The Last Lecture

Author: Randy Pausch
ISBN #: 978-1-4013-2325-7
Publisher:  Hyperion

Summary:
“A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.”

Curveball: When Life Throws you a Brain Tumour

Author:  Liz Holzemer
ISBN #: 0-9789456-7-0
Publisher: Ghost Road Press
 

Summary:
“Told with clarity and unwavering humor, this book is an inspirational and informative account of one woman’s battle for her life. (…) With practical information about meningioma and brain surgery, Curveball is a manual for people who face life-altering challenges and is also proof that one need not fight such battle alone” 

Anti Cancer: A New Way of Life

Author: David Servan-Schreiber (M.D., Ph.D.)
ISBN #: 978-1-55468-221-8
Publisher: Collins
 

Summary:
“Anticancer is the culmination of Servan-Schreiber’s experience in the field of cancer, as a doctor and as a patient. It is the personal story, the story of the cases he has encountered, and the medical and scientific story of the disease and its mechanisms”

Looking Good was Never my Problem

Steps for Living with Metastatic Cancers or Other Chronic Illnesses
Author:  Ellen M. Stahl
ISBN #: 1-4208-3445-2
Publisher:  Author House
 

Summary:
“In this book, Ellen shares her personal insights on living with her cancer, which is now more like a chronic illness. She offers simple steps to owning your illness, healing yourself, and living your life. Her practical advice combined with spiritual insights may be just what you need to live with your chronic illness.” 

Living and Dying with Dignity

A Daughter’s Journey Through Long-Term Care
Author:  Jennifer A. Jilks
ISBN #: 978-1-897508-11-4
Publisher: GSPH

Summary:
“Anyone who has aging parents will benefit from reading this account of the final stages of life. In the second half of the book, Jilks provides invaluable information on long-term care, networking with the medical community, the problems around caregiving, the signs of dementia, the dangers of polypharmacy, and much more”

Reflections from Bob

Author:  Robert (Bob) Aldersley
ISBN #: 978-1-897412-14-5
Publisher:  TriMatrix
 

Summary:
“I was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer in May 2004. These are reflections written by me over the last two years. I hope they will inspire you in reading them, as much as they did me in writing them.”

Death Can Wait: Stories from Survivors

Author:  Frank Hegyi, Roslyn Franken, Jacquelin Holzman, Max Keeping,
ISBN #: 978-1-897449-57-8
Publisher: Baico Publishing

I Had Brain Surgery, What’s Your Excuse: An Illustrated Memoir

Author:  Suzy Becker
ISBN #: 0-7611-2478-0
Publisher:  Workman Publishing

Summary:
“Suzy Becker’s I Had Brain Surgery, What’s Your Excuse? Is an irreverent, inspiring story of an artist overcoming a terrifying medical condition and reclaiming her funny bone. Illustrated with nearly 400 cartoons, charts, silly graphs, and an alter-ego super heroine named Augusta.”

Navigating Through A Strange Land

A Book for Brain Tumour Patients and Their Families; The Personal Stories of Patients, Families, and Health Care Providers, Resources for Treatment, Recovery and Support
Author:  Tricia Ann Roloff (Ed.)
ISBN #: 0-9641214-1-7
Publisher: Indigo Press

Summary:
“Brian tumours are unique because, unlike other cancers, they can affect the centers that control your thoughts, your emotions, and every aspect of your life, so you and your loved ones can learn of options, resources, assistance, and possible outcomes.”

A Deadly Intruder: My Fight Against Brain Cancer

Author:  Gilles Cayouette (Glioblastoma-Multiforme Grade IV Patient) & Toby Cayouette
ISBN #: N/A
Publisher: N/A

Summary:
“This memoir is a highly personal and emotionally uncensored account of coming to terms with terminal illness. A passionate testament of the will to live and to love, A Deadly Intruder chronicles Cayouette’s physical and psychological transformation following his brain cancer diagnosis, imparting heartfelt wisdom to those coping with a similar affliction.”

You Never Know: A Memoir

Author:  Romy Shiller, Ph.D.
ISBN #: 142513691-5
Publisher:  Trafford Publishing

Summary:
“Romy Shiller, a medical mystery, not only tells the story of her brain surgery, lengthy coma and Akinetic Mutism but she muses about reality, death, time, popular culture, psychic phenomena and dreams. Romy Shiller applies her previous interest and scholarly work on the body to her new physical reality. Her positive attitude and unique philosophy are truly inspirational.”

