Living Time: Faith and Facts to Transform Your Cancer Journey

Learning you have cancer is a shocking and fearful revelation, even for a physician. A former director of the National Institutes of Health and overseer of the National Cancer Institute, doctor and columnist Healy was working to expand the cancer genetics program at Ohio State University when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. For all her medical training and experience, she was as unprepared as anyone: “It's a universal fact: when serious illness strikes, we are the same vulnerable souls.” Seven years later, Healy is now one of more than 10 million cancer survivors in the U.S. Healy shares her personal story while also examining cancer risks, research, treatment and prevention. There's no professional distance here, but rather an inclusive and illuminating perspective stemming from Healy's dual role that makes topics like genetic research as accessible as chapters devoted to managing overwhelming fear and making healthy everyday decisions. Viewing the cancer experience as a “living time,” as opposed to a “dying time,” Healy's message is positive, hopeful, and no less honest or informative for it. (Mar.)