Not the Last Goodbye: On Life, Death, Healing, and Cancer

by David Servan-Schreiber

At the start of this intimate and moving memoir, Dr. David Servan- Schreiber is returning by bicycle to his Paris home from an unsettling appointment. Following several months of fatigue and fainting spells, he had scheduled an emergency MRI. The results confirm his worst the return of the cancer that he was first diagnosed with nineteen years earlier. Fully aware of what the prognosis means, he redoubles his commitment to an Anticancer diet, and complements his chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and vaccine protocols with acupuncture and yoga. At the same time, he undertakes a close assessment of his own life, realizing that he has neglected a key piece of Anticancer advice-to create a stress-free life; instead he had embarked on an international tour to take his message to the public. Nevertheless, he concludes that he would not have done it any differently. In this book, Servan-Schreiber raises many of the most complex and personal questions about how we live and how we prepare for death. Powerful, honest, and inspiring, he continually surprises with his thoughts on what's important in life and the meaning of death.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Memoir, Medicine, Audiobook, Autobiography, Biography

176 pages, Hardcover

Published November 17, 2011

About the author

David Servan-Schreiber (April 21, 1961 – July 24, 2011) was a French physician, neuroscientist and author. He was a clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He was also a lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine of Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.

Reviews

[Karissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first discovered Dr. Servan-Schreiber when I was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago. "Anticancer: A New Way of Life" caused a great overhaul in my life, particularly diet and stress management. He opened my eyes to the powerful relationship between our minds and our bodies. Like him, I was given a 6 year survival prognosis. At first, I blindly accepted this as fate. Thanks to Dr. Servan-Schreiber, I now clearly see that a prognosis is merely a guesstimate and that our lifestyle is a major driving force in how accurate this guesstimate will be. If he continued on with life after his diagnosis with a poor diet and a lack of mental and emotional well-being, perhaps he would have only made it 6 years.
Of particular interest in "Not the Last Goodbye" was his discussion on denial. Is it best to adapt a sense of invincibility, completely brushing aside the doctors warning that the cancer will most certainly be back, or is it best to accept that it will be back at some point (still not blindly believing the specific number of years given for the prognosis) and to make the most out of the rest of your life? Should one with terminal cancer continue with school and work, or should they live like each year is their last? This is something that I have been contemplating since my diagnosis, and it was consoling to read his take on it.
This book was like reading the journal of a wise old friend. His advice will be held close as I continue on the brain cancer journey. I highly recommend it to anyone with a serious illness, and it would likely be beneficial to caregivers as well. If a loved one of someone suffering from brain cancer is wondering what it is like to go through this, here is an intimate account of it.

[H.A. Leuschel · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Une autre pensée a toujours été d'un immense secours depuis que le cancer est entré dans ma vie, et elle continue à fortifier mon ame. C'est de me rappeler l'évidence qu'après tout, je ne suis pas le seul à devoir mourir.' Voici quelques mots de sagesse du dernier livre de Servan-Schreiber, écrit avant sa mort en 2011. C'est un livre touchant et émouvant!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant piece by a French physician dying of brain cancer. He'd been in remission for many years, all the while writing about and promoting nutrition, meditation, yoga, etc. as alternative/complementary interventions for cancer survivors, and then relapsed. Since he's about my age, and I've been in remission from cancer for many years, and it's Memorial Day, and I've been thinking about a number of friends who have passed away, this may not have been the best choice for my holiday reading. What a bummer. At least my kids are both 18+, which was one of my goals. This guy had a second family with a baby and toddler when he died.

By this account his attitude was optimistic and grateful to the end, and he sounds like a sane health care researcher, caring friend, and devoted brother and Dad who had an adventurous life, so I guess he got his money's worth, but it's still a sad story.

[Léanne R · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*
Un genre de mémoire d'un patient (lui-même psychiatre) atteint d'une récidive de cancer du cerveau qui m'a franchement déçue de par son contenu et son contenant.

Ouille. J'ai choisi ce livre qui était dans ma bibliothèque depuis Dieu sait quand (et qui sait même pourquoi il y était) parce que son titre m'inspirait beaucoup. Je m'attendais à lire des réflexions intéressantes sur la fin de vie et à faire quelques apprentissages.

Au lieu de ça, David Servan-Schreiber utilise la moitié de son oeuvre pour parler d'un de ses livres précédents, Anticancer, qui promeut un mode de vie sain pour diminuer nos chances d'avoir le cancer. L'auteur met beaucoup l'accent sur le fait qu'il est un scientifique et qu'il se base sur des données probantes pour faire des recommandations. Dans ce cas, où sont ses références? Il parle avec enthousiasme de traitements expérimentaux en 2011 qui auraient supposément "déjà fait leurs preuves" - treize ans plus tard, ces traitements ne font toujours pas partie du standard of care. Ce n'est pas une levée de boucliers toutefois - je suis bien entendu toujours d'accord en principe avec ses recommandations (comment être contre la vertu, i.e. le sport, l'alimentation saine et la méditation?).

