Notes Left Behind
135 Days with Elena
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"Elena has left behind a story of resilience, hope and most of all, love. We can't help but take her into our hearts, and carry the best of her into our own lives."- Jeffrey Zaslow, Co-Author, The Last Lecture
Elena dreamed of becoming a teacher. Although her time on this earth was far too short to fulfill her dream, she left behind an enlightening lesson on life. Elena taught those around her to appreciate the miracle of everyday living even as the six-year-old battled brain cancer. through journal entries written as a remembrance for Elena's younger sister, Brooke and Keith Desserich share their emotional journey as they negotiate their contradictory impulses to fight Elena's cancer at all costs and realize the inevitable outcome. the journal is a reminder to parents to appreciate every precious moment they have with their children.Included in this book are the private messages that Elena secretly hid around her home, knowing her family would find them when she was gone. these notes show us how even during the darker moments of life, it is possible to find hope and encouragement through selfless love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Cincinnati couple bravely and lovingly recorded the last months of their six-year-old daughter's life after she was handed the devastating prognosis of terminal brain cancer. A trip to the doctor's office to treat Elena's strep throat resulted in an MRI that revealed a large tumor lodged within the walls of Elena's brain stem "in the worst place with one of the worst tumors out there." The kindergartener, who also had a younger sister, Grace, was given three to six months to live. A miracle was what the family hoped for, traveling to Memphis for six weeks of an experimental treatment involving intensive radiation, chemotherapy and tests; already Elena's speech, mobility and ability to eat had been affected, symptoms of the tumor's progression that would recede and recur over the next several months. The parents kept this diary from November 29, the beginning of their daughter's treatment, until her death August 11, "Day 256," written in alternating POVs (mostly Keith's; Brooke's is rendered in italics), even recording some of Elena's own musings, such as that all she wanted was to be "normal." The parents remained resolute in her treatment, even upbeat despite the anger Keith felt at the "unfairness" of this disease. Instead of planning their daughter's future, the Desseriches sadly found themselves "counting days." This heartbreakingly forthright journal helped the authors push back that "second-worst day" when the memory of their daughter would be forgotten.
