Changing Normal: One Couple. Two Cancers.

In her new book, “Changing Normal” Marilu Henner—(actress, author, wellness expert and radio host) tells the story of a mid-life romance and how love and an alternative diet and treatment has helped her to help her husband beat cancer.

It’s a story about alternative treatments for bladder and lung cancer, and a story primarily

about how to advocate for truly integrated medicine. Henner is known to many of us from the TV show “Taxi”. And in the book she is just as loveable and a lot fiercer about taking on the medical establishment.

When, early in their relationship, Michael is diagnosed and surgery is prescribed, Henner’s experience as a wellness advocate comes to play and pays off.

While interesting as a book about alternative care for cancer, the best of this book is about patient/caregiver partnership, and how a couple ideally teams up to fight for both wellness and their relationship. It is a book about how couples can create a powerful caregiving team, and present that strength to the medical establishment—to push for more—sometimes better-options. 

Mortality--Christopher Hitchens

The link below is to a terrific review of Christopher Hitchens last book, "Mortality". This appeared in today's Wall Street Journal. Hitchens, a prolific writer and critic, died last December at age 62 of esophageal cancer. All of his writing is important because he was one of our sharpest, smartest social critics and, because he kept writing all the way through his cancer to hours before his death.

As Henry Allen writes here, Hitchens was  a critic of cancer and of "battling cancer". "People don't have cancer: They are reported to be battling cancer--You don't hear that about long-term sufferers from heart disease or kidney failure." (I suspect it's because we still, on some level, blame people for those illnesses.)

Here's the review. Take a look. The book is available now.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444812704577605110400199868.html