Rating: 
Summary: An unsentimental look at death and life with illness
Review: Weisman could successfully write about any topic; that she chose to write about medicine, death and illness is like having a friend answer a question that you don't dare ask. The book gives a grim and graphic picture of what it is like to watch someone die from cancer. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in the late stages of a terminal illness. There is plenty of despair in these pages. But there is also hope. Weisman has accepted that she will never be cured, that she will always need regular gamma globulin and interferon treatments, that she may one day get lymphoma. While ill she marries, earns a medical degree, has a baby, writes a book and takes care of the dying. Her cure for the fear of death is indeed living. This book is instructive for anyone considering medical school, for those curious about death and for those interested in the ethics, economics and diagnostic challenges of modern medicine. In the end, it is an inspiring read for most anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: A True Medical Mystery!
Review: Written by Jamie Weisman, a physician-patient with a rare, hard-to-diagnose illness, the reader sees all facets of a medical mystery. What was really frightening to me was the length of time it took to diagnose Weisman's condition, despite the fact that her father, a doctor, was always there, questioning, observing, yet unable to help. She endured years of frustration, pain, anguish, and physical deformity before being diagnosed with a congenital immune deficiency.It is controlled through monthly treatments with gamma globulin and by self-injections every few days with interferon. There is, however, no cure. Her illness inspired Weisman to go to medical school, and she is now a physician at Emory in Atlanta. She writes eloquently about how she practices medicine while dealing with her illness. Her harrowing story makes for tough but compelling reading. I could have done without the last sections, "Begotten" and "Begetting", or at least a shorter account of her attempts to have a child. Otherwise this book read like a medical thriller.
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