The Ride of My Life

Author: Gerry Pencer
ISBN #: 1-55263-118-4
Publisher:  Key Porter Books

Summary:
“In the Ride of My Life, he examines, with humour, insight and an unfailing honesty, his life as one of Canada’s most successful businessmen. He also talks candidly about his commitment to his family and his struggle with cancer.”

How Linda Died

Author: Frank Davey
ISBN #: 1-55022-497-2
Publisher:  ECW Press

Summary:
“How Linda Died is Frank Davey’s powerful account of his wife’s decline and death from a brain tumour. What makes this book so special is the life-defining contrasts it records, often in a single breath. At once a shattering portrayal of one woman’s death and an obsessive record of one man’s self-interrogation amidst a welter of conflicting emotions.”

That’s Unacceptable

Surviving a Brain Tumour, My Personal Story
Author: Rebecca L. Libutti
ISBN #: N/A
Publisher: Krystal Publishing

No Such Thing as a Bad Day: A Memoir

Author:  Hamilton Jordan
ISBN #: 1-56352-578-X
Publisher: Longstreet Press

Summary:
“No Such Thing as a Bad Day weaves together Jordan’s reflections on his remarkable life rubbing elbows with history and his inspirational story of beating cancer. […]A startling first-hand account of recent American history and an inspirational guide for millions of cancer sufferers, this is an unforgettable read.”

An Acoustic What?

One Patient’s Acoustic Neuroma Journey
Author:  Yvonne Tommis
ISBN #: 978-0-9556848-0-7
Publisher: Seriol House

Summary:
“Just how did a mild-mannered, uncontroversial piano teacher become the first patient from the UK to cross the Atlantic to be treated by Dr Gil Lederman using Fractionated Stereostatic Radiosurgery?”

Mainstay for the Well Spouse of the Chronically Ill

A Moving Personal Account and A Companion Guide
Author:  Maggie Strong
ISBN #: 0-14-011978-7 
Publisher:  Penguin Books

Summary:
“Mainstay isn’t a book about dying; it’s about living with a chronically ill spouse. In the ten years since her husband was diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis, Maggie Strong has had to raise her family, manage her house and family finances, maintain her career, and safeguard her own emotional and physical needs”

The Faces of Brain Tumours

A Collection of Photographs and Stories by and about Brain Tumour Patients, Survivors, Families and Loved Ones

Year: 2005
Author: North American Brain Tumour Coalition
ISBN #: N/A
Publisher: North American Brain Tumour Coalition

Year: 2004
Author: North American Brain Tumour Coalition
ISBN #: N/A
Publisher: North American Brain Tumour Coalition

Year: 2003
Author: North American Brain Tumour Coalition
ISBN #: N/A
Publisher: North American Brain Tumour Coalition

My Stroke of Insight, A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey

Author: Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D
ISBN #: 978-0-670-02074-4
Publisher: Viking

Summary:
I was, by anyone’s standard, no longer normal.  In my own unique way, I had become severely mentally ill.  And I must say, there was both freedom and challenge for me in recognizing that our perception of the external world, and or relationship to it, is a product of our neurological circuitry.  For all those years of my life.  I really had been a figment of my own imagination!

Reversal: When a Therapist becomes a Patient

Author:  Eric Anthony Galvez DPT CSCS and Friends
ISBN #: 978-1-4502-2428-4
Publisher: iUniverse

Summary:
4 years of college.  31/2 years of grad school.  A 5-minute phone call from a doctor changed everything.  Eric was finally done with school and had everything going for him.  Young people aren’t supposed to get tumours, but he did:  A golf ball-sized brain tumour between the brain stem and the cerebellum.  Reversal:  When a Therapist Becomes a Patient is a complication of journal and personal blog entries by a single, young, active male physical therapist that was diagnosed with a brain tumour.  It chronicles his experiences when the tables were turned and he became a patient to the people he used to work with.  Follow his unique journey from the shocking diagnosis, the weeks before the surgery, the mysterious Radiation therapy, the lengthy rehab process, the struggles to find a new path in life, to his triumphant return to “normalcy”!  Essays are included from family and friends that describe their personal experiences with having a loved one face these monumental challenges

