Recovering From Mortality: Essays From A Cancer Limbo Time

by Deborah Cumming

At the time that Deborah Cumming wrote Recovering from Mortality , she was living in a situation not widely recognized but shared by many people. She knew that she might die soon, yet she was not dying now. What is a person to think in this limbo time? How is a person to act? Rather than accept formulaic answers to these questions, she decided to discover her own path. She didn't want to pass on her answers to others; she didn't believe she knew universal answers. Nor was she interested in adding another story of a cancer patient who survived heroically or died movingly. She did want to commune with others in limbo, with people who might find it a lonely or mysterious condition. And she felt increasingly that she was talking about the human condition in general, for whether we acknowledge it or not, all our lives will end in the not-very-distant future. She felt she wanted to be in communication, not just with the dying, but with the living. This poignant collection of essays examines how we live our lives, in large and small ways. Friendship, family, neighbors, community-these help define who we are and Deborah Cumming writes about them with insight, and with heart.

Genres: Memoir

116 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2005

Reviews

[Mihana Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a person currently going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, this collection of essays resonated in many ways with me. It wasn't always the case that our experiences (mine and Cumming's) were the same or even all that similar. Rather, it was that I am familiar with being in the same season of life Cummings was in when she wrote many of these essays. The best evidence of this convergence for me was here:

"Cancer has taught me lessons that don't always coincide perfectly. That's life. The lessons of life--the lessons of cancer--don't always coincide perfectly...[C]ancer has taught me that I should spend my time in the ways that seem right to me."

Same girl, same. This is not a new lesson for me, but the urgency of the desires to do what I want to do, and not do the things I don't want to do, is certainly amped up by hearing the onc tell you: "You have cancer." Even when you already know this (as I did when the radiologist called me), hearing it said aloud--to me--amplified these desires.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book which addresses how Deborah Cumming managed to navigate her life post cancer diagnosis. "She knew that she might die soon, yet she was not dying now. What is a person to think about in this 'limbo' time".

There is very little in this book that portrays the physical aspects of the disease, instead there is a rich narration of how the mind responds to a life threatening disease. An honest account which stuns in both its simplicity and authenticity, these essays grapple with life and death matters with grace.