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Cancer Was Not a Gift & It Didn't Make Me a Better Person: A memoir about cancer as I know it

Nancy Stordahl

4.13 · Rating details · 40 ratings · 6 reviews

Are you weary of stories portraying cancer as merely a bump in the road, an experience to be grateful for or a chance for personal enlightenment? Nancy Stordahl shares about her breast cancer experience while intertwining memories about what it was like to be a caregiver for her mother who died from metastatic breast cancer. Originating from personal, unrestrained journal ...more

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Kindle Edition, 204 pages

Published December 21st 2015

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Average rating 4.13 ·

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· 40 ratings · 6 reviews

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Aug 04, 2020 Nancy Kuykendall rated it really liked it

Nancy Stordahl is very candid and honest in sharing her struggles, feelings, and emotions. She is brave and bold in her writing and certainly gives a clear view of the havoc cancer brings to a family and an individual life. Her honesty is brutal and sometimes ugly, but so is cancer. Since I have not walked in her shoes, I cannot agree or disagree with much of anything she writes. Each of us are unique. Until we face a serious issue or loss we might not know exactly how we will respond.

I have so Nancy Stordahl is very candid and honest in sharing her struggles, feelings, and emotions. She is brave and bold in her writing and certainly gives a clear view of the havoc cancer brings to a family and an individual life. Her honesty is brutal and sometimes ugly, but so is cancer. Since I have not walked in her shoes, I cannot agree or disagree with much of anything she writes. Each of us are unique. Until we face a serious issue or loss we might not know exactly how we will respond.

I have some things in common with Nancy. The small things are we share the same first nine and are both authors. I also have two sisters and one brother, though our birth orders are different. The bigger things are that my mother died thirty years ago this month from metastatic breast cancer. My brother died two weeks ago from liver cancer. Cancer has struck my family twice as well, but not me, so far. I live in North Dakota and am familiar with the areas she mentions. We have these things in common.

Since Nancy has siblings, it would be interesting to know how they saw and reacted to both their mother’s illness and death and Nancy’s cancer, but this isn’t their story. When my father authored a book after my mother’s death, most family members agreed we saw things differently than my dad. Our experiences and memories truly do differ for so many reasons. However, Nancy’s sharing from her own experience may help others who find themselves in the same situation she has faced. While I absolutely know my faith and relationship with God would make all the difference in how I would experience and deal with cancer, I also know I would experience many of the same emotions Nancy experienced during the time of her diagnoses and surgeries. We are merely human.

Some repetition in the writing was distracting. Curse words were common which some may not appreciate. Some may relate well to this story while others may feel it’s too negative.

Nancy Kuykendall, author of Our Daily Moments and more. ...more

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Mar 07, 2020 Alex rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, memoir

This feels like a book I'd read in school but actually enjoy. I've never had cancer, nor have I ever been close to someone who has / had it, so this was really the first up close and personal experience I had with it. I'm well aware of all the survivors who talk about it as an eye-opening experience, a gift that let them truly understand life and how precious it is, but I always thought it couldn't always be like that, and Nancy's here to tell me it isn't. We've only been getting one side of the ...more

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Aug 28, 2020 Amy Shainman rated it it was amazing

Raw, Honest, Authentic - MUST READ!
As a patient advocate for those with BRCA and other hereditary cancer syndromes, I personally appreciate Nancy's candor and complete transparency. Her writing is stellar; the book is captivating and on point. People who have a family history of cancer, BRCA gene mutation, or metastatic cancer diagnosis will absolutely appreciate the author's authenticity in this fantastic memoir. Must Read!
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Jun 22, 2021 Gogs Gagnon rated it it was amazing

Nancy's book, "Cancer Was Not a Gift & It Didn't Make Me a Better Person," is a raw and honest account of her breast cancer experience. Even though our cancers are different, I related to her story and found it incredibly insightful, validating, and helpful to my healing and recovery. I strongly recommend this book to anyone diagnosed with cancer or those curious about what it's like to face a cancer diagnosis and the range of emotions that follow. ...more

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Jan 22, 2020 Mary R Rosales rated it it was amazing

Difficult facts faced

Most books read by me lead away from life reality. This steps through the door onto the floor of corridors where cancer treatment changes life.

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Feb 14, 2020 Barbara rated it did not like it

A lot of repetition

I didn’t like all the repetition throughout the book.
It was somewhat boring due to this.
Parts of it was interesting.
I wish the Author a healthy Future.

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