[.ca] Danielle's Story: A Daughter's Battle with Aplastic Anemia (ISBN 142591988X)

a mother and daughter's journey through critical illness:
Aplastic anemia is a deadly rare blood disease that is an enigma for a few reasons: in most cases it is idiopathic, meaning its cause is unknown; it is considered an autoimmune disease because the body's defences attack healthy blood cells; it is so rare that there is little support and publicity for it compared to other diseases like cancer and AIDS; it is more fatal than most diseases because of limited research and paucity of treatments-- the only real "cure" is a bone marrow transplant and even this is restricted by age. All of these are facts not touched on in this book. While I feel more of an attempt to inform would have benefitted the reader, I realize this is a memoir. The book's focus is on the emotional rollercoaster this family goes throught over the course of a year. It is about a mother and daughter relationship that must survive the most taxing of crises. It is a story about a mother's love, grief, guilt and faith. It is a cathartic experience to read it, as I am sure it was to write it.