I just finished reading Curveball: When Life Throws You a Brain Tumor by Liz Holzemer. And while it’s been out for a while, it was as fresh and relevant to me as any memoir I’ve read this year.
There’s good reason for that: Ms. Holzemer is a professional writer and journalist, and the book reads like it was written by a professional.
I liked how she deftly leverages the fact that her husband was a professional baseball player. Why is that important? First, she knits his postings to various clubs into the narrative, which provides important context for several developments. And, secondly, she weaves a series of baseball quotes/sayings/insights into her story that are remarkably relevant to their journey. For me, the quotes alone were worth the price of the book.
I don’t know of anybody who’s had meningioma who hasn’t had significant hurdles along the way. She explains those bumps with all the appropriate emotions that one experiences when your expectations of good health, or straight-forward recovery, goes awry.
I also have a soft spot for anybody who “gives back” to the community. Through the non-profit she created, Meningioma Mommas, Ms. Holzemer has done more than her fair share.
Perhaps most importantly, she has a nifty section in the back of her book that she calls “Liz’s Brain Tumor Manuals Defined.” Basically it’s a brain tumor survival guide that she wishes she had when she first learned that she had a brain tumor. If you know somebody that’s just learned that they have a meningioma brain tumor, start them at this section.
You may need to order her book through Amazon as I couldn’t find it in my local library, so here’s a link to it: http://www.amazon.com/Curveball-When-Throws-Brain-Tumor/dp/0978945670/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334179675&sr=8-1
And here’s a link to Meningioma Mommas: http://meningiomamommas.com/
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