Fatal to Fearless
12 Steps to Beating Cancer in a Broken Medical System
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
Now in paperback, an empowering, soul-baring personal account and guide from a two-time cancer survivor and healthcare disrupter that shows anyone how to deal with a frightening medical diagnosis in America today, providing the knowledge necessary to take ownership of personal wellbeing and maximize the chances of survival.
"Fatal to Fearless is a must-read for patients, caregivers, and practitioners alike seeking to understand how to best navigate the challenges of a cancer diagnosis." —Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, Chief Executive Officer, American Society of Clinical Oncology
More than twenty-five years ago, Kathryn Giusti was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at age thirty-seven and given three years to live. With a young child, a happy marriage, and a successful career, Giusti had too much to live for. An “impatient patient,” she overcame her fear and got to work, learning to advocate for her own care. This book is the result of all she’s learned about how to get the best outcome from America’s opaque and sometimes impossible-to-navigate healthcare system.
Fatal to Fearless tells the story of how Giusti took on the system and turned it to her advantage not once but twice when she was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. It is a crash course in surviving a grim diagnosis, organized around twelve simple steps, with practical tips for everything from how to build your healthcare team and learning which online sources to trust, to understanding the science and identifying which tests to ask for in the new genomic era and how to access the treatments and studies that could save your life.
At its center is a gripping personal story that reveals difficult, yet honest truths about illness, family, friendship, marriage, and the business of medicine. Giusti lays bare her soul as she walks you through the steps for handling any diagnosis and includes insights from medicine’s top insiders on the frontlines of physical and emotional healing and care.
Sick people deserve a fighting chance. Giusti’s mission to democratize medicine—and healthcare—has never been more imperative, or more urgent. Hopeful, wise, and packed with hard-won knowledge, this book gives you the concrete tools and inspiration to fear less and live more.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this competent debut guide, Giusti, a former pharmaceutical executive and founder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, recounts her experience with cancer to dispense advice about navigating the U.S. healthcare system. In the late 1990s, doctors told 37-year-old Giusti she had multiple myeloma and only three years to live. The disease went into remission after years of grueling treatments, but in 2022, Giusti was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Woven into Giusti's recovery story is a 12-step program for how cancer patients can take control of their medical care. For instance, she expounds on how to build the right medical team, telling how she fired a doctor for showing up to her appointment unprepared and recommending that readers find a "lead" doctor at a research institution to direct treatment while an "execution" doctor oversees its administration. Giusti's personal reflections are frequently heartwarming (after she told her four-year-old son she had cancer, he replied, "Mom, you got this! Can I have an ice cream sandwich?"), and the advice is solid if occasionally surface-level (the recommendation to "establish what you will need" before starting treatment includes suggestions to create a budget and identify financial assistance programs without detailing how to do so). Still, it's a worthwhile resource for readers looking for guidance after a cancer diagnosis.
