If You Have to Wear an Ugly Dress, Learn to Accessorize: Guidance, Inspiration, and Hope for Women with Lupus, Scleroderma, and Other Autoimmune Illnesses

I found this book doing a simple search here on Amazon for Lupus Awareness. I look'd at the reviews and added it to my wish list. After a couple of weeks, something kept making me come back and look, so I decided to get it. I could kick myself for waiting so long. I am completely blown away by how powerful this book is. When I talk about having Lupus, I don't talk about the pain of the illness itself being the worst aspect. It's the person that I lost, the emotional pain, and the alone feeling that came with Lupus that hurts me the most. That has been the hardest thing for me to get use to. The physical limitations are so much easier to adjust to than the emotional ones.I use to be an incurable optimist, now I joke that I'm just incurable. It doesn't matter how optimistic you are, chronic illness has a way of beating you down every now and then. Those are the days that I just feel so alone and isolated. What I love about this book is the wonderful way that you realize that you aren't alone, especially when it comes to feeling that way. It looks at all aspects of chronic illness; and helps guide you through it.I have not stop'd recommending this book since. I believe that it is a MUST own for all sickies!!!

This book was spot on. I have cancer so it is more like a death disease than a chronic one, although many of the same issues Linda and Karen speak of hold true for me. I heard Linda speak at a woman's leadership conference in SC. That is why I got the book. I passed on to my daughter and she will return to me so I can reread. This ist the first book in a long time that I have underlined passages and wrote in the margins. Thanks to Linda and Karen for their courage to write about their lives in such an uplifting manner despite their " cursed diseases" .My sister has Lupus, but because she is mentally handicapped, she does not express herself very well. I have a better understanding of what she is feeling some days. When she is cranky it's probably her way of telling me that she is miserable.Thanks.

I can't even describe how wonderful this book is. If you have Scleroderma or Lupus you MUST have this in your library !!

Having recently been diagnosed with lupus and scleroderma my mind and emotions have been racing· This book has offered me hope and inspiration that I can live with my "Ugly Dress" and accessorize it to make me feel better!

Has some funny moments good read for anyone. Explains a little on lupus and how the book got its name. Wish it was a little more to the book

Linda McNamara and Karen Kemper's book is an affirmation of lives embracing fully the powers of heart, mind and spirit in dealing with chronic illness, here auto-immune disease. The authors use their own life stories as learning and teaching tools, combining deep personal insights with professional knowledge. The reader is invited into a conversation between two distinct voices and personalities, each coming to trust her own personal advocacy, sharing their journeys of self-empowerment: wise and caring friends for anyone facing similar challenges.

I'm waiting for the results of my blood work but suspect that I have Lupus. I was diagnosed with Celiac a year and a half ago. Needless to say, I'm feeling really sad about making even more adjustments to my already altered lifestyle. Thanks for reminding me to use my "accessories". I suspect I will reread this book many times in the next year as I find my balance.

As a person who lives with Lupus, I have discovered that finding books that focus on the emotional aspects of Lupus can be difficult to find. I cried through this entire book (it really touched the emotional being of living with Lupus). I plan to re-read as needed, I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who lives with (or knows someone who lives with) Lupus.

As a sufferer from Lupus this book was helpful and as its written by women that have the disease, it comes from their experience..easy to read

Fantastic book; helped me in learning to accept and adapt to changes in my own life due to autoimmune disease. I advise anyone in this situation to read. Brave women.