Kathleen Watt was an opera singer before she felt a bump on her gum so she went to the dentist, after some dental work, she was told that it was bone cancer,

I knew a young woman back in the 1970s who had bone cancer in her leg, Her leg was amputated and she did not live long after that. Freud had to have a prothesis in his mouth when he had cancer in his jaw. Looking at pictures of that device, it must have been simple compared to the author's device. He called it a monster.

I have a precancer and dreading the future treatments when it becomes bad enough to treat. I am amazed of the author's ability to hang on!!! Surgery had to be first, only not one surgery before her doctors were even really to consider the next step of chemotherapy. The author did a truly amazing job of describing what she went through. Her journey is harrowing over and over again. References are in the back and the description of the surgeries lets you know how many low hours were needed and how difficult it was to get the results needed. I think that it is fortunate at the beginning that she had no idea of what the future would hold.

The writing is clear and engaging and the author even has a sense of humor that make me want to hug her so much.

I would like to give this book 25 stars if I could. I hope that everyone reads this book, it is so engaging, intelligent and well done, ( )

In one moment the life Kathleen Watt has always known and loved as an opera singer is gone, her face the victim of bone cancer. Her doctors are able to remove the cancer but reconstruction of her face is less successful, with surgery after surgery giving way to infection, removal of grafts and more surgery in a seemingly never ending cycle. It takes the best part of a decade for Kathleen's face to be reconstructed to the point where she looks normal. I'm not sure how anyone survives that experience, unless like Kathleen, you have a large and supportive family who rally round, as well as a partner who researches everything and is with her every step of the way. It's a fascinating story, difficult to read because of the content, and also because much of it becomes quite technical as she explains all her procedures in detail. Calling her cancer 'Big C' seems at odds with the technical approach she mainly takes but was probably necessary for her as a way to diminish its power. I still had questions at the end which I would have loved to have been answered; more details about costs and insurance, and specifically, would she have gone the same route if she had to choose again. For people who like medical memoirs this is a must read. ( )

If a single diagnosis eliminated all you had ever worked for, how would you respond? Readers are drawn into the tale of many body attacks and Kathleen Watt's remarkable resilience in the face of facial bone cancer in her gripping account of an opera singer's battle with the disease. The true tale, however, is about Kathleen's close friends and family's devotion and how unwavering love and support can turn a life around. I'm definitely recommending this to my friends and really anyone else! 🤍 ( )