After Shock: Learning to Reinhabit My Body After Illness
Jun 2026 · Sold by St. Martin's Press
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AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
In this powerful follow-up to her bestselling memoir In Shock, a doctor asks: What does it truly mean to heal?
In the aftermath of her own critical illness, physician and writer Dr. Rana Awdish finds herself oddly estranged her from her own body. Medicine has conditioned her to view sick bodies as broken objects, not as sites of meaning, mystery, and quiet wisdom. So, when her own body warns her that she'll be dead in five years, she's unsure whether to trust it enough to follow where it leads. Allowing for this kind of innate, bodily wisdom would require her to dismantle and reconfigure her entire belief system. She decides to take a leap of faith, abandon certainty and surrender to the message—a choice that ultimately saves her life. What emerges is a profound and vulnerable meditation on the true nature of healing.
Guided by the evocative power of art from Frida Kahlo to Mark Rothko, as well as her own creative process, After Shock is part memoir and part guidebook to sustaining wonder and attention to beauty even in the face of grief and loss. Awdish elegantly draws us into a space where our perception shifts and curiosity leads to profound revelation. She invites us to reclaim the power that resides in our attention, relationships and willingness to stay present with suffering long enough for it to transform into something else.
Through her poetic prose and evocative imagery, we learn to see differently, feel deeply, and trust that healing is always possible.
In this powerful follow-up to her bestselling memoir In Shock, a doctor asks: What does it truly mean to heal?
In the aftermath of her own critical illness, physician and writer Dr. Rana Awdish finds herself oddly estranged her from her own body. Medicine has conditioned her to view sick bodies as broken objects, not as sites of meaning, mystery, and quiet wisdom. So, when her own body warns her that she'll be dead in five years, she's unsure whether to trust it enough to follow where it leads. Allowing for this kind of innate, bodily wisdom would require her to dismantle and reconfigure her entire belief system. She decides to take a leap of faith, abandon certainty and surrender to the message—a choice that ultimately saves her life. What emerges is a profound and vulnerable meditation on the true nature of healing.
Guided by the evocative power of art from Frida Kahlo to Mark Rothko, as well as her own creative process, After Shock is part memoir and part guidebook to sustaining wonder and attention to beauty even in the face of grief and loss. Awdish elegantly draws us into a space where our perception shifts and curiosity leads to profound revelation. She invites us to reclaim the power that resides in our attention, relationships and willingness to stay present with suffering long enough for it to transform into something else.
Through her poetic prose and evocative imagery, we learn to see differently, feel deeply, and trust that healing is always possible.
AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
In this powerful follow-up to her bestselling memoir In Shock, a doctor asks: What does it truly mean to heal?
In the aftermath of her own critical illness, physician and writer Dr. Rana Awdish finds herself oddly estranged her from her own body. Medicine has co...
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1 review
Lorena Dinger
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June 19, 2026
Awdish writes beautifully of using her love of art to reexamine her beliefs about healing. She had to learn to be more compassionate with herself, to notice how she felt, & to accept & trust her body. That’s something many of us struggle to learn, especially after medical trauma. It was interesting to hear her compare her perception of her medical chart from her perspective as a physician versus the lived experience of a patient. I appreciated her discussion of internalized ableism.
About the author
Dr. Rana Awdish is the bestselling author of In Shock, a landmark medical memoir. She is the Medical Director of Care Experience at Henry Ford Health and a pulmonary physician. She was Schwartz Center’s National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year and a U.S. News & World Report Healthcare Hero. She is recognized as a leading voice on healing, has written for The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Harvard Business Review, and The Washington Post. She has been featured on NPR, BBC, and CNN.
Dr. Rana Awdish is the bestselling author of In Shock, a landmark medical memoir. She is the Medical Director of Care Experience at Henry Ford Health and a pulmonary physician. She was Schwartz Center’s National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year and a U.S. News & World Report Healthcare Hero. S...
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