Here are two inspirational memoirs that have strengthened me - as I cope with my own chronic medical problems - spiritually and mentally:

Ollie by Stephen Venables. Suffering from autism is bad enough. To suffer from leukemia thereafter, is terrible. A parent relives the experiences he had in dealing with his son's illnesses in this poignant memoir. I received this as a gift from a friend of mine when he visited me at the hospital. The messages in this story have never ceased to resonate in my heart.

1 litre of tears by Aya Kito. I read this heartbreaking memoir/journal before surgery last year. It was truly inspirational. It tells the true story of a teenager's fight with a degenerative disease. Aya was diagnosed with Spinocerebellar ataxia when she was 15 years old. She wrote her life experiences in a journal. Despite losing her daily functions gradually, she was relentless in telling her story to the world. Sadly, she never had the chance to reread her story. She succumbed to her disease 10 years later.

I've come to realize that if these people are able to cope with their illnesses, I should be able to deal with mine.