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Rating: 
Summary: A brave and gutsy account of a near-death experience
Review: Landro has written a courageous book that brings you inside the medical establishment. You can't read this tale without sharing at least some of the horrible pain she herself endured in surviving a life-threatening illness. Her harrowing ordeal is described in vivid detail, especially the physical and emotional impact of all the drugs she had to consume to combat leukemia and the onset of a host of complications caused by the disease and the treatment for it. I often winced at her descriptions, which made me, a very healthy 40-something male, feel extremely fragile and vulnerable. This is a well-written, well-documented journey into a medical netherland and a personal nightmare. It's also a book I could not put down, even though I know no one who has been afflicted with this terrible disease.
Rating: 
Summary: A primer for doctors in the information age
Review: Laura Landro tells her story of survival from chronic myelogenous leukemia and bone marrow transplantation with the excitement and fullness of fine fiction.As she enters " the netherworld of medicine", Laura's journalist's instincts kick in. Information proves crucial, for she must choose between two cancer centers with subtly differing treatment protocols and prepare for the certain loss of ovarian function to chemotherapy. Attitude and humor help pass the darkest sickroom days. Imagine watching Laura, pallid from anemia and bloated from steroids, primp, preparing her face for the future. A reading of her mother's daily log defines determination and suggests, incidentally, that fine writing must be hereditary. Humor is good medicine: Her brothers' constant high spirits penetrate the wall of pain. Her colleagues from "The Wall Street Journal" perform a hilarious video skit that pulls her toward the future. Support materializes from friends and "the ranks of afflicted want to reach out to you...and put you in touch with experts who helped them." At a near breaking point for Laura, Marilyn's unforgettable letter plums the depths and eloquence of friendship. Healing goes beyond hospital walls. If Survivor is a "survival guide" for patients, it is equally a primer for healthcare providers in the information age. Patients who arrive with Internet pages are today's survivors. Like Laura Landro, they plan to "come out on the other side". Doctors couldn't play on a better team.
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading
Review: Ms. Landro is the quintessential reporter who 'reported' the biggest story of her life, and thereby saved it in the process. She described how she took charge of her battle against leukemia, rather than ceding her life to what looked like very dangerous medicine, and it worked. Landro's story is about the incredible power of a bright and utterly rational person to shape her destiny and survive because of it. The book belongs in hotel rooms with the Gideon Bible (no, INSTEAD of the Gideon Bible...) and ought to be dispensed in pharmacies and physicians offices. It's the ultimate celebration of the human will to survive.
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading
Review: Ms. Landro is the quintessential reporter who 'reported' the biggest story of her life, and thereby saved it in the process. She described how she took charge of her battle against leukemia, rather than ceding her life to what looked like very dangerous medicine, and it worked. Landro's story is about the incredible power of a bright and utterly rational person to shape her destiny and survive because of it. The book belongs in hotel rooms with the Gideon Bible (no, INSTEAD of the Gideon Bible...) and ought to be dispensed in pharmacies and physicians offices. It's the ultimate celebration of the human will to survive.
Rating:
Summary: Guidebook for a "cancer experience" from a survivor
Review: Ms. Landro's personal story is a must read for families dealing with the horrors of leukemia...It is an honest and educational account of the bone marrow process and the way the patient and care givers must respond when faced with devastating news...You will want to become a bone marrow donor after reading her personal account. At a minimum, your sensitivity of the fragility of health will be seriously heightened.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars if you need a BMT; 1 star if you don't
Review: Reviewing this book gives me problems. My spouse is awaiting a bone marrow transplant for CML, the same disease that Landro had. And in many ways, this book was very good, empowering us by leading us to good websites, recommending the book Mira's Month for my small daughter , and letting us know what to expect as far as side effects, etc. What I think the book lacks is emotion/humanness--although there are times that Landro tells us how she feels, much more ofetn things are summed up by "just get through it." I also believe that Landro's experiences with her transplant may not be as relative to people like us, who have financial concerns, who have small children, who are not fortunate enough to have a perfect sibling match (we do, happily, have perfect unrelated donor matches--bless them!). I think that Landro's choice to not name her husband was unsettling--although she probably chose not to in order to respect his privacy, I feel it would have been better to state that at the outset--I was left with the impression that although he did accompany her through a very difficult time, he was not worthy of a name. Another very real problem I have with this book is its title--I believe that it is a marketing ploy, because I do not believe IN ANY WAY that this book is about "taking control of your fight against cancer"--it is about one woman's bone marrow transplant, and I knew that going in; had I bought this book thinking it would empower me to fight against cancer, I would be very disappointed, because although one or two chapters may deal with that, it certainly is not true of the whole book. I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone undergoing a BMT, but I would not recommend it to someone with prostate cancer or melanoma--it simply is not relevent to cancers that do not require a BMT. I am asking our friends to buy it, because it is very relevant to OUR type of cancer and our need for a BMT--but may not be to other people who are not in this particular boat.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars if you need a BMT; 1 star if you don't
Review: Reviewing this book gives me problems. My spouse is awaiting a bone marrow transplant for CML, the same disease that Landro had. And in many ways, this book was very good, empowering us by leading us to good websites, recommending the book Mira's Month for my small daughter , and letting us know what to expect as far as side effects, etc. What I think the book lacks is emotion/humanness--although there are times that Landro tells us how she feels, much more ofetn things are summed up by "just get through it." I also believe that Landro's experiences with her transplant may not be as relative to people like us, who have financial concerns, who have small children, who are not fortunate enough to have a perfect sibling match (we do, happily, have perfect unrelated donor matches--bless them!). I think that Landro's choice to not name her husband was unsettling--although she probably chose not to in order to respect his privacy, I feel it would have been better to state that at the outset--I was left with the impression that although he did accompany her through a very difficult time, he was not worthy of a name. Another very real problem I have with this book is its title--I believe that it is a marketing ploy, because I do not believe IN ANY WAY that this book is about "taking control of your fight against cancer"--it is about one woman's bone marrow transplant, and I knew that going in; had I bought this book thinking it would empower me to fight against cancer, I would be very disappointed, because although one or two chapters may deal with that, it certainly is not true of the whole book. I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone undergoing a BMT, but I would not recommend it to someone with prostate cancer or melanoma--it simply is not relevent to cancers that do not require a BMT. I am asking our friends to buy it, because it is very relevant to OUR type of cancer and our need for a BMT--but may not be to other people who are not in this particular boat.
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