Healing

March 1, 2022

With her aptly named and timed work, best-selling author and oncology nurse Brown (The Shift) weaves her multiple worlds together in this deeply personal memoir of her times as both registered nurse and cancer patient. Brown recognizes her privileged space within the U.S. health care system: she writes that she's not only a highly educated and trained health care professional but also a highly personally motivated one (due to her breast cancer diagnosis), as well as being cishet and white. Even with all her privilege, navigating the health care labyrinth is fraught with difficulty, she argues. Brown's in-depth account of caring for the health of patients while simultaneously navigating her own health care is especially timely as the world enters another year of pandemic. Brown's own journey is largely described positively, but she lays bare the wounds inflicted by an imperfect health system. Her clear-eyed and eloquent examination of illness--from the inside and from the outside--is illuminating. VERDICT This moving and enlightening memoir is recommended for memoir readers and those interested in health care journeys and struggles.--Rachel M. Minkin

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2022
A former oncology and hospice nurse is forced to navigate the medical system as a patient. In this revealing and heart-wrenching memoir, Brown takes readers on her journey from nurse to patient following a concerning mammogram. Reflecting on the day of her diagnosis of breast cancer, she describes the type of patient she knew she must be: "passive, undemanding, easy to manage." As an experienced nurse, she knew easy patients receive better care. What she hadn't fully expected as a patient was how noncompassionate the medical community could be. Brown candidly shares her experiences with what she calls "DIY cancer care," including the need to find her own surgeon, wait weeks for potentially life-changing results, and hassle people to get important information. She was also flippantly (and mistakenly) told she wasn't on the list on the day of her scheduled surgery. "All I wanted after my diagnosis," writes Brown "was for someone involved in treating my cancer to sit down with me, look me in the eye, and explain my diagnosis, discuss what my prognosis looked like, and clarify my likely course of treatment." But that never happened. Her experiences as a patient also forced her to reflect on how she treated her own patients. Alternating the narrative between her time as a nurse and as a patient, she passionately shares the range of emotions she felt and offers advice for both patients and nurses who are facing breast cancer. Brown also contends that in the U.S., patients, especially those seeking cancer treatment, are frequently treated differently based on where they live or their ethnicity. The author urges breast cancer specialists to "work to ensure that all women diagnosed with breast cancer receive humane care." By sharing her story, Brown delivers much-needed advocacy for those who are often ignored or misunderstood. An essential read for all members of the medical community.

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