ROUND THE TWIST

Febre offers a memoir of surviving colorectal cancer and its aftermath.

In her first book, the author—a musician, yogi, and mentor with the California-based Colorectal Cancer Alliance—describes many aspects of her journey with stage 4 colorectal cancer, emphasizing the specific experience of getting this type of cancer at the relatively young age of 47. She begins with an account of a colostomy that was a necessary part of the treatment, and how she learned to live with it. Febre then takes readers through surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, as well as her feelings about each. In addressing the effects of chemotherapy, she debunks some common assumptions about hair loss (noting, for example, that it doesn’t happen to every cancer patient). She includes her own take on head-shaving, including when to begin and when to stop. Febre is also unsparing in her descriptions of the other effects of chemotherapy and the use of steroids, including personality changes and cold sensitivity, which can affect food intake and induce nausea. The author discusses blogging about her condition during her treatment, as well as its limitations. Throughout, Febre maintains a sense of optimism, reflected in her determination to survive, but beyond emphasizing the role of good health habits, she doesn’t offer the inspirational lessons that are common in cancer memoirs. She effectively acknowledges various biases in the medical system and the limitations of prior fitness when undergoing treatment. In places, she also acknowledges the difficulties that younger cancer patients face as the average age for cancer diagnosis moves downward. Overall, readers will come away with a sense of the author’s gratitude, though she insightfully notes that, in some ways, she remains the same person she was before her ordeal. The book also includes appendices about cancer care and full-color photos of Febre and her loved ones.

An engaging and unsentimental remembrance of fighting illness.