Troy — Nancy Groves, a retired medical and social worker, “spent many hours listening to patients share their innermost thoughts and feelings” before writing her book, “Facing Illness, Finding Peace.”

“Many times they felt it difficult to share with family because they did not want to burden them,” said Groves, who worked for more than 20 years assisting seriously and chronically ill individuals and their families.

Groves said she thought to herself that “if I could write a book to help,” it would not only give a way for chronically ill people to process their feelings, but serve to help family members understand what they are going through.

“I had a sense that I needed to do something like this, but I just wasn’t sure how,” said Groves, who today volunteers in the cancer care program of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac.

Groves explained that she “lifted it up in prayer” and told God “if you think this needs to be done, guide me.”

She ended up spending about three hours each night in writing reflections that came to her in prayer, eventually completing “Facing Illness, Finding Peace” which today is available from Pauline Books and Media.

Groves said the book, through Scripture verses and simple reflections, covers the many facets of chronic illness. It has a number of Catholic-oriented meditations, but is accessible to all Christians.

“From when the illness is diagnosed, the fears of the unknown … I go through the common emotional reactions,” she said. The book also addressed physical disabilities or loss of tasks that the person used to do, as well as the impact on family members.

A patient often feels burdened in seeing how loved ones need to adjust to the new situation, and the book helps process the transition, Groves said. Oftentimes people view suicide as a relief for themselves and their family, but faith can give the tools to persevere through the illness, she said, showing that “God is with you and can be with you — survival is a choice.”

And while prayers for healing and recovery can be good, God’s gift of healing sometimes “comes through transition to new life,” she added, emphasizing “gratitude for the presence of God in our lives — knowing that memories are the greatest gift God can give us for our loved ones who are left behind.”

In June 2013, the Bible Reading Fellowship, a publisher in England, requested permission to print the book and make it available in the United Kingdom.

“I think they’ve sold about 700 books already,” Groves said. “It’s so rewarding to know it’s going to be out there to maybe help other people.”

Groves said she personally has not experienced serious illness, but readers and family members of those with chronic illness have thanked her. A man even called once to ask permission to use a passage from the book on his wife’s gravestone, she said.

“What means the most to me is when people say it’s exactly how they’re feeling; that I was able to listen closely enough to my patients and be able to empathize with them,” she said.