Book — Hospice Doctor's Widow

A heartwarming love story and practical guide in one. Everyone facing death, their own or a loved one’s, will benefit.

As a hospice doctor, Bob took care of dying patients every day. At home each evening, his wife Jen would listen as he shared the stories of his patients and their loved ones. To Bob’s professional experience, Jen brought her own personal experience with loss – her brother then her mother died young.

When Bob was diagnosed with an advanced, metastatic cancer, Jen took on the role of caregiver. But caregiving for the man who had made a 40-year career of caregiving as a physician was not easy.

Bob continued to take care of patients. Jen took care of Bob. And Jen took care of herself by art journaling. What started as a visceral, self-care compulsion within days of the diagnosis became pages documenting her inner most thoughts, feelings and observations told through handwritten notes, colorful collages and layered images.

The Hospice Doctor’s Widow: A Journal is the raw, honest, beautiful musings of a caregiver who becomes widow. It is not weepy. Rather, it is filled with the practical insights and guidance of an insider. And above all, Jen’s journal is far more about being fully present during even the toughest moments, honoring grief, and going forward after devastating loss.

“This book is remarkable and should be a required read for all those facing caregiving for a loved one.”

James Wolfe, MD, Clinical Professor of MedicinE

Stanford University School of medicine

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Hospice Doctor’s Widow: A Journal will help you directly and help you be a better friend to someone who is going through a difficult time. Because it is an 8” x 10” full-color book of 85 pages, it is a picture book of sorts, which makes its difficult topic easier to take in. Because it is simply someone’s story, it can be read, ignored, appreciated, judged – in other words, start dialogue. The book can be read cover-to-cover or thumbed through, put down and then revisited.

The book is perfect as:

A gift for a friend who has a serious diagnosis
A gift for a friend whose parent, sibling, spouse, good friend has a serious diagnosis
Discussion focus for clubs and support groups
Insight for physicians and other professional care providers

get the book

“There is not a word to convey both the practical and emotive power of this book. Taking an incredibly difficult, dark subject and, filtered through a prism, this creation is not only helpful but very, very beautiful.”

JOSH Gottlieb, yogi

"Eloquent and intimate, informative without the trappings of self-help."

MARNEY RICH KEENAN, AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST

"This book is both raw and beautiful and describes loving someone that you know you will lose. Just as life is full of pain and joy, so is care giving and navigating this 'other world' of life with a serious illness."

Sarah Beth Harrington, MD, Palliative Care Program Director

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

"This book is a resource that fills a gap between what I provide for my patients and what their family caregivers need. I have kept my advance copy and loaned it to each of the spouses of the three patients I recently diagnosed with ALS.”

Robert Silzer, MD, Neurologist

“I am spellbound by this wonderful book. I finished it in one evening because I couldn’t stop turning pages to see what special thoughts and collaged items were next. It made me cry . . . but that’s okay.”

DIANA B. DENHOLM, PHD, AUTHOR OF THE CAREGIVING WIFE’S HANDBOOK

"I smiled, I teared, I loved it. A heartwarming love story and practical guide in one. Everyone facing death, their own or a loved one's could profit from the wisdom shared."

Jon Mourot, PhD, Counseling Psychologist

A page from The Hospice Doctor’s Widow: A Journal by Jennifer A. O’Brien

“Altogether different from the many books which address grief and loss from psychological or philosophical points of view, The Hospice Doctor's Widow is a collage of experiences, documents, tips, and those thoughts many have, but few acknowledge. O'Brien's singularly moving and beautiful book maps one woman's journey, illuminating the road that lies ahead for all of us.”

NINA CORWIN, LCSW, AUTHOR OF THE UNCERTAINTY OF MAPS

“A beautiful tribute to caregivers and survivors.”

— Rachel Reichblum, Founder of That Good Grief

The Hospice Doctor’s Widow is available at special discounts when purchased in quantity directly from Et Alia Press. For details contact etaliapressbooks@gmail.com or visit etaliapress.com.