A Soft Voice in a Noisy World: A Guide to Dealing and Healing with Parkinson's Disease

by Karl Robb, Stephanie Gunning (Editor), Gus Yoo (Illustrations)

Whether you are newly diagnosed or have had Parkinson's disease for many years, or you are younger or older, the lessons that Karl Robb offers in this book will apply to your situation. A culmination of over twenty years of personal experience, in A Soft Voice in a Noisy World Karl Robb provides an assortment of tips and suggestions that have made a difference in his life and benefitted him in his personal struggle with PD. This guide shows how one man successfully navigated the medical gauntlet with the support of his wife and care partner, and found his answers, often in the unlikeliest of places. With forewords by award winning broadcast journalist and author, Bill Moyers and Parkinson's Action Network CEO, Amy Comstock Rick. Drawn from the pages of the popular Parkinson’s blog, ASoftVoice.com, this once-skeptic turned Reiki master describes the importance of complementary therapies to “Parkinsonians” through his personal mind, body, and spirit journey, detailing the role these have played in the course of his personal healing. In this book you will learn how through maintaining a positive attitude and utilizing Reiki and other complementary therapies, Karl has kept his Parkinson's in check, slowed the disease's progression, and amazingly seen signs of improvement, even after over two decades of dealing with PD. This book is a compilation of hundreds of insights and practical tools intended to add inspiration and ease to your daily life, including suggestions and resources for bettering your patient-doctor experience, living a productive and happy life, staying fit and active, traveling, participating in support groups, being a PD advocate, improving your mind-body connection, and empowering yourself to heal.

326 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2012

Reviews

[Mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

some good tips, emphasis is on reiki though

Some good suggestions and advice. Rolled my eyes a few times in the 2nd half. Big proponent of
Reiki, spends a lot of time on that. Overall messages are along the lines of ‘think positive’, ‘it worked for me’. Not
a particularly scientific/critical thinker.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great guide for anyone newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, or a new Parkinson's caregiver. Mr. Robb, who was diagnosed in his 20s and had symptoms as early as age 17, shares his story of living with the disease and offers tips for how to navigate life after diagnosis. Covered are how to find the right team of doctors, how best to communicate with your physicians, keeping good medical records, coping with chronic illness, how to advocate for yourself as a person with Parkinson's, and much more. This book is especially helpful for anyone interested in or open to exploring complementary therapies: Mr. Robb and his wife are Reiki masters and he talks about how Reiki, meditation, and diet have helped him live better with Parkinson's. This isn't a perspective you read about too often among books about living with Parkinson's, and I think there is a lot to learn from his experience with these therapies.

[Larry Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karl Robb has written a beautiful memoir/self-help book for people living with Parkinson's disease, or any other chronic illness for that matter. The author details his intelligent, dignified and upbeat way of coping with a degenerative disease since his early 20s and offers a myriad of suggestions for managing Parkinson's with both traditional Western medicine and other complementary therapies, like meditation, yoga, qigong and, in particular, reiki. You can feel Robb's energy in his prose, which is sufficiently well-written and infused with the wisdom of his experience to forgive his occasional repetitiveness. This an excellent read for anyone with PD or a care-giver.