The Book
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Only book written by the Patient and the Loved One. Deb’s journey reads like a biographical novel from the first “Code Blue;” to her two near-death experiences; to her anguish in finding a caring doctor; to pulling herself up and out of the abyss of discouragement.  This 328 page book, including the extensive glossary of medical terms, is designed to put you in the driver’s seat, whether you are the cancer challenger or a loved one/friend. It takes much of the guesswork out of dealing with the medical profession by giving you tips and techniques that make your life easier, while at the same time helping them do their job. “Fear” can be defined as imagining the worst because you don’t know what your options are. How Cancer Transformed Our Lives can reduce your fear by giving you suggestions and tips to smooth out the rough parts of your physical and emotional journey with cancer or any other debilitating disease. |
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328 pages of invaluable information and inspiration!
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About the writing of this book:
How Cancer Transformed Our Lives was written by two authors, Debra Dalton and Diana Kenney. Debra, the primary writer of the book, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1990. She began writing because she saw the need for her story to be shared, and it’s her voice that you hear so distinctly at its onset as she details the first fifteen years of her journey with cancer. (Debra lived almost seventeen years after the initial diagnosis.) Her honest discussion of her disease process as it affected her day by day, oftentimes treating it with humor, is heartwarming and also thought-provoking.
In Section Two, Debra discusses the advice and recommendations she wishes to pass on to everyone touched by cancer. Diana, who picks up the last year and a half of Deb’s story, begins her main contributions in Section Three, as Deb becomes too ill to continue work on the manuscript. With Diana’s entries, we start down the long path of the caregiver: she lays out plainly the difficulty of her situation, setting her own life aside as she tries to be all things to a loved one who is dying. As Deb’s observer in these last months of her life, Diana documents the difficulties of dealing with a terminal illness. She has now brought Deb’s story to fruition. How Cancer Transformed Our Lives truly is a work of heartfelt love.