BOOK REVIEW
by Kerry Gogan
BRAIN SURGEONS
DON'T DO FACELIFTS
It is a part of our lives. It has happened to all of us. Someone we know, work with, are related to or read about has a growth somewhere on their body that must be removed immediately, if not sooner. The ensuing search for all that makes sense is often filled with prayer, anxiety, fear, foreboding, analysis, planning and an avalanche of repetitive questions from everyone in every facet of our lives. Some of us rush through it, looking only for the end game. Some of us reach for the touch down. Some of us travel the field of first downs. Engaging the entire process from one “play” to the next; with a positive outlook; creating a sense of leadership while dealing with our own imminent fears. Some may run to a spa, dive into a bottle of booze or pills while waiting for the inevitable surgery/course of action.
In “Brain Surgeons Don’t Do Facelifts” we encounter a veteran of the Israeli army as she takes on the challenges associated with an operable brain tumor. “Dafi” our married mother of three, takes us through the process and through the eyes of a detail oriented recipient of the news. At a time when the water cooler talks were about HMO vs. PPO’s, Dafi, a very healthy woman in her early 30s, navigates the insurance process and ends up at the twisting road known as the feared “HMO’s selection process.” Imagine being at the mercy of your insurance company to have your brain opened up by somebody you have never met and who is the ONLY provider for these services. No choice at all. You have to take who they offer or pay for it yourself. One doctor. One solution
From the first paragraph to the last, I was along Dafi’s compelling and sensory journey. Written for the every person, this book is an escape into someone else’s challenges that, more often than not, mirror some of our own and bare witness how somebody else handles their own, with grace, humor and delight. Go Dafi!
Perreault Magazine - 80 -
A Woman's Journey Through Brain Surgery