Double whammy
Subtitle: a story about beating an 'unbeatable cancer'
By: Rowan Bishop
Publisher: Renaissance Publishing
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Nelson
Language: eng
Number of pages: 126
ISBN-13: 9780994133410
Copyright date: 2016
Subjects: Correspondence; Health; Lymphatics; Cancer; Patients; Biography
Description: "This is a portrait of a family with their backs against the wall. It shines a spotlight on the impact of an "unbeatable" cancer on that family and their relationships and on their resilience in the face of hopelessness. Ultimately it is the story of their survival. In September 2013, out of the blue, Russell Bishop was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive cancer: DHL or Double Hit Lymphoma, a mutation of two lymphomas. It was stage 4B -- there is no Stage 5. Following radical surgery on his spine to remove a tumor that would have paralysed him from the chest down within 24 hours, he underwent a life-threatening series of chemotherapy treatments, none of which worked. Written by his wife Rowan, who herself contracted cancer soon after, "Double whammy" gives readers a glimpse of an internationally respected academic and family man. A man who was fit, who'd been a life long tramper and whose job often took him to many different parts of the world. When all hope was gone, he agreed to become Number Six, or in other words, the sixth person in the world to trial a new chemotherapy approach. It was so successful that it not only saved Russell's life so that he became part of medical history, but it is now saving many more -- and in doing so is beating the "unbeatable"." -- Back cover.