L'auteur retire beaucoup de satisfaction du fait qu'il ait écrit un livre qui conseille les patients et les aide à avoir un impact sur leur santé et "sortir de l'abattement de la maladie". Pour moi, malheureusement, ce dernier livre qui ressasse ses accomplissements et tente d'expliquer pourquoi sa technique Anticancer n'a pas fonctionné pour empêcher sa récidive m'a franchement laissée de glace.

[Eric Paradis · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'est le billet de David Servan-Schreiber (auteur d'AntiCancer et Guérir) qui a survécu 19 ans après une tumeur au cerveau et qui résume ses états d'esprit quelques mois avant de mourir aux prises avec une rechute. Au final, il n'a aucun regret, sauf celui d'avoir peut-être négligé de suivre certaines consignes qu'il a lui-même données dans ses ouvrages précédents. Bien manger, faire de l'exercice oui, mais il faut aussi consacrer une portion de son existence à prendre la pause avec soi-même et rebrancher ses atomes avec le reste de l'univers (méditer, aimer, rire, marcher en nature, respirer profondément, rêver, dormir, déguster, etc).

Le livre est disponible en français (l'édition que j'ai lu): On peut se dire au revoir plusieurs fois.

[Clare Collard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moved to tears by the description of David's battle with cancer. He teaches that it is possible to overcome cancer with therapies if you maintain a healthy stress free lifestyle. Right to the end of the book completed eight weeks before his death he is teaching valuable lessons about cancer, life and death. The last challenge he set himself was to die well and so he did, while encouraging others to do the same. A must read for anyone with cancer.

[Anu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Schreiber wrote this book after his terminal diagnosis. Having read his first two books and researched his story, I had to read his last book. He reflects on how he ignored his own advice and had to suffer the consequences through his relapse, yet his conviction in sharing his knowledge leads him to not regret his gamble. His pondering on a well lived life and a good death are touching as well as heartbreaking. His generosity, curiosity and zest for life shine all through to the very end. A life well lived indeed. May he rest in peace.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book following my reading of his earlier book 'Anti-Cancer: A new way of Life'. I had to. His first book had inspired me to change my lifestyle. His mixing of personal experience and scientific literature convinced me that diet and lifestyle is an important aspect of living healthily and of preventing cancer. It also convinced me that this lifestyle supports healing for people with cancer. Not as a 'cure' but as a way of getting the best from a life that has been blighted by cancer.

So finding out that he had died of the cancer that he had lived with for nineteen years and that he had written a book just eight weeks before he died which addressed his feelings on the end of his life, the experience of late stage cancer and his forthcoming death, seemed a perfect bookend to this remarkable man's story.

Dedicated to his three children, one elder one from a first marriage and two babes it is a sad, tragic narrative but equally kind and uplifting and a wonderful example of facing death realistically and as calmly as possible. Underlying this final chapter of his life was my question to him as to whether he still would recommend his anti-cancer lifestyle and he answered it loud and clear: "Does my relapse undermine the credibility of the anti-cancer method? - my answer is an emphatic 'No'."

This is a tender and sincere narrative, hugely reflective with a poignant message to all of us.

"Ever since cancer entered my life... {a} thought has always been immensely helpful and continues to soothe my soul. It's the knowledge that I'm not the only one who will die"

"I'm certain that in order to savour life to the very end, you first need to make peace with yourself and with death"

"When you're in the advanced stages of cancer, one of your most urgent tasks is to find and preserve a degree of calm without which your mental and physical state will crumble"

[Julie lit pour les autres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je vais prendre un *break* sur les témoignages de médecins atteints du cancer après celui-ci, c'est promis. (Parce qu'après Kalanithi et Servan-Schreiber, j'ai besoin de me remettre de mes émotions.) Je voulais principalement comparer les témoignages de ces deux médecins excessivement doués pour l'écrit et la réflexion, qui se voient arriver aux portes de la mort et qui décident d'écrire à ce sujet.

Quel beau titre! Le texte de Servan-Schreiber est un peu comme une dernière conférence, une dernière communication à ceux qui le lisent depuis des années et à qui il a inspiré de profonds changements de vie. La récidive de son cancer du cerveau (il a reçu un diagnostic 19 ans auparavant; sa rechute à l'aube de la cinquantaine lui fut malheureusement fatale). Son texte est infusé de sa chaleur, d'une certaine sérénité et de sa conviction que les habitudes de vie ont un impact profond sur la capacité de notre corps à combattre les cellules cancéreuses. Plusieurs passages touchent le coeur par leur lucidité et par les images évoquées. Le document se lit comme une lettre d'espoir pour ceux qui restent. Je n'hésiterais pas à suggérer ce texte à une personne en deuil ou qui cherche une lecture sur le sujet.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anti-Cancer Doctor David Servan-Schreiber pays it forward with his last publishing installment ‘Not the Last Goodbye: On Life, Death, Healing, and Cancer.’

