Fatal to Fearless: 12 Steps to Beating Cancer in a Broken Medical System

In this competent debut guide, Giusti, a former pharmaceutical executive and founder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, recounts her experience with cancer to dispense advice about navigating the U.S. healthcare system. In the late 1990s, doctors told 37-year-old Giusti she had multiple myeloma and only three years to live. The disease went into remission after years of grueling treatments, but in 2022, Giusti was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Woven into Giusti’s recovery story is a 12-step program for how cancer patients can take control of their medical care. For instance, she expounds on how to build the right medical team, telling how she fired a doctor for showing up to her appointment unprepared and recommending that readers find a “lead” doctor at a research institution to direct treatment while an “execution” doctor oversees its administration. Giusti’s personal reflections are frequently heartwarming (after she told her four-year-old son she had cancer, he replied, “Mom, you got this! Can I have an ice cream sandwich?”), and the advice is solid if occasionally surface-level (the recommendation to “establish what you will need” before starting treatment includes suggestions to create a budget and identify financial assistance programs without detailing how to do so). Still, it’s a worthwhile resource for readers looking for guidance after a cancer diagnosis. Agent: David Black, David Black Literary. (Feb.)