FROM MEDICINE TO MIRACLE
By Dr. Mary Self and Rod Chaytor
HarperCollins. 259 pages. £6.99
ISBN 0 00 711562 8
Dr. Self's story is really one of two journeys; her struggle with cancer and its recurrence in her body, and her religious awareness, which culminates in her relationship with Jesus Christ.
She writes with her co-author in a very frank and refreshing manner, making the book sensitive, funny, sad and quite compulsive reading. You may need a box of tissues handy as the story unfolds of a young woman, barely into adulthood, having to cope with terrible illness, which results in the amputation of her leg, the pain and side effects of ensuing treatment and the uncertainty of any future. With amazing fortitude she finishes her education, qualifies as a doctor, marries and has children. Later the cancer returns twice and she eventually has to prepare for death, knowing that she will never see her children grow up.
