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A Mensagem De Elena (2008)

by Brooke Desserich(Favorite Author)

4.07 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Albatroz

review 1: Elena Desserich was diagnosed with an incurable form of brain cancer at only five years old.Her parents kept a journal online documenting her cancer treatment and how it affected her, her family, and everyone around her.This depressing and terrifying but viciously hopefully and love-filled testament to Elena's will to love and love of her family is really quite riveting to read, despite the fact that sometimes the narrative just jumps and leaves us with blank spaces that never get answered or references to happenings that we are never informed about. It's still so special to get to know Elena and her little sister Grace, some of the small things she loved doing and saying, and what the diffuse tumor took from her and her family. Of course, the incredibly inspirational bit ... moreof this book surrounds Elena's loss of speech ability and subsequent turn to writing love notes, which she then hid all over the house and which her family began to find here and there long after she was dead.The cancer and its treatments were terrifying and definitely made me emotional as a reader, but who wouldn't be moved by a family's heartfelt journey through losing their daughter? I loved getting to know Elena, and wish there had been a breakthrough for her treatment like there might have been in a fictional version of this. I think the scariest bit was after she'd had the lifetime maximum of radiation to shrink her tumors and she went back to normal for a short time, able to have her last hurrah on Earth but with her parents knowing it would progress again and they'd have to watch their daughter lose function, this time without another radiation dose to bring her back. So heart-wrenching and terrifying and sad. And what a gift to be able to have those beautiful notes from their child.
review 2: This book was a sad story about a family who discovered their six year old daughter had a rare brain cancer. The book was a journal written by her mom and dad and their difficult journey back and forth between when the tumor was progressing and Elena's motor skills would be affected and when the tumor was in remission. When she was in remission she would be back to almost normal. Not surprisingly, her parents went back and forth believing she could overcome this cancer. It is a touching and sad story and makes you realize how lucky you are if your children are healthy. Makes you realize that you cannot take good health for granted; or time with your family. less

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