A stunning book that helped me understand how to survive a serious illness and how to understand hospitals in general. Theresa Brown is also a hell of a good writer.” —James Patterson “Revealing and heart-wrenching . . . 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 . . . 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.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “An unflinching look by a former nurse at the lack of compassion in our health-care system and the harms that patients suffer because of it…Brown writes with a winning combination of passion, humor and medical knowledge.”—Washington Post “An extraordinary writer, Theresa Brown brings the reader into all of her worlds, showing how cancer affected her as a patient, nurse, mother, daughter, wife, and friend. This is more than a good read. Oops, I am crying again.”—Claire M. Fagin, PhD, RN, Professor Emerita and Dean Emerita, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania “This is the book I want to give to all my colleagues and patients—a smart, moving, clear-eyed, yet ultimately hopeful jewel of a read on health and care from one of the most thoughtful healthcare writers I know.”—Pauline W. Chen, MD, New York Times contributor and bestselling author of Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality “A deeply moving story of an oncology nurse forced to navigate our imperfect health care system after an ultrasound exam upends her life. Brown offers important lessons for patients and health care providers alike.”—Damon Tweedy, New York Times bestselling author of Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine “Timely . . . Brown’s clear-eyed and eloquent examination of illness—from the inside and from the outside—is illuminating… moving and enlightening.” —Library Journal“Healing should be read by everyone, not just those facing cancer. Brown experiences both grief and revelation, and the beauty of her book is that we learn so much about hope and fear and coping, about living and dying and everything in between.”—Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, RN, FAAN, Emeritus Dean, Columbia University School of Nursing “By relating her own intimate experiences with cancer, Brown provides a candid critique of a system that sometimes fails people when they are most vulnerable. A brave and rare book that advocates for greater compassion in healthcare.”—Pamela F. Cipriano, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean, University of Virginia School of Nursing “Riveting and wrenching, Theresa Brown’s memoir takes us into the heart of what it means to be mortal. Examining illness from the inside and the outside, Brown’s sure hand provides a clear-eyed narrative that’s both intimate and harrowing.”—Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, editor of Bellevue Literary Review and author of When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error “A compelling and beautiful book. Brown’s personal depth in her narrative and remarkable tie-ins across many facets of history and literature draw the reader in and make it clear how much work we have to do in healthcare to get to reliable, humane practices.”—Terry Fulmer, PhD, President, John A. Hartford Foundation, former Dean, NYU College of Nursing “In her wide-ranging examination of fear, illness, and life in what she calls ‘cancer’s shadow,’ Brown never fails to reveal her own humanity. Healing is a book not only for breast cancer patients and their loved ones, but for anyone else who cares about caring. Most importantly, Brown shows us the importance of perspective: how the value of compassion becomes infinitely greater when it becomes your own life that needs saving.”—Chicago Review of BooksPraise for The Shift: “An engrossing human drama . . . The Shift is one nurse's story, but it contains elements of every nurse's experience." –The Wall Street Journal “The Shift . . . should be required reading for all incoming medical and nursing students—or anyone who is a patient or visitor in a hospital . . . Her story is riveting in the exacting way she recounts the way her day unfolds.” –Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Brown does an excellent job of taking us moment by moment through her day . . . keeping the narrative flowing. The reader feels her affection and deep sense of responsibility for her patients." –Minneapolis Star-Tribune
03/01/2022
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
★ 2021-12-29
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.
