Lisa Ellis - What Stories Do For Us When Medicine Cannot

Send us Fan MailGrief doesn’t follow a script, but stories can help us find the next line. I sit down with writer Lisa Ellis to trace how caregiving for her aunt with MS and then supporting her mother through stage 4 lung cancer led her to write books that guide families through loss. Lisa shares the moment a loyal golden lab confronted an intruder and became an unexpected lifeline, the practical realities of home care and safety, and the quiet ways independence disappears long before goodbye. Her account is tender, frank, and full of small strategies that make hard days survivable.We move from the first poems she wrote in early 2022 to the three‑page letter she penned the day her mother learned the prognosis. Lisa opens the door on what cancer really demands: oxygen lines and walker routes, the shift from daughter to caregiver, the late‑night collapse that signals the end is near. She explains how writing helped her name feelings, avoid storing pain in her body, and turn raw experience into resources. Lisa’s mother had one final wish: to tell people everything they need to know. That promise powers this conversation. We talk about recognizing denial, granting permission to let go, and creating small rituals of hope, painted rocks, kind notes, and honest conversations. If you’re walking through MS, lung cancer, or any end‑of‑life journey, you’ll find practical guidance, emotional clarity, and a reminder that courage often looks like a letter written on a kitchen table.If this resonated, subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review with one thing you learned or plan to try. Your words help another listener feel less alone.Please support Lisa by purchasing a book. You can find her on Amazon:I Wish I Could Hold Your Hand and Help You StandIf this conversation stirred something in you… good. That’s where change begins.Make sure you’re subscribed, share this with someone who needs it, and if you’re ready to tell your story, step into your voice, or build a life that actually feels like yours… You’re in the right place.I’m Julie Fairhurst, and this is where stories turn into power.Go to my website if you would like to be a guest on the Women Like Me Stories & Business in the toolbar click Let's PodcastJulie's Website