Changing Normal
How I Helped My Husband Beat Cancer
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
New York Times bestselling author, memory expert, radio host, and beloved actor Marilu Henner delivers an intimate account of how she and her husband stood together in the face of cancer and triumphed—without chemotherapy or radiation.
Marilu Henner was moving on with her life after a divorce when her old college classmate Michael Brown, whom she had not seen in over twenty years, called her out of nowhere. Within days of their first meeting in 2003, they were planning a life together, and soon they were inseparable as Michael became ever more integrated into Marilu’s family. But after only months they were thrown the ultimate curveball: Michael was diagnosed with bladder cancer, and then lung cancer.
Marilu refused to lose the love of her life so easily. With the knowledge she had gained on her own health journey, chronicled in several of her bestselling books, Marilu set about finding a path for Michael that would use the best of Eastern and Western medicine to beat his cancers and return Michael to optimal health. Michael eschewed most traditional treatments and with Marilu’s help—aided by knowledgeable and sympathetic doctors—he forged his own path.
In this moving and informative book, Marilu tells the story of their fast-paced romance and how this contrasted with the day-to-day battle for Michael’s life. Michael tells the story from his point of view: the search for the cause of his cancer, the mental anguish he felt as he realized how responsible he was for his condition, the physical and mental hardships that he had to overcome, and the triumph of love that made it all worthwhile.
Not a “how-to” book in the traditional sense, Changing Normal is a book of empowerment, a call for all those facing similar challenges to take responsibility for their lives, to search for the causes of their illness and address them directly. Written with an engaging voice, a sense of humor, and life-changing wisdom, Changing Normal is a personal and touching look at how Marilu and Michael faced down a cancer diagnosis and came out the other side happier, healthier, and more in love than ever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Actress Henner's (Wear Your Life Well) thoroughly entertaining mix of autobiography and self-help book, cowritten with Brown, her husband, engages readers from the first page. After a series of failed relationships, Henner and Brown picked up their relationship several decades after they first met as students at the University of Chicago while Brown was dating a friend of Henner's. A few months later, Brown was diagnosed with bladder cancer, and then with lung cancer but after all of those years, Henner wasn't about to lose the love of her life. Having seen the light about healthy living in the late 1970s, Henner began by weaning Brown off of his unhealthy lifestyle. The couple went on to choose a course of treatment for him that emphasized immunotherapy, and ended with his cancers in remission. Henner and Brown don't hold back about the mistakes they've each made along the way, choosing instead to embrace them as learning experiences. Their frank, engaging style offers hope to others with similar diagnoses, along with a behind-the-scenes look at a beloved actress.