Book Review: Healing with Words

Writers are known for over-analyzing their lives and obsessing. So what does a writer do when diagnosed with breast cancer? She took out her journal and put words on the page. Diana Raab, a nurse, was diagnosed wtih DCIS at the age of forty-seven. Five years later, she was also diagnosed with multiple myeloma. I was lucky enough to get a review copy of Diana Raab's book Healing with Words: A Writer's Cancer Journey, and devoured it in two sittings. This book chronicles her story, along with journal entries, poems and pages of writing prompts for the reader. Through the stunned shock of an unexpected diagnosis, to the decision to have a mastectomy and reconstruction and her healing journey, Raab pulls no punches. Her unflinching willingness to share her feelings about the process lends an intimacy to the story and makes it an engrossing read. She was helped by her surgeon, who sounds like the type of surgeon that seems to be found all too rarely - one who truly loves his job and cares for his patients deeply. He actually suggested she write a journal about her experience and feelings, and send it to him. It was exactly what she needed. In her epilogue, Raab dares to admit something many cancer memoirs tend to minimize -- she struggles. Physically, emotionally, and psychologically. But she continues to write, which in turn helps her to heal; it is a necessity, like breathing. Despite her struggles, she makes the choice over and over to live her life. She even quotes the Nietzsche quote that is tattooed on my back: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Raab has chosen to reframe her situation, and see her cancer experiences as turning points that, in her words, "set you free to fulfill or examine dreams that can no longer wait....It is about understanding what you really want in life...." With multiple pages of writing prompts, quotes, and breast cancer resources, this is an interactive book that encourages its readers to examine their own lives or cancer journeys. It is a cancer memoir that connects readers without being preachy or full of pink, and is simply real. And that is the best thing of all about it. Buy the book on Amazon or visit the author's website.