"The Healing Hour," By VC August; Inspirational Memoir Examines The Loss Of A Beloved Psychiatrist During Treatment

NEW YORK, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- What happens when a doctor patient relationship is turned on its head?  This book is a memoir that follows a narrator's illness and recovery only to then deal with an admired physician's death. Sounds like it could be quite a downer. Wrong.  The Healing Hour, a memoir, by V C August, is really about the indomitability and strength of the human spirit.

The Healing Hour takes the reader through V's numerous doctors' visits as she seeks to alleviate the constant suffering from lupus. We are with her as she walks the streets of New York in pain. We learn of a turbulent childhood, her struggles to keep her business going – all told with a refreshing wit. The memoir reveals that the trick to overcoming difficulty is to be proactive, to persevere, and to always give of yourself. The author faces every challenge – from a difficult childhood to success to illness to watching someone she loves die – with grace and a passion to be there for others.

The narrator of The Healing Hour, V, is an independent, feisty, witty businesswoman who is in a committed, happy relationship.  V has lived through a traumatic childhood but made the best of it by building a successful career and lifestyle, until such time that lupus fells her and even threatens her eyesight. Her encounters with a wide array of insensitive doctors are terrifying and rings all too true.  Not surprisingly, the narrator falls into a depression and she is sent, reluctantly, to a psychiatrist. There she meets Dr. Alex who gives V the stability and empathy necessary to overcome the vicissitudes of her disease. But it is only a short time before Dr. Alex herself is felled by a disease, a terminal one. There is a shift in the doctor patient relationship that is captured beautifully in The Healing Hour as we watch V's support of Dr. Alex and the way V opens her heart to help Dr. Alex as the disease takes over her life.

Reviews of the book have started coming in. 

The S.L.E. Lupus Foundation thanks author and lupus sufferer V.C. August for contributing to the lupus community with her new book, sharing her personal journey with the disease as well as a portion of the proceeds to help fund Foundation programs. The book is "about love, hope and healing the heart, soul, and spirit when faced with life-changing struggles." We encourage all patients to also write about their experiences with lupus as an outlet to help cope with the disease.

February 7, 2012

Lupus Patient Publishes Moving Memoir

Donates Portion of Proceeds to S.L.E. Lupus Foundation

Whether you loved 'The Bell Jar' or the other bell - 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly', books about survival, or lack of survival, compel us to dig deeper in our own lives and ask the profound question, how do I go on living, coping, striving for another day? We all face obstacles. But, a book like 'The Healing Hour' is so chock full of humor, and the will to live, even in the face of adversity, that it inspires, even when all is not inspiring. Lupus is a devastating disease. You usually can't see it on the outside, but the day to day pain survivors face can be debilitating, in such insidious ways that it's hard not to go insane. V.C. does not go insane. She gets stronger, gains more insight and even gets richer - kinda. To write a story like this, and not sound like a victim is profound. I loved it. And, I love V.C for writing it!

Better Than The Bell Jar, February 27, 2012

By Joy Rose "J. Rose & MAMAPALOOZA"

V C August explains her reason for writing this book. "I wanted to honor my physician, first of all and discuss how her struggle with a terminal illness led to my recovery. But I also wanted to provide inspiration for those suffering with adversity and to communicate the need to be proactive in bringing about change in one's life. On a personal level I wanted bring to light what people with lupus, and other autoimmune diseases have to go through in dealing with both physical challenges as well as an often indifferent medical profession. I wanted to show that there are people to help and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. " 

The Healing Hour is truly the ultimate testimonial to living proactively. 

About V C August

V C August is a motivational speaker, author, and businesswoman who lives in her beloved New York.

The book is now available at  www.TheHealingHour.com and on Amazon.com in print and on Kindle.

Contact:

Ellin Sanger
[email protected]
914-355-0541

Keith Blackman
[email protected]
202-730-5753 

SOURCE Smart Beagle Books