Mom's Cancer

by Brian Fies

Book Overview

Each year, approximately 1.5 million people in the United States and Canada are diagnosed with cancer. This is one family's story. When Brian Fies's mother was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, he and his two sisters struggled with the effects of her illness and her ongoing recovery from treatment. Brian processed the experience in his journal, which took the form of words and pictures. The story that came to be known as Mom's Cancer first gained...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810958406
• ISBN13: 9780810958401
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 115 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.3" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

Great Insight!

I bought this book for my husband and his siblings. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer this summer. My husband and I have both read the book and it helps to know that we aren't the only family that has traveled this road. Regardless of what part of this journey your family is at, I would highly recommend reading this book. The illustrations make it an easy read and it'll be well worth your time.

It's Sometimes Hard To Tell The Poisons From The Cures, Because Sometimes They Are The Same Things

"What to do when pain rips through our brains like a tornado. We need the truth." - Barbara, the author's mother's, wrote that thought after reading this book. This is an excellent graphic novel about one family's experience with Stage 4 Large-Cell Carcinoma (a.k.a. - Cancer). A story is often only as good as the heart of the person telling it. If that sentiment is true, it explains in large part why this story is so good. If you can make a story about dealing with your mother's terminal cancer funny and life-affirming, you are creating a pretty intelligent and well-crafted piece of writing. His artwork is consistently excellent, never distracting, and peaceful in the midst of life-threatening circumstances. The visuals are coordinated with the words fluidly, immediately conveying the ideas and emotions with very few ambiguities. This graphic novel won an Eisner Award in it's online format. Brian Fies tells us in the preface, "Although I distrust stories with lessons, here is one: No one will care more about your life than you do, and no one is better qualified to chart its course than you are. You are the expert." As you might expect, like all real stories, this one does not end with everyone living happily ever after. But fortunately, the characters do re-prioritize and choose to change the remaining time in their lives to live as happily as they can until there is no after. As the preface accurately creates the expectation "Mom's Cancer is an honest, earnest effort to turn something bad into something good." I admire and encourage that human artistic drive, and Brian Fies is successful in achieving that goal and many other beautiful artistic goals.

Moving and more

I'm a consumer health educator and lost my father to a very rare kind of cancer when he was 58, so this book hit me on more than one level of my life. Fies has done a wonderful job. What I find most impressive is that Fies doesn't shy away from discussing the "blame" aspect of a cancer diagnosis. The question of personal accountability for disease is very much part of the family conversation during a health crisis--whether there is scientific evidence for causality or not!--and it needs to be talked about. I'm hoping this graphic novel does make that conversation easier for all of us.

Close to home

My family shared many of the experiences of the author's family during my mother's cancer. It's compelling, touching and hopeful.

If someone in your family has cancer....

It's less about Mom than her three adult children (pseudonymously portrayed here as the narrator, Nurse Sis, and Kid Sis) and how they cope with the news and subsequent treatment for Mom. Vivid visual metaphors (the Operation Game, superheroes, the "tightrope" of treatment) combine with heartfelt writing (smokers won't be pleased with how they're portrayed) for an unforgettable portrait of a family in crisis. It has a simple, clean graphic style that will appeal to readers who are not regular readers of graphic novels. If your mother smokes, this, and and "the patch" would make an excellent present.