Overview

What if surviving the unimaginable became the beginning of discovering who you truly are? For nearly three decades, Karen Humphries has lived inside a body shaped by chronic illness, disability, profound grief, life as an ostomate, and the daily reality of incurable stage 4 cancer. Her story is not one of easy answers, miraculous recoveries, or neatly tied endings. It is the story of a woman who had to rebuild herself again and again — in the waiting rooms, in the quiet hours of uncertainty, and in the moments when life felt too heavy to carry. Chronic Wisdom: One woman’s story of survival, strength and self-discovery invites readers into the raw and intimate truth of that journey. With unfiltered honesty and surprising warmth, Karen shares the chapters of her life that most people never see: the fear, the loss, the exhaustion of living with an unpredictable body, and the heartbreak of dreams that never came to be. Yet woven through every struggle is something far more powerful — a steady thread of hope, clarity, and courage that reveals itself at the most unexpected times. This memoir is not about “fighting” cancer or defeating illness. Instead, Karen shows what it means to live in flow with your circumstances, to stop resisting what is, and to find meaning in the space between who you were and who you are becoming. Along the way, she uncovers the Seven Wisdoms — the lessons that helped her reclaim her identity, rebuild her wellbeing, and rediscover her purpose when life kept pulling her off course. These wisdoms grew from lived experience: the kind that breaks you open, strips away what no longer matters, and reveals what truly does. Karen learned them slowly — through tears, through laughter, through moments of stillness, and through the quiet realisations that come when everything else falls away. Chronic Wisdom speaks to anyone who has ever faced a diagnosis, a detour, or a season where the path forward felt painfully unclear. It is a book for those who have survived more than they ever speak about, for those living with grief that doesn’t show, and for those learning to navigate a life they never planned. Karen wrote this memoir so no one walking through illness, loss, or uncertainty ever feels alone again. Her story is uniquely hers — yet in its honesty, you may find reflections of your own strength, your own resilience, and your own unfolding self-discovery.

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9781923630130

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Karen Humphries is an award-winning cancer advocate, author, speaker and  mentor whose work has been formally recognised in Parliament for raising national awareness of cholangiocarcinoma and cancer survivorship. Living with stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she shares her story with vulnerability, humour and unwavering hope. Karen uses her lived experience to uplift and support others facing illness, grief and uncertainty.

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