Douglas Lab
![My Life in My Hands: Living on With Cystic Fibrosis Douglas Lab]( "My Life in My Hands: Living on With Cystic Fibrosis Douglas Lab")
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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Disorders & Diseases -> Cystic Fibrosis
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
A compelling, informative, intimate relationship for readers 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
The first rarity you notice in this unusual biography is its three Forewords. The first is a summary of the demographics, characteristics, and prognosis for this widespread chronic illness, by Norman J. Lewiston, M.D., of Stanford University School of Medicine. The next two forewords are called Prologue for Parents, and are authored by mother Olivia Kennedy Lab who co-authored this compelling biography, and by Walt Lab, father of Doug. In the first several pages a reader learns that this biography is drawn on two story lines. Along one line, this book is a deeply informative account of one case history of cystic fibrosis. It tells how the disease, scarcely known at Doug Lab's birth, was finally identified. It imparts how parental persistence to find even acceptable medical treatment moved a family from their idyllic Montana home to a burgeoning suburb of Los Angeles. It divulges how the medical profession's trial and error intelligence about treating cystic fibrosis had to be managed by a keenly alert sensitivity to one's own medical history. Any family with cystic fibrosis could well benefit from following this story line with its careful analysis and information about the daily struggle to survive with this chronic illness. But to this reader, My Life in My Hands'second story line is even more compelling. Doug Lab unveils a remarkably open, passionate, yet casual zest for life in a memorable picaresque style. Doug is a playful, mischievous scamp in his memories of early boyhood. His almost roguish, vagabond adventurousness in search of identity, livelihood,intimacy,and independence unwinds in episode after episode of his constant drive for fulfillment. Doug is a driver. He begins his story behind the wheel as he cruises from his southern Cal desert mobile home to his parents' home in Modesto, where Doug outgrew his adolescence but never his love for cars. He steers his life through one obstacle after another. A surprising epiphany for the reader is that the obstacles of a chronic illness parallel obstacles of growing up amidst the onslaught of pop culture. Doug learns to know his pop culture as well as he learns to know his chronic illness. He loves and embraces pop with the same spirit he eludes the suffering and impending finality of cystic fibrosis. Doug's spirit is infectious and unforgettable. It brings to this book an energy that catches the reader. Dr. Lewiston from the Stanford School of Medicine who writes the Foreword, says, "In Doug's candid narration leading you through his life, you'll learn about CF and chronic illness, and about life in a society that doesn't really know how to deal with sick people." This excerpt is an example of Doug's narration: I'd been on my second round of amicasin for about four days when my rash broke out. My chest, scalp, and crotch were covered with eczema and my throat and pallet were so swollen I couldn't swallow. It seemed to bear a strong resemblance to the allergic reaction I'd suffered with carbocillin. The doctors wouldn't believe me then and I wondered if Dr. O would be any different. I was already in bad with him for refusing a blood gas test. "Douglas," he said, "I'm not used to patients refusing my suggested treatment. Now you claim to be allergic to the medication. You know, Medi-Cal doesn't pay the emergency rates, so I won't get paid the amount I've charged you. Since you're not doing well on my treatment, why don't you go back to the desert where you claim you can breathe better. Then come on back in a week and see me." I was going to ask him if he'd like to loan me his credit card for gasoline, but then I realized what a hardship patients like me are on a doctor's pocketbook. It would have been so much easier for him if I'd been content to lie down and die. The title, My Life in My Hands, is a double metaphor. On one level it expresses the necessity for anyone with chronic illness to monitor treatment with an informed alertness that never yields completely to medical authority. On its other level it expresses Doug's persistent search for work that can be both practical and fulfilling. Doug finds that work when, after many other jobs, he becomes a potter, with his own hands shaping clay into both functional and decorative art. At this level the title is a metaphor that follows Doug's maturing passion to give his short life as much daily satisfaction and as much aesthetic and spiritual meaning as he can. Cystic fibrosis is a disease of childhood and youth. While longevity rates are being extended, the average lifespan is still at the mid-twenties mark. Doug's life almost doubles the prevailing expectancy for his time. My Life in My Hands is written with an epilogue that reveals the love and commitment this unusual man deserved. There is much literary merit to this book. But most of all it gives the reader an intimate relationship with an unforgettable, spirited person.
