LIVING

Stewart’s cancer diagnosis prompts a reflective memoir filled with advice for his children.

After years of trying unsuccessfully to donate his kidney, the author was finally accepted as a live donor by Duke University in July 2022; he needed just one more CT scan to make sure that he had two functioning kidneys. That was when the transplant team informed him that he had two small cancers, one in his kidney and the other around his small intestines. Stewart was told it would require one operation performed by two surgeons to remove the cancers, one for the kidney and the other for the gastrointestinal stromal tumor (a GIST). The surgeries were performed on the same day. The author is a healthy 50-year-old (except for the cancers, he adds jocularly), and the five-year survival odds were at an optimistic 97%…until the doctors discovered during surgery that the GIST was a more complicated tumor than what was expected. Next steps included chemotherapy and radiation. A healthcare consultant in the pharmaceutical industry (and a former Jeopardy! College Champion), Stewart understands all the numbers and scientific terminology. He is able to sort through, process, and skillfully communicate all the intricate details of his cancers, treatments, and associated side effects, which makes the narrative highly informative. There are more than a few tense moments as readers wait along with the author for the results of a test or a prognosis. But this is more than a book about cancer; despite some scientifically detailed sections that are challenging to read, the memoir is lighter in tone than most others in this genre, filled with humor and optimism. For Stewart, the glass is decidedly half-full. Many chapters devoted to guidance for his children are only one or two paragraphs in length, frequently witty as well as wise: “Inspiration # 74: Smart people read,” ironically follows “Inspiration # 73: You can’t learn to ride a bike by reading a book.” For Jeopardy! fans, there is also a delightful chapter on the making of a champion.

Complex and thoughtful, with a refreshingly upbeat attitude.