I'd Rather Do Chemo Than Clean Out the Garage: Choosing Laughter Over Tears [Paperback]

Fran Di Giacomo (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 163 pages
• Publisher: Brown Books; 1 edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971326525
• ISBN-13: 978-0971326521
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Purchase with caution, January 11, 2007

By 

Jamie Thiessen "Just Me" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'd Rather Do Chemo Than Clean Out the Garage: Choosing Laughter Over Tears (Paperback)

I purchased this book for my mother, who is currently undergoing chemo treatments. Unfortunately, she had a very bad experience with her first cycle and is at a point where she sees nothing about chemo as humorous. After I received the book, I read through it and decided that it was not the right time to give my mom the book. In fact, she would much rather clean the garage than go through chemo. I had related a few of the insights to her, and she didn't appreciate any of them. As all caregivers know (now), each person has their own reaction to chemo - I believe my mom just wasn't at the right stage in her chemo to appreciate the intent of the book. I would suggest that persons purchasing the book seriously consider where the intended recipient is at emotionally in their treatment before passing it on.

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth it, March 8, 2007

By 

Keely Deuschle (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I'd Rather Do Chemo Than Clean Out the Garage: Choosing Laughter Over Tears (Paperback)

I purchased this shortly after being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36. After hearing devastating news like, "You have cancer," I bought tons of books - informational, inspirational and this one. With the warning, "Do not read this book in the immediate postoperative period due to risk of popping a suture or staple closer," I thought this would be one of those "pick-me-up" books helping me to add laugh-therapy to my experience.

What I didn't expect was to be so appalled at this "Chemo Prima Donna" and using her chemo experience and cancer to guilt friends into bringing food and gifts to buying her artwork as part of "sympathy sales". Chapter 2, "Milking it for All It's Worth" about said it all. She even states, "You may declare me a shameless hussy and accuse me of abusing my friends..." Yes, that is exactly what I thought.

Were there parts of the book that made me laugh? After chapter 2 I kept reading hoping to find something that would have justified the $16.95 pricetag. After putting up with 3/4 of the book and finding only one or two very small things that were slightly funny, I decided it wasn't worth my time to finish reading it.

This book may be for some, but for many of us it's not. A good, fun, light-hearted book not cancer related is a much better investment.

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and Cheering for Anyone with Cancer, January 9, 2005

By 

Bonnie Neely - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'd Rather Do Chemo Than Clean Out the Garage: Choosing Laughter Over Tears (Paperback)

I'd Rather Do Chemo by Fran Di Giacomo is an amazing approach to living with the big C. The author is writing from her experience of ten surgeries and many years of intermittent chemo-therapy. She says that in trying to come to terms with her perpetual condition of illness she rebelled against the sappy, optimistic, think positively books and videos after so long and continued to be depressed. Then she discovered that laughter is the very best medicine and surrounded herself with anything that made her laugh...her own therapy. When she found how much better she was able to cope with her illness this way, she decided to write this humorous book, which takes every aspect of the traumas a cancer patient faces and gives a whimsical but realistic twist to them, in order to help other patients survive with laughter. Poking fun at the surgery experience she says she had the idea that with so much paraphynalia in the O.R., she might just disappear and hide under the gurney and see if the doctor's noticed. She also arrives in the O.R. with an autograph book for anyone who has had their hands or instruments in her gut to sign. She tickles the funny bone of her readers over the casserole and chocolate scenarios and what to do with the many flowers friends send. From hair loss to memory loss, she bravely laughs through it all. This book provides therapeutic laughter for cancer patients and is a good read to give insight to their care-givers, family and friends. An excellent gift book for anyone whose life is affected by cancer.