Cancer: What's it Doing in My Life?: A Personal Journal of the First Two Years of Chemotherapy in the Career of a Cancer Patient [Paperback]

Mary Alice Geier (Author), Ruth Truman (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1985 | ISBN-10: 0932727050 | ISBN-13: 978-0932727053 | Edition: 2

Along with providing concrete suggestions to help those who face cancer, Rev. Geier, ever the pastor, decided to produce this primer, chock full of advice and explanations, with helpful appendices to boot, in order to shine some light on the dilemmas and mysteries that face a cancer patient. This practical guide has been useful to thousands of patients plus their families and friends and she has received kudos from many who have faced cancer, better prepared and better informed because Rev. Geier knew intimately what many cancer patients have gone through.

Editorial Reviews

Review

When Mary Alice Geier's cancer was diagnosed, the doctors told her she had progressive lymphoma, stage four. "What is the next stage?" she asked. "There isn't any," they said. Mary Alice, a minister and minister's wife in Los Angeles, had been a campus chaplain, a teacher, and a local pastor. When she wrote this book, she had been sick for three years. This 116-page book is an account of Mary Alice's first three years of illness. She writes honestly about pain, nausea, and fear-fear that surfaces as dreams of "vicious animals gripping an arm or a leg." She weeps with feminine pride when she " 'combs' her last remaining hair with a towel." The author, however, does not leave the reader depressed. She presents a shining witness to a life encompassed by restrictions but lived so fully that it enriches everyone she touches. Mary Alice seems to say, "Life goes on." So she drapes her balding head in a brightly patterned scarf, ties a paper flower to her three-footed cane, phones parishioners from her bed, and sits on a kitchen stool while preaching the best sermons of her life. As she continued to delight her congregation with her humor, so she delights her readers. "I never did like the line in 'Amazing Grace' that labels me a 'wretch,' " she says, "but last night I was, indeed, 'a-retch.' " Although Mary Alice can no longer drive or maneuver steps unaided, she determines to live as normally as possible. For her it means broadening her intellectual pursuits. "Just remember," she wrote in her church newsletter, "there may be fluid on the lung, but as of now there is no water on the brain." She delves into learning as much as possible about her illness, both to help herself and to help "bring cancer out of the closet." In a poignant chapter on "Dealing with the Perceptions of Others," Mary Alice emphasizes the importance of the loving care and concern of the family, as well as the support of friends, which she calls "the Mylanta of the spirit, coating my inner being." At the same time she acknowledges the strain brought by caring for the chronically ill.

Confronting the eternal question "Why me?" she answers,"Why not me, the statistics being what they are." Mary Alice also had other things to think about. "I knew that my current vocation was to sort out priorities, and future attitudes that would help my body cooperate with the treatments. My spiritual life must operate at full speed." That spiritual walk, she finds, is aided by the faith, prayer, and hymns that have strengthened her for a lifetime. But she also admits that, while she was skilled at intercessory prayer, she did not know how to pray for herself, especially in the area of healing. "I push to the deepest understanding of God's will," she write. "I focus on marshaling the divine energies, wiling them to course through my cells, my Decision making, my relationships with new intensity. Prayer is keeping open those energy channels." The idea of light is central to Mary Alice's way of living out her beliefs. "We need the light of knowledge about what is really happening in our bodies, and the light of knowledge of the unconditional love of God. To live and function within a pervasive environment of light is a good goal for anyone. This puts the emphasis on living as fully at any moment, with less concern about how many moments stretch ahead. It offers an inner well-being now, regardless of that elusive concept-cure." -- Barbara V. Myers, Partnership Magazine, April, 1987

Review

This should be required reading for nurses and other caregivers. As Mary Alice Geier articulates her thoughts, actions and reactions to diagnosis and treatment with honesty and insight, she reveals a woman of great strength and faith who faces disease with hope, love of life, common sense and humor. Health care professionals can increase their ability to help others through her perceptions of the illness and treatment as well as her wisdom in identifying the strengths which carried her through difficult periods. '' Corrine Bergmann, R.N., M.S.

From a letter from Tina Okulski, New Hyde Park, NY "I've just finished reading your book. I loved it. I had a mastectomy two years ago followed by six months of chemotherapy. Reading your journal reminded me of my chemo treatments. It was a rough period of time, but with a positive attitude and a sense of humor you can get through it. ... I've recommended your book to the pastor I work for and to some members of the congregation. One of them said, 'You want me to cry'. I said, 'No! You'll enjoy it and love the author because she has courage and a sense of humor.' Thank you for writing your book. It is an inspiration."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 117 pages
• Publisher: Hope Publishing House; 2 edition (December 15, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0932727050
• ISBN-13: 978-0932727053
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,774,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical
  • #93 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Aging > Cancer > Lymphatic

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