A glimpse into one woman's cancer journey
Written with wit and honesty for Vanity Fair magazine in 2008, journalist Marjorie Williams' account of being diagnosed with liver cancer is a moving up-close glimpse of cancer's impact at all levels on one's self, life and loved ones. Those who've experienced cancer and its ripple effects will recognize and relate to so much of what Marjorie has to say. And for those lucky enough to escape cancer hitting too close to home, it's a graceful introduction to "what it's like."
MEMOIR: A Matter of Life and Death
by Marjorie Williams
{An excerpt ...}
"I told my husband I didn’t need him to come to the sonogram: it would probably only give a clearer picture of what Pat’s ultrasound had already told us, I assumed. There’s nothing painful or difficult about a sonogram, and I didn’t want to haul Tim out of work twice; I knew I’d want him with me for the CT scan later.
"That was a bad decision
"Again, we do the poking-the-uterus exercise. Their mystification has begun to make me seriously frightened. I begin to question the doctor very directly. She is quite kind. She really can’t say what she’s seeing, she tells me.
It almost seems an afterthought—the indulgence of a hunch—when the doctor turns to the technician and says, “Try moving up, yes, to the navel or so.” I can still remember the feel of the equipment casually gliding up toward my navel, and then a sudden, palpable tension in the air. For, immediately, another large growth— one even bigger than the three below—looms into view.
"This is the moment when I know for certain that I have cancer."
Written with wit and honesty for Vanity Fair magazine in 2008, journalist Marjorie Williams' account of being diagnosed with liver cancer is a moving up-close glimpse of cancer's impact at all levels on one's self, life and loved ones. Those who've experienced cancer and its ripple effects will recognize and relate to so much of what Marjorie has to say. And for those lucky enough to escape cancer hitting too close to home, it's a graceful introduction to "what it's like."
MEMOIR: A Matter of Life and Death
by Marjorie Williams
{An excerpt ...}
"I told my husband I didn’t need him to come to the sonogram: it would probably only give a clearer picture of what Pat’s ultrasound had already told us, I assumed. There’s nothing painful or difficult about a sonogram, and I didn’t want to haul Tim out of work twice; I knew I’d want him with me for the CT scan later.
"That was a bad decision
"Again, we do the poking-the-uterus exercise. Their mystification has begun to make me seriously frightened. I begin to question the doctor very directly. She is quite kind. She really can’t say what she’s seeing, she tells me.
It almost seems an afterthought—the indulgence of a hunch—when the doctor turns to the technician and says, “Try moving up, yes, to the navel or so.” I can still remember the feel of the equipment casually gliding up toward my navel, and then a sudden, palpable tension in the air. For, immediately, another large growth— one even bigger than the three below—looms into view.
"This is the moment when I know for certain that I have cancer."
Hayven's picks: Sources of hope and information
When we hear that someone has just been diagnosed with cancer, these are a sampling of some of the go-to resources we rely on and recommend wholeheartedly, especially for newbie survivors.
When we hear that someone has just been diagnosed with cancer, these are a sampling of some of the go-to resources we rely on and recommend wholeheartedly, especially for newbie survivors.
CURE magazine
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Bald in the Land of Big Hair by Joni Rodgers
Joni Rodgers will make you laugh as she unselfishly reveals the tumult and cracks that cancer opened in her life and in her family. That's no small gift. Considering what a punch in the gut cancer is, it's a welcome spoonful of sugar. Which isn't to reduce this highly readable, highly accessible memoir to a Tonight show monologue. It stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of modern fiction while it enlightens and reassures survivors as well as others collaterally splattered during a survivor's ordeal. Male caregivers appreciate its wry insights into the female experience. Moms with cancer can relax, learn to let go, and trust that their kids (and their sex life) will be OK. Hesitant co-survivors will be wiser about what to do (and what not do). The absolute best must-read for everyone affected by cancer. BUY |
Crazy Sexy Cancer DVD
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