HELP!
I’VE GOT CANCER
By Hannah Stone
Day One. 57 pages. £2.50
ISBN 978 1 846 256 257
Sometimes lovely things come in small packages. This little booklet in the Day One ‘Help!’ series takes less than an hour to read but is packed with good and godly advice.
Hannah Stone was 20 when she was told she was terminally ill. A rare tumour was growing in the worst possible place (behind her nose) and was not responding to radiotherapy. Hannah’s observations are sensible: ‘there are going to be a lot of appointments’, reassuring: ‘chemo nurses put needles in people day in, day out, so they know the tricks’, and heart-warming: ‘God is bigger than tablets’.
Helpful tips
Hannah talks about bucket-lists and losing your hair. She has helpful tips like keeping a dedicated notebook to take to clinics, but her focus always returns to the throne of grace. I especially liked her patience with people who trot out clichés or say unhelpful things: ‘the one who understands best is the Lord’. What difficult days are faced by those with a cancer diagnosis. There are implications for every area of life, including the financial. To this end there is an appendix of useful charities and further reading.
When it was decided that the persisting tumour was actually scar tissue and she was not going to die after all, Hannah fell into a deep depression. I love her honesty about this: ‘I haven’t yet worked out how to deal with my depression, so I’m not qualified to offer any advice.’ Don’t worry, Hannah, your testimony will encourage and strengthen others treading the same path.
