My Leaky Body ...

Hi everyone! I am halfway through a great new book described as part memoir, part love story, part revolutionary manifesto and I want to recommend it to you.

My Leaky Body, written by Julie Devaney, or GI Julie as she calls herself, tells the raw and honest story of her journey through the diagnosis and treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel disease, a journey made within Canada's healthcare system.

As the back cover of the book says,

Based on her popular one-woman show, My Leaky Body lays bare the deficiencies in health care, creating a road map for patients and for all those who want to transform the system.

In the language of a born storyteller, Julie Devaney moves and enlightens readers as she describes both the compassion and compassion fatigue with which she is treated during multiple interactions with healthcare professionals. She is on a mission to change a system she describes as overworked, underfunded and badly in need of some bedside manners. Unusually, she is able to make her observations, critiques and suggestions without blaming or shaming.

Devaney advocates for a concerted focus on shifting away from our trend toward private healthcare and she pushes for changes in healthcare funding and training in order to reduce the emotional pain experienced by both patients and families and healthcare professionals.

While the details of Julie's story are uniquely her's, I found that they reflected many of my own lived experiences with the chronic illnesses of my husband, mother, nephew, and three dear friends. She understands the need for more trust, compassion and connection among helpers and helpees, calling for a system that is much more egalitarian, collaborative and personal. With the health policy advocacy of people like Julie Devaney, we can all have more hope for better days in healthcare.

Julie was interviewed about her book on CBC's, The Current,  and you can find the full half hour interview here.

Her blog at the Huffington Post - Canada can be found here.