When given a terminal diagnosis, many people go passive, content to be a passenger in a car driven by doctors, the medical system and eventually the mortuary. Others, like Diane Manahan, take the wheel.
Diane's decision to be proactive in her journey and its resounding affects on her family and friends inspired her sister-in-law Nancy Manahan's latest book, "Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully: A Journey of Cancer and Beyond."
Co-written with Becky Bohan, the award-winning book outlines Diane's life and serves as a guide book on how to cope with a terminal illness.
Nancy Manahan and Bohan will speak at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at St. John's Catholic Church in Rochester on "Taking the Wheel: How to be in the Driver's Seat for your Final Journey."
"What we hope to do is empower people with a terminal diagnosis to be more proactive in their walk," said Manahan, a retired Minneapolis Community and Technical College teacher who taught English from 1992 to 1994 at Rochester Community and Technical College. "We've discovered and believe if a person can't face death and acknowledge the reality of their own death, they will probably not live fully."
Diane was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 55. After undergoing extensive treatment, she had a three-year remission. When her cancer returned, it was inoperable.
She could have gone through more treatment, but she chose quality of life over quantity. "It was a big decision, but in another sense it was a really simple decision," Manahan said.
Rather than spending what turned out to be the final two years of her life consumed by medical appointments and invasive procedures, Diane used that time for the things closest to her heart. She loved teaching holistic nursing at the Minnesota State University Mankato and continued to do so. She also spent quality time with family and friends, including a trip to Hawaii with her best friend and visiting her sister in Arizona.
Her peace also radiated at home. A visit to the home of Diane and her husband, Bill Manahan, who was on the teaching faculty at Mayo Medical School and co-founded the American Board of Holistic Medicine, was like "walking into altered state of consciousness," Manahan said. "A transformative experience."
Also gleamed from Diane's life were her use of alternative and complementary therapies, her poignant journal entries and post-death experiences with Diane's presence, all of which outlined in the book, to show how facing death can be a lesson in living.
If you go:
What: "Taking the Wheel: How to be in the Driver's Seat for Your Final Journey," featuring speakers Nancy Manahan and Becky Bohan, authors of "Living Consciously, Dying Gracefully"
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday.
Where: St. John's Catholic Church, 11 Fourth Ave. S.W. in Rochester
Admission: Free. Bring your own bag lunch.
Note: Music, refreshments, book signing, Seasons Hospice National Hospice Month
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