Healing Lessons

by Sidney J. Winawer, Nick Taylor

Dr. Sidney Winawer, chief of gastroenterology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, thought he was being paged. "Winawer. Winawer," a voice called. But it wasn't the hospital's paging system that was beckoning him; it was an intake nurse, calling to admit his wife, Andrea, for her surgery for metastatic stomach cancer.

While Winawer had treated thousands of cancer patients before his wife became ill, seeing Andrea wearing a shapeless, flimsy hospital gown shocks him; how could the hospital make someone wear something that unflattering? From the invasiveness of endoscopies to the brutal side effects of chemotherapy, the treatments he administered day after day horrify him when he's forced to examine them from his new perspective. After the surgery to remove her tumor, Andrea's grim prognosis--six months to live, given that the cancer has spread to her liver--leaves him powerless and embarrassed. One of the world's preeminent cancer experts, a man who admits he entered medicine mainly for the power it provides, won't be able to save the life of his own wife.

The story gains momentum when Andrea seeks out alternative medical treatments. With hyperthermia treatments in Wisconsin and interferon shots in Atlanta, her condition starts to improve. Of course, the Winawers' access to medical care at Sloan-Kettering and the awe that Sidney commands from his peers and other doctors around the country assure them immediate appointments; they also have full access to the stacks of research papers at Memorial's medical library. Their wealth allows them to even ship tumor tissue samples on dry ice to a doctor in Bern, Switzerland, to check for somatostatin receptors, a test that becomes key in their approach to her treatment. And Andrea, who never returned to work after the birth of their children and who has the luxury of a housekeeper, fortunately has the time to delve into books on meditation and the mind-body connection by Dr. Bernie Siegel and Dr. Lawrence LeShan.

Despite the Winawers' advantages over most other cancer sufferers, Andrea's condition eventually worsens during the following years. As she desperately resorts to supplements of vitamins and coenzyme Q-10, coffee enemas, then 10 different kinds of chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant, we see the family alternately falling apart and coming together. The ultimate triumph of the book is Andrea's wonderfully willful spirit. While its intricacies will be of most interest to those directly affected by cancer, the Winawers' poignant story will thoroughly move anyone looking for inspiration. --Erica Jorgensen

Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

Reviews

[ásya p · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book accurately portrays what true love should be and what it looks like. It explores the confusing realities and undeniable certainties of what the future holds for you and emphasizes the importance of being prepared to let go when the time comes.

Rest In Peace, Andrea.

"I believe that Andrea achieved this inner peace. She was at peace with herself. She felt that her mission in life was to come on to this earth and to have three wonderful children and experience love with them and with me and to experience love herself and to give to the family. She felt she did this. She felt she accomplished her mission in life. In the end she said she would not trade her place with anyone. She was not envious of anyone. She was at peace. Yes, she wanted more time, but for herself, not to become anyone else.

In the end it was love that was the most important thing for her. She felt that and I felt that. Without love there is nothing. Love for another, love for the present, for the moment, love for ourselves and our mission. The experience of love is forever. We all want it to last forever. For Andrea and me, it was a feeling that came from a place of existence that is timeless. It is a feeling that will go on timelessly forever, no matter what physical and spiritual state we are in. We can only journey to other realms of existence from a place of knowing who we are and with love for each other. With love, we can never be separated."

[Rachel]

Read in 1999; my review from then: A doctor's wife gets cancer, and he gets to see the other side of his usual doctor's perspective. He learns a lot. Very readable.

[Ruzzo]

dolce è la tua voce (titolo italiano)