All in My Head
A memoir of life, love and patient power
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4.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
All In My Head is a memoir by a woman who in her early fifties received a life-shattering diagnosis. It is about her determined search for effective treatment, the birth of a campaign to get proper data and funding for research into glioblastoma (GBM), and finally her coming to terms with the knowledge that she has reached the end of the road.
Jessica Morris takes the reader on a whirlwind journey. How does an ordinary person who last studied biology aged sixteen negotiate with world-renowned doctors and surgeons about cutting-edge treatments she must decide between? How do you remain positive when the median statistics suggest you have only fourteen months to live? How instead do you cast those fears aside and bounce back?
All In My Head is much more than a book about GBM. It takes the reader into the life of a woman who when confronted by devastating news chooses to be strong. It is about fighting adversity with hope and finding reasons to be positive in the darkest moments.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Morris recounts how her life changed after being diagnosed with cancer in her affecting posthumous memoir. After having a seizure in 2016, Morris, who was in her early 50s, underwent an MRI that revealed she had glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer. Instead of succumbing to despair, Morris writes, she channeled her energy into getting better: she named her tumor TEF ("The Evil Fucker") and thought of herself as a matador who was playing "a psychological game of engagement and warfare." She details undergoing radiation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy treatments; starting a blog to share her experience ("I was surprised how liberating it was writing in my voice"); and developing an app called OurBrainBank, which offers resources and support for those with glioblastoma. (Morris died at home in June 2021.) The author is frank as she confronts the "lonely horror" of having a terminal illness and how she had to fight "to be free from my own flesh and blood," and her account is steeped in conviction: "I hope I've been able to show that while my brain is under attack, enough of it is still there to make its mark." Readers will be moved by this portrait of a fighter.
