Joyfully Retired

Meet Carrie Host. She’s a young woman in her forties, happily married, with three children. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. The last thing she expected at this point in life was a diagnosis of cancer. But there she was, with her youngest child of ten months in her arms, down on the floor with a massive pain in her stomach. It is diagnosed as carcinoid cancer. That moment was life changing. That was 2003. I’m happy to report she’s still alive and going strong. Not all cancers kill us, physically, but they do have the power to change our lives. When I say “our lives” I mean all of us, those who suffer with the disease and those of us who have loved ones who are effected.

Carrie Host survived and went on to write the story of what it was like to go through that experience.

BETWEEN ME AND THE RIVER

Living Beyond Cancer: A Memoir

Carrie Host

Harlequin, 2009

Rating: B

Between Me and the River is more than a recitation of the diagnosis and the medical care given. Carrie Host tells the story of how this disease affected everyone – her family, her friends and her care givers.

This book was not written as a how-to or a self-help book. But for someone going through a life-threatening ailment there is great comfort in knowing or reading about someone who has also been there. That’s the value in reading this book.

I don’t know of many families who haven’t been touched by cancer or other life-threatening diseases. My family knows all too well the physical pain as well as the emotional pain that accompanies cancer. While the book is difficult to read, it is also comforting and even inspirational.

Meeting Carrie Host through this book was an excellent experience. She’s open and honest, tough, smart, a very good writer, has a good sense of humor, and is strong enough to know that you choose your attitude when it comes to facing adversity. Here’s a quote from the book that will let you see Carrie in her own words.

I’m still a woman. I’m a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend. And, I’m even better at being all of these than I was before. Above all, I’m an inspired soul. While I may look barren, or even nearly dead to some, I’m alive inside; I am a spirit, as is all of God’s nature. I can see by my museum trained eye that somewhere, on a microscopic level I am healing. Yes, I am.

Thanks to Lisa at Online Publicist for allowing me to participate in this book tour. Visit her website for a list of the other stops on the tour. You can also purchase copies of Between Me and the River at Amazon.