Standing at Water's Edge - by Janice Post-White (Paperback)

About the Book

"Janice Post-White was an oncology nurse who thought she knew what life with cancer was about--until her four-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia. While he drew pictures to process his emotions, she buried her feelings and threw herself into managing a dual role as a medical professional and mother. Her memoir shares her son's perspective as a young cancer patient and teen survivor, and explores her own personal and professional insights on survivorship, resilience, healing and what facing death can teach us about living"--

Book Synopsis

Janice Post-White was an oncology nurse who thought she knew what life with cancer was about--until her four-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia. While he drew pictures to process his emotions, she buried her feelings and threw herself into managing a dual role as a medical professional and mother. Her memoir shares her son's perspective as a young cancer patient and teen survivor, and explores her own personal and professional insights on survivorship, resilience, healing and what facing death can teach us about living.

Review Quotes

"[Post-White's] memoir charts each step on [her son's] road to recovery after his leukemia diagnosis, offering the dual perspectives of a highly trained nurse and a loving mother. [Her] writing poses probing questions asked by many whose lives have been touched by cancer... She also explores her young son's coping process by sharing pictures Brennan drew to express his feelings throughout his treatment. As a medical professional, the author takes a philosophical approach to surviving and facing fears... Post-White's writing is sharply analytical and grounded in actuality...the delivery of stark facts is delicately counterbalanced with a profound excavation of personal emotions... The result is a skillfully well-rounded memoir in which the author draws on her own experiences, charts Brennan's medical and emotional progress, and alludes to the struggles of patients she has treated....In a marketplace crowded with similar titles, the author's informative work shares rich layers of a valuable perspective-delivering concise medical explanations, a nurse's experience and compassion, and tender maternal understanding-making this book stand out from the rest. A multifaceted, thought-provoking, and learned exploration of a painful subject."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"In Standing at Waters Edge, Dr. Janice Post-White, a cancer health-care specialist herself, generously and colorfully takes us into the world of a family confronted by childhood cancer.... Life and its seasons do not stop for childhood cancer, and her words teach us how overwhelming the aloneness can be for a family and for each of its members that is evoked by threats to their wellbeing and survival.... She teaches us how our words, touch, and presence can make the cancer experience better for our very ill children and their families. This book is our guide and will take us as close to the family pediatric cancer experience as we shall be able to get."-Pamela Hinds, William and Joanne Conway Chair of Nursing Research at Children's National, pediatrics professor at George Washington University in Washington DC

"Janice Post-White writes from a unique perspective. Not only is she a first-time cancer mom, but also a cancer nurse...their story also gives us hope because it shows that cancer isn't a death sentence for all children diagnosed with this disease. I recommend Standing at Water's Edge for everyone who needs to learn more about cancer or knows anybody who has cancer. It shows ways to cope and provides clinical cancer information."-Susan van der Walt, Readers' Favorite (5-star seal)

"What a beautiful, poetic and honest account of a parent's greatest fear-facing the loss of a child to a serious illness. This book will move you, enlighten you, and ultimately inspire you. For what is a brush with death, if not a deeper call to life?"-Henry Emmons, MD, author of The Chemistry of Joy and The Chemistry of Calm.

About the Author

As a PhD trained nurse, researcher, educator, and writer, Janice Post-White has four decades of experience in cancer, psychoneuroimmunology, and complementary medicine and integrative cancer care. She studies how the mind communicates with the body and writes about resiliency in illness from personal and professional experience. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Lana'i, Hawaii. Visit her website janicepostwhite.com.