What to Expect When Your Loved One Is Ill

De: Ardyce Years

Narrado por: Ardyce Years

The American healthcare system is not designed for clarity or compassion. Neither are family members and friends. In What to Expect When Your Loved One Is Ill, Ardyce shares her own stories of standing her ground in ICU rooms, dealing with dismissive specialists, and fighting for tests that ultimately saved her loved one’s life. With a dash of humor, she describes obstacles to expect in traversing the maze of health insurance, medical care, and bored administrators in the United States. As well as what it takes to manage a household when your partner is ill, but not sick enough for institutional care, and requires your assistance to get through the day.

©2025 Diane Gerdes (P)2025 Diane Gerdes

Practical and Honest

This audiobook was great...it speaks directly to how hard it is when someone you love is seriously ill. Yet, Ardyce Years leaves you feeling hopeful. There are real-life situations throughout the book..hospitals, ICU visits, confusing specialists, insurance hassles, burnout, etc. Plus, the author gives concrete tips on advocating for a loved one, asking better questions, handling paperwork, and recognizing when you’re running yourself into the ground. The overall message being... “You’re not crazy, this really is hard, and here’s how to get through it. Overall, great book...at some point we all will go through this.

Practical

Good tips on advocating in hospitals, dealing with insurance, and recognizing burnout. I’d recommend it to anyone suddenly thrown into a caregiver role or already deep in it.

Highly recommend

I listened to this audiobook during a really stressful time with an ill family member, and it honestly felt like having a friend talk me through something no one ever prepares you for. Ardyce Years shares her experiences navigating hospitals, insurance, and medical professionals in a way that’s both painfully real and surprisingly relatable, with just enough humor to keep it from feeling overwhelming.

A Really Helpful Listen — What to Expect When Your

I listened to What to Expect When Your Loved One Is Ill by Ardyce Years and honestly, it was way more practical and comforting than I expected. Ardyce shares her own experiences of navigating doctors, hospitals, insurance, and everyday care with real honesty (and even a bit of humor) that made it feel like a friend was walking alongside me through a really tough situation.

This will help to prepare you

When a loved one is sick, there’s nothing easy about it. There’s a lot of logistics involved and then there’s always the possibility that they might not make it. This book came as a comfort to me it helped prepare me mentally for anything that may come from sickness.