meaning
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4.5 stars
This was a super interesting (no pun intended) book that made me feel seen and understood, as someone who also has a chronic illness. I loved the comparisons to characters from pop culture, especially since disabilities are often ignored, even more than other minorities and we desperately need more disabled characters
This was a super interesting (no pun intended) book that made me feel seen and understood, as someone who also has a chronic illness. I loved the comparisons to characters from pop culture, especially since disabilities are often ignored, even more than other minorities and we desperately need more disabled characters
I do not live with a chronic illness, but I can only imagine how cathartic this book must be for those who do. What I took away from Super Sick was not only greater appreciation and respect for proper pop culture representation of chronic illness, but more importantly a deeper sense of empathy and understanding for those who live with chronic illness day-to-day.
While Super Sick carries a heavy sense of pathos, it never claws for sympathy or pity. Alexander delivers her personal experiences with ...more
While Super Sick carries a heavy sense of pathos, it never claws for sympathy or pity. Alexander delivers her personal experiences with ...more
A Nerds Guide to Being Chronically Ill
A valuable and relatable perspective for those of us who are both suffering from chronic illnesses and nerdiness. No overly clinical analyses or jargon. Not overtly religious. Not all Pollyanna nor woe is me.
A valuable and relatable perspective for those of us who are both suffering from chronic illnesses and nerdiness. No overly clinical analyses or jargon. Not overtly religious. Not all Pollyanna nor woe is me.
This was an engaging, easy read that I'm glad to have found. It was certainly nice to read a book on chronic illness written by someone from my subculture rather than some old lady who doesn't really get how to talk to people my age. I really like the structure of the book - how it covers different problems that chronically ill people face with a central illustrative fictional example in each chapter. (The chapter about feeling like a burden feat. my beloved Remus Lupin got me right in the feels
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To Allison Alexander: Thank you for sharing. It is so hard to feel understood when in comes to living with pain, now I know there are people walking similar paths to me just out of sight. They feel what I feel, they struggle with what I struggle with. Your book is a friend that said all the right things.
Aug 14, 2020
MaryAnne
added it
Allison Alexander has a unique spin on a significant theme. To explore living with chronic pain she combines 1) vulnerable memoir with 2) qualitative research with 3) insights & characters from the world of sci-fi & fantasy. As memoir, it is with humour and hope that Alexander welcomes us into her world to witness the tremendous amount of personal energy required to cope with chronic pain. She doesn't shy away from the awkard, sifting through questions she's confronted in relation to pain--for e
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I absolutely loved this clever book.
From IT Crowd to My Hero Academia, Allison draws on our love for pop-culture and her relatable humor to write a gripping story that is equal parts artful and incisive. No reality of living with an incurable illness is glossed over, making this book an emotional read, that, I believe, could not have been written any other way. In its core, it’s a friendly hand to anyone living with chronic illness, a testimony on how you’re not alone, and a biographical tell th ...more
From IT Crowd to My Hero Academia, Allison draws on our love for pop-culture and her relatable humor to write a gripping story that is equal parts artful and incisive. No reality of living with an incurable illness is glossed over, making this book an emotional read, that, I believe, could not have been written any other way. In its core, it’s a friendly hand to anyone living with chronic illness, a testimony on how you’re not alone, and a biographical tell th ...more
Everyone should read this book. I particularly am a fan of the discussion about stigma facing chronic illness sufferers. I think more people, especially those in healthcare can learn a lot from it. People talk about those timely life changing books, and for me this is one of them. I loved the popular culture references which are great reminders, but it was Allison who really showed me that I'm not alone... Things will be hard, but they will also be okay. We are our own heroes.
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I found my self in tears for the first few chapters. Allison's Alexander is beautiful honest in this book. I recommend to anyone wanting to understand life with a chronic illness, whether it's mental health, or physical or both. If you live with chronic illness, you will find a sister in Allison Alexander. She may help you find a measure of peace in the middle of this life.
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Allison Alexander writes articles, edits sci-fi and fantasy books, and plays video games the rest of the time. She is the incurable author of Super Sick: Making Peace with Chronic Illness, an honest (and occasionally sarcastic) testimony about living with a chronic illness. Allison makes her home in Hoth, a.k.a. Winnipeg, Manitoba, with her husband and their imaginary pet dragon. You can also find
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“Those of us with chronic pain have something unique to offer, not in spite of our pain, but because of it. It's okay to grieve the losses of chronic illness. It's okay to be broken; everyone is in some way. Just because we're unfixable doesn't mean we're worthless.”
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