Thursday, November 12, 2009

@tillieblitz

i posted this in response to someone else's post on another blog:

@tillieblitz
These books were given to me in much the same way. In 2003 when the oncology ward had been my second home for a while, my mother gave them to me.
An avid reader all my life, I had always flatly refused to read series books before. I didn’t want to be tied down to a single story for too long, it made me feel like I was getting behind on everything else there was to read. However, now the world had stopped and since I couldn’t leave the bed (the cancer had also made me crippled), there wasn’t much else I /could/ do. So I from my bed I lived vicariously through my books. (or rather, more than I did before).
Isn’t it amazing how much more vivid books seem when your body is processing large amounts of poisonous drugs? These characters /were/ my life. (not that I recommend it, this is a comment on the bizarre, /not/ a suggestion!)
I can also track the progress of my “chemo brain” by the books in this series: the outlander and dragonfly I remember completely in detail as I used to with all books, voyager I remember a basic outline, drums and fiery cross I have only a few scenes and a general blur.
I don’t know what else you normally read or your “authors I liked”, but some of the other series’ that I read at that time were Mary Stewarts, “Merlin” books (my actual first series), Jack Whyte’s “Camulod” books, and Peter David’s “Sir Apropos” books (these truly appeal to the absurdist side of living with illness - the second and third, I didn’t like the first so much).
I am truly sorry that you’ve had a recurrence - keep reading, keep fighting.
Take care of your mind while your body is fighting.
~Lisa
Ps. I would have reached you personally but couldn’t find how. Since I felt the need to write, I decided this is where it would have to be.
Diana, sorry/thanks for borrowing space.

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