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Jean Craig had
everything a woman could want: a successful advertising
business, a loving,
accomplished husband, and four happy, college-educated
children. But she had suffered
the loss of her first husband after fifteen
years of dealing with chronic illness.
And who says lightning can’t strike
twice?
Between Hello and
Goodbye is a memoir about fighting. It’s about a man with terminal colon cancer and
the tireless fight to save his life. It started as a battle against cancer but ended up
being a struggle with doctors and the medical profession in general. Craig outlines the
frustrations of dealing with overworked oncologists who are too busy to return emergency
phone calls and hospitals that are short on staff and long on patients. She describes
being ignored by medical personnel because her questions took up too much of their time.
Her husband was treated as a disease—not as a patient. In the end, the author took her
husband home to care for him herself. She learned how to give him medicine and oxygen and
how to take care of his needs. She hired private nurses and took time off from her
business to enjoy his last few days. The days turned into weeks, and then months, as he
thrived under his wife’s care. For a while, he was back on his feet and running his new
business from home. He didn’t ultimately beat cancer, but he did retain his
dignity.
This book is both a love story and a medical journal. It should
be read by every
person who studies medicine, so they can get a better understanding
of the
patient as a whole—not just their disease. While I sometimes felt that the
author tended to brag a bit about their successful businesses and perfect relationship,
she won me over by the second half of the book. I read the last 150 pages in one
sitting.
The author comments that the medical profession is the only one
that hasn’t
stepped into the information age. It’s like a secret cult that’s only
open
to people with an M.D. This book could definitely change that status quo.