His message written months before his death from brain cancer at age 50 is a reminder that every life’s journey ends in death; be at peace with yourself and accept your mortality.

The author encourages each of us to strive for optimism and look for pleasure and joy in your daily life; cultivate feelings of gratitude, meditate and don’t forget to laugh.

Live in a healthy environment by surrounding yourself with people you love and trust, and who love you; find a degree of calm, listen to your heart and eat anti-cancer meals.

Thinking of the masses, his contribution to science and honest wisdom, Servan-Schreiber’s work is a gift that continues to give, long past his time on earth. May he forever rest in peace.

[Esly Regina Carvalho · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a few weeks after the author passed away which made it especially poignant reading. He is concise, clear and reflective upon his life and his work. I might read it again, especially since I heard him a few times in public and he was a warm, funny and caring human being.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Servan-Schreiber's earlier book, Anticancer, described his brain tumor diagnosis and the changes he made to his life to promote survival, health and well-being. It was a powerful book and became an international bestseller. As a successful neuroscientist and physician he became in high demand as a speaker at medical conferences and universities around the world. He threw himself into promoting his book, his research and medical practice at the expense of his own health, traveling internationally at least once a month and throughout Europe in between.

In this short, sad memoir written 20 years after his first diagnosis he admits to not following his own advice. While he maintained the diet, exercise, yoga and meditation, he worked and traveled to the point of exhaustion subjecting himself to uncountable time zones even though he knew it was detrimental to his immune system. Shortly before his final cancer recurrence was diagnosed, he was literally fainting in airports and falling down during interviews, so great was his exhaustion. And yet he pressed forward never wanting to cancel an engagement.

I don't pretend to understand that mindset given that he was a husband and father to three children, two of whom were just babies when he died. It seems selfish and irresponsible. That said, he died feeling like his work and published papers and books had made a significant difference in the world of cancer medicine. He felt good about that.

With his final book, he continues to teach us with gentle words - what not to do.

[Dr. Anushka · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of resilience. A story of a doctor-turned-patient who refused to go down without giving his best fight. It's an account of a doctor who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour quite early in his life. He educated people about cancer post his surgery and recovery. He wrote a book titled 'Anticancer' which talks about diet and lifestyle modifications to prevent cancer. Years later, he had a major relapse and he questioned all his understanding of the disease and credibility of the material he provided to the world on the same. The answers to these questions that he asked himself in the final days of his life are very enlightening. Apart from his journey, this book also talks about a lot of concepts- eco-medicine, integrated medicine, death as ultimate truth, stress and diseases, inner calm, made-to-measure vaccine, successful death experience etc. It's author's most personal book. He lost his battle to cancer just 2 months after finishing this one. Sometimes the whole concept of language, writing, books, anything which can record an era or a particular experience appear no less than magic to me as you get to know a lot of these brave stories which otherwise we would have lost. Books keep them alive no matter how fair or unfair life has been to them. As the last two lines of blurb put it- This is a story about dying. But, most of all, it is a story about living.

"If I have to stop laughing just because I have cancer, then I'm dead already."

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author of a best selling book called “Anti Cancer” gets brain cancer and ultimately dies after many, many years. Does this sound contradictory? No. Simply because eating healthy, exercising and reducing stress won’t “cure” or “stop cancer however it will definitely help a person to fight it, minimize the side effects and start treatment with a much stronger body. I never read his first book however I speak from experience since someone i know lead a very healthy life style and ended up getting cancer as well. The fact that he was in top shape when starting his rigorous treatment made all the difference. This particular book didn’t seem to offer any lightbulb moments as much of what he offered has already been said however I know it was important for him to write it.

[Sagar J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few takeaways for me from this wonderful book:

* Anything that enhances life also strengthens the life-force within us.

*The presence of friends & family is just so vital.

*Heal our planet and we will heal ourselves.

*You can learn to be brave.

* It's a great privilege to be able to prepare your departure.

*When we loose someone close to us, a person whom we've loved, something of what they have bestowed on us continues to live within us & inspire us.

* This goodbye will not be the last. We can say goodbye many times.

At the end, This book is a precious gift to hold in our hearts, so that from time to time, we can draw from it some of the strength necessary to confront life.

Great Respect for Dr. David Servan-schreiber

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Touching but pragmatic, the writer looks at his own mortality as his brain cancer's recurrence signals a certain death. The author of a book about conquering cancer faces particular challenges when all methods have failed, but Schreiber sticks to his guns and adds some advice to those on his path. That would be all of us, although we do not necessarily know, as he did, how death will make its final visit.

