You might have already seen that our book, Diagnosed – Inspirational Stories After an Alarming Medical Diagnosis, is now available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble as well as Apple Books. I must admit that is very cool, and inspirational, seeing a book that has been a labor of love for seven months become available to the public.
It is so cool when lifelong dreams come true. I started writing in high school as the Editorial Editor for our high school paper.
I always wanted to write a book. Being married to the person who has edited everything I’ve written for almost 20 years - and who fixed what I wrote to make it more interesting as well as grammatically correct – is a plus.
I always thought I was a good writer. When I met Mary Kay, and she started editing what I wrote, I quickly learned that I really wasn’t good at all. God gave me the ability to be very creative. I would share an article with MK. She’d read it and give that look that perhaps I should start from scratch. Or she’d fix what I wrote and give it to me asking me if I noticed all the changes she made.
I never did! Quickly I learned to NEVER edit my own stuff.
It took a lung cancer diagnosis to give me the impetus to actually write a book. Every morning I’d get up at least an hour before MK and start writing about my thoughts, my fears, my prayers, or my memories about whatever. I hoped to share what it is like to get a terrible diagnosis with others who might get a similar diagnosis.
I wasn’t a smoker. Never had second-hand smoke around me. Yet, I was diagnosed with lung cancer.
40 days after my diagnosis and a couple weeks after the biopsy we got the news that I was cancer free. The mass in my lung wasn’t cancerous. 76 days after my diagnosis a CT scan showed the mass was breaking up.
On day 70, January 11th, something woke me telling me the book shouldn’t be about me. It needed to be about others. A couple hours later I put something on Facebook saying,
I’ve been writing a book for the last two months and am to the point where I want to interview others who have faced cancer or other life-threatening challenges . . . or have a close relative who faced this. The book is about having patience, going through the process of working with doctors, and providing support. If you would like me to include your story, please send me a private message on Facebook. Thanks.
By 10 p.m. we had over 20 potential stories. Within a few days we had 26 stories. 24 from people who survived their life-threatening challenge. Included are several types of cancer, including a 4-year-old boy now 19, a 15-year-old teenager, now 21 and an 83-year-old grandma. A paraplegic crashed his bicycle and broke every bone in his face as well as his neck.
Two people were featured on how they lived their life after their diagnosis and before they died. One was my best friend who had pancreatic cancer. The other was Mary Kay’s brother who died from ALS.
These are the most inspirational stories I’ve ever read in my life.
We also included my 76 days of journaling in the 256-page book. What started out as a book about me has fulfilled the message I received on January 11th. A book about others.
When Mary Kay and I got home from a trip the other night we went to Amazon to check on how long it takes to get the book to discover a 5-Star review on the book from someone we don’t even know.
One in two women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lives. One in three men. No one in my family has ever had cancer. Our men just died of heart attacks. Now I know more about cancer than I ever imagined.
Our goal with this book is to let people know that a terrible diagnosis isn’t a death sentence. More importantly, readers will learn about the power of prayer. How having a personal relationship with the Lord has made a difference for so many people featured in this book. You’ll learn what is important as a friend, or caregiver, from the patients’ perspective.
In the next couple days, all of us will hear a story about someone who had a terrible diagnosis. Let them know there is a book out there that just might help them, and you,
