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micki1961's review against another edition
A first person account of a man's cancer journey. His mom grew marijuana in their attic to help with the nausea but there was more to the story than that.
acton's review against another edition
4.0
Dan Shapiro has penned a very readable memoir that describes his experience as a gravely ill young man with Hodgkin's disease. After his second relapse, his chances of cure were only remote, and yet-he is here, years later, finally disease free.
This is not a book about marijuana. The title is sexy, no? It is an allusion to an engaging story about his mother and his family's roots. Shapiro effectively uses family stories as both comic relief and perspective. He is now a clinical psychologist whose mission is to help patients navigate the medical system and also to offer insight to doctors, enabling them to have a warmer manner with their patients.
I'm glad that this title was picked for me by our book group, as it would never have been on my radar. And frankly, I wasn't wild about the idea of reading about someone else's travails with chemotherapy a mere month after I'd finished my own last treatment. However, my experience was not like Dan Shapiro's, even though a couple of the drugs were the same. This made it both more interesting to me and easier to read.
Dr. Shapiro comes across as such a warm, likable person that I missed him when I finished his memoir. It's comforting to know that there are psychologists like him out in the world.
This is not a book about marijuana. The title is sexy, no? It is an allusion to an engaging story about his mother and his family's roots. Shapiro effectively uses family stories as both comic relief and perspective. He is now a clinical psychologist whose mission is to help patients navigate the medical system and also to offer insight to doctors, enabling them to have a warmer manner with their patients.
I'm glad that this title was picked for me by our book group, as it would never have been on my radar. And frankly, I wasn't wild about the idea of reading about someone else's travails with chemotherapy a mere month after I'd finished my own last treatment. However, my experience was not like Dan Shapiro's, even though a couple of the drugs were the same. This made it both more interesting to me and easier to read.
Dr. Shapiro comes across as such a warm, likable person that I missed him when I finished his memoir. It's comforting to know that there are psychologists like him out in the world.
corncobwebs's review against another edition
They’d tell me that I owe my life to high-dose chemotherapy and radiation—and I’d agree. But sometimes I play with the idea that survival was due to something else, something more magical. Because between the cracks and fissures of science, there are still moments, seventeen years later, when I feel myself bathed in a magical green light that I can’t and don’t want to explain.
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