A kind hearted book full of encouragement for living well here, and it is intimated, in the hereafter.

[Nastasya Poney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relativement déçue par cet ouvrage... Je cherchais un moyen d'oublier "Lettre à D." d'André Gorz, une lettre de l'auteur à sa compagne, malade.
Pour chacun de ces livres, je m'attendais à un témoignage vibrant de tendresse.. et j'ai été à chaque fois déçue. Encore plus pour David Servan-Schreiber qu'André Gorz.
Peut-être n'ai-je pas compris le véritable enjeu de ces ouvrages, mais les auteurs passent bien plus de temps à parler d'eux-mêmes, de leur travail, de ce qu'ils souhaitent laisser derrière eux que des personnes qu'ils aiment et auxquelles, pourtant, ils prétendent dire au revoir.

[Roksana Stelmach · Rating 1 out of 5]

"książka ciężka, wzruszająca" - nie.. być może jest to związane z moimi doświadczeniami z osobą chorą. Ksiażka traktuje jako gorzkie żale autora które żalami mają nie być. Do tego ozdobione naukami jak się nie poddawać i że trzeba być silnym, a to wszystko promujące inne książki autora. Książka ciężka? Tak, ciężko było do niej siadać i się z nią męczyć czekając że może coś się rozwinie. Wzruszająca? Ani pół łezki czy wzruszenia. Niemniej nie odbieram autorowi szacunku za walkę do samego końca.

[Judicael Deguergue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding out after 20 years of remission that your cancer is back, much bigger, much stronger, and still using it as a motor of inspiration and creation.
What a powerful short book, light and bright. David gives us more than just a touching testimonial, but also solution for a better life in community. As he says, no one can live healthy on a sick Planet. To heal ourselves we must heal our system, our ecology, our politics.

[true_north_destiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka wielokrotnie nakłania nas do refleksji , wywołuje łzy i przynajmniej w moim przypadku wspomnienia . Żałuje że natrafiłam na nią dopiero teraz , bo bardzo przydałaby mi się 4 lata temu kiedy to choroba zabrała mi kogoś bliskiego. Cieszę się , że przynajmniej teraz mogłam ją przeczytać. Czy można żegnać się wiele razy ? Można , ale najważniejsze aby mieć szansę na choćby ten jeden raz

[G. Babu]

മുപ്പതാം വയസ്സില്‍ സ്വന്തം എം.ആര്‍.ഐ മെഷീനില്‍ ബ്രെയിന്‍ ട്യൂമര്‍ കണ്ടെത്തിയ ഒരു ഡോക്ടറുടെ ജീവിതകഥ.
ഇരുപതു വര്‍ഷത്തോളം ക്യാന്‍സറിനോടു ആത്മധൈര്യത്തോടെ പടപൊരുതുകയും രോഗത്തിനെക്കുറിച്ച് ജനങ്ങള്‍ക്കിടയില്‍ അവബോധമുണ്ടാക്കുകയും ചെയ്ത അദ്ദേഹം മരണത്തിലേക്ക് വഴുതി വീണപ്പോള്‍ ആസ്വദിച്ചിരുന്നത് ബീഥേവന്റെ സിംഫണി ആയിരുന്നു.

മലയാള പരിഭാഷ : ധൈര്യത്തിന്റെ പാഠങ്ങൾ

[nicola lavender · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt sad reading this ,having read anticancer I wanted to read the other books and sign up for emails and podcast to discover the news of his death. The writing of this book seems to have a tinch of sadness to it also he knew he might not make it but still he wrote in an unbiased informative manner. Going to read the other books he wrote also now

[Ellie Starks (Morton) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was expecting to enjoy this book more than I did. Thought it would be similar to Paul Kalinthi’s when breath becomes air but it felt more of the authors personal diary about how much he’d achieved in life than anything else.
I’m sure it’s an excellent book for his family to keep though. RIP Dr Servan-Schreiber.

[Oana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved this book so much. Such a strong, lucid, honest, bright, loving person. I can only dream to be able to become as serein in such a challenging situation. I'm so grateful to have found this book and I recommend it from all my heart to every single person.

[Paky · Rating 4 out of 5]

El autor comparte con nosotros como se enfrenta a esa muerte que sentía ya cercana. El libro es una serena reflexión de vida, un texto personal, breve pero intenso. Una despedida que ayudará a muchas personas, y que escribió sólo ocho semanas antes de su fallecimiento.

[Joris Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Persoonlijk, open boek mooie inzichten over geneeskunde in de breedste zin en persoonlijke ontwikkeling en ervaring

[Sarah Logan-Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad but beautiful

[Ale Sandoval Tress]

https://bibliobulimica.wordpress.com/...

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who's experience grief & loss as a result of cancer.

[Lucy Caruana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book.
Beautifully written.