The story of Shoba Rao and her long and continuing battle against cancer is both informative and inspirational. Shoba starts her story back in India where she suffered the challenges of a skin condition that she had to endure in her youth. But this was just the beginning, her kidney problems and then several forms a of cancer are covered and what she had to contend with while making her way her way in the competitive field of electrical engineering.

With the help of her devoted husband she not only met these challenges head on but moved pass them not letting them take away from her life what she was not going to yield. Her never give in attitude and optimism that she would prevail lit her path and she succeeded. Not without much suffering but she demonstrated that will can be just as powerful as what some cancers can throw in your path.

She also adds some useful advice on those living with or encountering those on their journey fighting cancer. The etiquette what to say and not say in showing compassion and understanding. The final segment discusses dietary foods and recipes that help in the fight.

This book will be useful to anyone dealing with the disease or any disease really, as well as those who may have a loved one or friend experiencing it. A definite worthwhile read delivered by a courageous person who has been there. ( )

Rao is fearless. Her need-to-know personality forced her to research the cause of her three different cancers and kidney failure so that she could erase the Why Me pity party from her vocabulary. She needed logic to trump random bad luck. When she found the protein called tumor protein p53 that acts as a tumor suppressor and found a software to read MRI scans, she became my hero. Her ability to stare each death sentence in the eye and not flinch was astounding. She had faith in logic, science, and technological advancements. The downside of such an analytical brain telling the story is that Rao comes across as detached, without much personality. Rao is fearless. Well, except when it comes to cats. Everything she explains is matter of fact. Memories are in fragments. The glimpses of her heart came during the advice section of her book. Her tone becomes warmer when talking about the future. ( )