Speaking Up For Mom chronicles the decision-making dilemmas Llee Sivitz encountered in the role of caregiver for her mother, as she realized how ill-equipped she was to handle her mother's medical crisis . . . and helplessly watched as things went terribly wrong in a seemingly impersonal medical landscape.

However, Sivitz observed that other patients who knew how this alien environment worked (or had family members who did) often seemed to have a much better patient experience. She found this observation both "odd and disturbing." What happens if, like Sivitz, we don't know what questions to ask or what our rights are as a patient or advocate? Perhaps you are in this situation now or see that in your future.

Sivitz originally co-wrote Speaking Up For Mom to guide her husband and her adult children, should she ever need them to advocate for her. But she soon realized that this information was crucial to share with others. With so many options in medical treatment available today, it's imperative to know what your loved one wants and to recognize that a patient has the right and the power to choose. If nothing else, Sivitz says, we must make sure our loved one has a voice.

Along with her "Mom's Story," Sivitz interviews co-author and internist Dr. Edward Hanzelik, who offers his decades of experience as a compassionate patient advocate to shed new light on this "all-too-familiar" health care scenario.

Also included is a reference guide that reviews nine important lessons from the book which could have made a huge difference in her mother's care had Sivitz known them during that critical time.

This book is a must read for anyone who enters our health care system today; or is a caregiver or representative in that situation; or is of the generation to come who will eventually navigate this system for their parents.