Review
'If anyone is in any doubt of the need to take a more patient-centred approach to dealing with patients then they should read this.' -- Dr Eric Watts, The Bulletin of The Royal College of Pathologists, Number 144 - October 2008.
'Essential reading for all who deal with cancer patients...politicians, health service developers...carers and patients - will surely inspire change.' --Professor Karol Sikora, in his foreword.
'I could barely put it down. I even stopped reading Testament of Youth (Vera Brittain)to fit in!'
--Dr John Nottingham, personal communication, April 2009.
'...it was a bit of a departure to find myself sitting up in bed one night almost unable to put down 'Nothing Personal'...I left 'Testament of Youth' languishing on the floor to read this book; a fitting tribute to a powerful piece written by another feisty lady who takes on the medics in the same way that Vera Brittain took on the Establishment...In short, this is a cracking read. This book has just won first prize from the Medical Journalists' Association, deservedly so. I too wholeheartedly recommend you read it, whether or not you see patients. ..It ought to be required reading for all doctors, medical students, hospital executives, and everyone who believes in patient partnership... it is an uplifting celebration of life...a tale of someone finding the time and energy to fight everyone else's corner as well. Good on you, Mitzi.' --Dr John Nottingham, ACP News, summer 2009
'This is a beautifully written book, styled in a natural mix of prose, poetry and discussion points, which provides a rare insight into the thoughts of someone who can express their innermost perceptions and feelings...The most important lesson for me is that we need to continually develop and improve our understanding and skills of how to communicate better, more honestly and with real regard for our patients' intelligence and dignity. This remarkable book...should be on the essential reading list for those striving to improve the quality of care for cancer and to understand and improve the experience of their patients more generally.'
--Professor A Niroshan Siriwardena, Quality in Primary Care 2009;17.
Product Description
''Both judges confessed that they were not usually enthusiastic about personal accounts of illness, as most were effectively a single case history. However, Blennerhassett' s book was the exception. It identified so many deficiencies in cancer care and in particular the difficulties medical and other staff had in communicating with patients and understanding their needs. This is a book, not just for the general reader, but for every doctor, medical student and nurse to read, whatever their role in the care of all patients. It is a tribute to her that the book is not a bit miserable or depressing, but funny poignant, thought-provoking and, above all, a wonderful read.' MJA Newsletter, April/May 2009.
From the Author
'Both judges confessed that they were not usually enthusiastic about personal accounts of illness, as most were effectively a single case history. However, Blennerhassett' s book was the exception. It identified so many deficiencies in cancer care and in particular the difficulties medical and other staff had in communicating with patients and understanding their needs. This is a book, not just for the general reader, but for every doctor, medical student and nurse to read, whatever their role in the care of all patients. It is a tribute to her that the book is not a bit miserable or depressing, but funny poignant, thought-provoking and, above all, a wonderful read.' MJA Newsletter, April/May 2009.
At the Award ceremony in Blackwell's bookshop, Charing Cross Road, London, they pronounced it 'unputdownable!' What more could an author want? It was my seventieth birthday. Suddenly, the bleakness of old age transformed into opportunity!
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Cancer Country
How was it for me in Cancer Country?
Well, who'd want to know? And whatever for?
It's all been written many times over
What a bore
But while the theme tune sounds familiar
Everyone has a different score
A lone gull makes its way across the sky, battling against the wind. Unremarkable enough, yet it's enough to whisk me back through time. Along with certain words and phrases, this bird has assumed a particular significance in my life with the power to endure through seventeen years; to mock my defences; to open old wounds.
The day that brown envelope dropped through the letter-box was similarly unremarkable, but it was the butterfly that would create a tornado. True, my stomach tightened as I read the hospital letter, but that was to be expected. I was on unfamiliar ground. But there were no warning bells as I noted down the appointment in my diary. No omens. No `signs of ill portent'. Not a black raven in sight! Yet it heralded the most momentous event in my life. Soon, a spattering of red-ringed reminders would deface the calendar, prophetically resembling red-rimmed eyes. The world would tilt, a chasm would open and for a moment time would stand still. There would be mind-battering aftershocks; life-shattering changes. Memories would become re-categorised `before' or `after'. And a year that should have been ordinary would become a milestone, a memory gauge more powerful than birthdays, marriages or deaths.
You'd have thought the gods might at least have given me a hint of what was to come.
