A Sight Worth Feeling

A Memoir Born out of Narrative: I know what you’re thinking; Oh please, not another cancer story! Well, it’s not exactly. Yes, one of my biggest fears in life became a reality when I discovered I had an aggressive, invasive, rare cancer in part of my eye. And, that being misdiagnosed for eight months, by one of the best, probably changed the playing field for me as far as the chances of losing my eye or worse, parts of my head, i.e. sinuses and brain. Yes, there’s that. But these factors are just the fringe of the story. The crux is where my mind goes as I face every mega-challenge presented during a marathon of treatments and moments of uncertainty and anxiety.
This is a story within a story and it’s about managing the hand we've been dealt in the only way we know how. Without any control and at unexpected moments during my sixteen-month ordeal, I travel in my own virtual time machine back to my very first recall of seven of my twenty-five first generation Italian aunts and uncles. For the record, one was a self-described Heinz-57 and only Italian by marriage. I visit the days that I spent with each of them, unaware that they were teaching me lessons that were preparing me for what I would face in the future. These people, I affectionately refer to as the other parents, rescued me early on from my deeply dysfunctional family. They were my safe harbor from my sometimes-a-lady’s man, “Hey Bud, I’ll have another boiler maker” father and my forever searching, but never finding, emotionally tormented mother.
I share some outrageously, funny stories involving me and my family going back to a time when life was much simpler. And, just to make sure we weren’t having too much fun, fate dealt us our fair share of heartbreaking moments. The book would be a fantasy if I did not include those memories.
As far as the medical component, A Sight Worth Feeling offers some insight (no pun intended) about cancer in general, and I hope it can help others who are faced with a similar circumstance.