Customer Reviews

The Dust Busting Chronicles: Cleaning My Way Through Ovarian Cancer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not a book about ovarian cancer, although I learned a lot about the subject. It's the very real saga of an individual dealing with the loss of a partner while acknowledging her own very real demons. As I read Cushine's book -- I found that I wanted more...More about the OCD that she struggled with and that was exasperated by the ordeal her otherwise settled life was thrown into. More about her family life, and the difficult home she was raised in. More about her very special, very loving, special life relationship. What makes the book so successful and so moving is that the author is not looking for sympathy and is not seeking pity. She has written a love letter to her lost partner and she has given us the priviledge of sharing it with us. And, she left me wanting more...the mark of a truly successful piece of prose.

For anyone who might run the risk of losing a partner (gay or not, it doesn't matter at all in the context of this moving story), this book is a guide through one woman's journey. It's about how she dealt with her own OCD, with her partner's deteriorating condition, and with a myriad of decisions regarding health care choices as her partner spirals toward a certain death, all while keeping her own life together...a remarkable story, and a worthwhile read.

I found the book to be an uplifting story of love and sorrow, as life slips away. It tells of the struggle between the medical world and the man-in-the-street, and the frustration we experience in dealing with terminal illness. It is a well-researched and beautifully written account of a relationship everyone should be fortunate enough to have. I look forward to hearing more from Ms. Cushine in the future.

This heartbreaking story of loss had me in tears. I felt as if I were living the nightmare along with Cheryl, whose life-long struggle with OCD was aggravated during her partner's demise. The details of Lyse's illness can be tough to read, but it enables readers to learn the realities of ovarian cancer and the burdens placed on caregivers. While it's a sad story of loss on the one hand, it's an uplifting story of survival on the other: after Lyse's death, Cheryl packed up her life as she knew it and began a new one with newfound strength, courage, and hope. Her story will inspire us all.

As I read this book I felt as though I was traveling through a tunnel created by the demon of cancer and it's effect on the lives of two people
in love. The darkness of this tunnel is felt in the words of the author as she faces the challenges of her partner's illness plus her own demon of OCD. How can life change so drastically from one of peace, contentment and fulfillment to one of sickness, worry and sorrow? This question and the answer is beautifully expressed as the author writes of her journey and the promise of a new life. The book allows the reader to see that even in the darkest of times there will be sunny days and a new future. I recommend this book for anyone that has loved; or lost love; or faced the mountains of life that seem to high to cross. It definitly leaves you feeling inspired for brighter days and a new future.

Set against the backdrop of ovarian cancer and obsessive compulsive disorder, Cheryl L. Cushine candidly describes her and her partner's love, life, home and parting. Once I began reading "The Dust Busting Chronicles: Cleaning My Way Through Ovarian Cancer", I couldn't put the book down - passages had me crying or smiling, but always hoping for a different outcome. I enjoyed the author's style, wit and attention to detail. The story builds as love and death intertwine creating a beautifully poignant account - a courageous tribute to love - a tragedy everyone should read.

Literature that stimulates intellectually and emotionally. With the completely honest disclosure of her own illness and that of her partner - the author weaves her personal struggle with OCD together with the gruesome details of Lyse's deteriorating health creating (for the reader) a much needed diversion to what can only be described as a journey to hell. A timeless love story, one of the best I've read. Ms. Cushine writes: "So many times we'd say to each other that our love was forever, would last forever, would be forever. Ours was a connection that transcended words, even the limits of the earth and sky. We had arrived into this life already linked. Our partnership had played out before, in other lives, other times, in different bodies and genders. It didn't matter what it was before or what it had been this time. Each soul of the whole recognizes the other, and it just is. The props of life -- home, car, work, stuff -- become accessories to the main event, our own love story that is told over and over again, the story of unconditional giving and receiving, perhaps the greatest reason for coming here at all."

Intensely captivating because it is written straight from the heart. The life Cheryl and Lyse shared, shattered by the horrors of ovarian cancer - her pain and devotion throughout the ordeal, evident on every page - touched me deeply. A truly gifted writer!

I've lost 2 close relatives to ovarian cancer and the one saving grace in both instances was the ability of the family to pull together and provide the support needed to the patient throughout the horrible ordeal. Cushine, in numerous petty references, seemed more focused on her own selfish interests than in what Lyse needed. If you want a book on ovarian cancer this is not it. If you want a book on true love this is not that either. The author also needs to check her facts. I'm surprised the publisher let this one get into print.