Love and Laughter in the Time of Chemotherapy

Pawagi shares a painfully honest and surprisingly funny account of her cancer treatments and the search for a stem cell donor who could save her life. After Pawagi—a judge, author (The Girl Who Hated Books), wife, and mother of two—was diagnosed with advanced and aggressive leukemia, she suddenly had to adjust to not being in control. Of her mutinying chromosomes, she writes, “I picture a kind of morbid square dance where partners peel off and join other partners they’re not supposed to join, while the fiddler, my body’s immune system, looks the other way and fiddles on obliviously.” Even pedestrian matters became permission-seeking nightmares, as when she had to get approval from two medical departments just to eat an ice pop: “My hematology team says it is up to the surgical team. The surgical team says ask the hematology team. It’s like having divorced parents and not knowing yet who is the soft touch.” Such wit runs through the book, but she also shares her moments of despair and fears of not living to dance at her kids’ weddings. Pawagi expertly walks the tightrope between humor and heartbreak. Readers will celebrate her return to health and take heart from it. (Oct.)