A Year of Living Generously

Author:  Lawrence Scanlan
ISBN #: 978-1-55365-416-2
Publisher:  Douglas & McIntyre

Summary:
A Year of Living Generously follows Lawrence Scanlan as he volunteers with twelve different charities, one for every month of the year.  As he rolls up his sleeves both close to home (a soup kitchen, a hospice drop-in, a First Nations high school) and far afield (building houses in the parishes of New Orleans, teaching journalism at a women’s radio station in Senegal, working in an HIV/AIDS shelter in Costa Rica), he gathers stores and insights while striving to answer big questions:  How do we bridge the ever widening gap between rich and poor?  In the face of human suffering, what-if anything- is our obligation?  The result is a personal and powerful exploration of generosity by one of Canada’s finest journalists.

Three Quotes from a Plumber

Author: Sally White
ISBN #: 987-0-8557-2395-8
Publisher: Michelle Anderson Publishing

Summary:
How a Second Opinion Changed the Life of a Woman with a Brain Tumour is the inspiring story of Sally White, wife and mother of two boys. The story explores the challenges with the medical profession and alternative therapies, and details the way she managed a lift threatening illness in the contest of family life with courage and the unwavering support of those around her.  After twelve months of repeated MRI scans and unenviable waiting, Sally decided it was time to make something happen

Life’s Mountains

Author:  Cheryl L. Broyles
ISBN #: 978-1-4363-3795-3
Publisher:  Xbrilis Corp

Summary:
Life’s Mountains climbs with Cheryl Broyles to the summit of California’s Mount Shasta and through the trial of “terminal” brain cancer.  Told she had only a year to live, Cheryl did everything she could to stay alive.  Four years later, still breathing, she and her husband Matt planned to climb Mount Shasta to celebrate her survivorship. 

Damn the Statistics, I Have a Life to Live!

Coping with a Brain Tumor - My Personal Story
Author:  H. Charles Wolf
ISBN #: 1-4107-8622-6
Publisher:  N/A

Summary:
“This book follows the personal experiences of Charles Wolf as he was diagnosed and treated for a glioblastoma multiforme grade IV brain tumour. He shares the experiences, thoughts and events from his first year as a survivor.”

Stella's Story

Fighting For Life Against A Malignant Brain Tumour
Author:  Kay Loveland
ISBN #: 0-595-31960-2
Publisher:  N/A

Summary:
“A guidebook for caregivers and patients as told through the almost-daily , immediate chronicle of experiences faced by a patient of a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and her partner and caregiver. This book offers a positive message about love, devotion, and fighting for life.”

How to Ride a Dragon

Women with Breast Cancer Tell Their Stories
Author:  Michelle Tocher
ISBN #: 978-1-55263-397-7
Publisher: N/A

Summary:
“How to Ride a Dragon is a beautifully crafted tapestry of mythology, fantasy, narative and first-hand human experience that tells the stories of 22 women, their families and friends, and their epic struggle coming to terms with cancer.”

Brain Surgeon

A Doctor's Inspiring Encounters with Mortality and Miracles
Author:  Keith Black, M.D.
ISBN #: 978-0-446-58109-7
Publisher: Arnold Mann

Summary:
“World-renowned neruo-surgeon Keith Black, M.D., invites readers to shadow his breathtaking journeys into the brain as he battles some of the deadliest and most feared tumours known to medical science. Along the way, he shares his unique insights about the inner workings of the brain, his unwavering optimism for the future of medicine, and the extraordinary stories of his patients.”

Love, Medicine & Miracles

Lessons Learned About Self-Healing From a Surgeon's Experience With Exceptional Patients
Author: Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.
ISBN #: 0-06-015496-9
Publisher: N/A

Summary:
“Unconditional love is the most powerful stimulant of the immune system. The truth is: love heals. Miracles do happen to exceptional patients every day - patients who have the courage to love, those who have the courage to work with their doctors to participate in and influence their own recovery.”

Oh! Canada

Author: Nicole Schoueri Abouhalka
ISBN: 978-9782477-0-66
Publisher: N/A
 

Summary:
"This collection and anecdotes, reflections and short fiction is the result of observations and experiences by a brain tumour survivor."