My Journey: a Worm’S Eye View of Cancer

Retired, seventy-six-year-old Michael Barker was living the good life in beautiful Vermont. He sailed on Lake Champlain, played tennis in the summer, skied and snow-shoed in the winter, and enjoyed the glories of mountain living at its best. Then cancer struck. In 2014, Barker was diagnosed with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma and he needed treatment quickly.

In My Journey: A Worms Eye View of Cancer, he narrates the story of his diagnosis and treatment. Barker offers an example of one person dealing with a totally unexpected life-threatening disease. He tells what it was like to suddenly discover he had such an illness, how the treatment evolved, and what was good to know about doctors and hospitals before undergoing treatment.

Barker shares the view from the patients limited elevation, very near the bottom, once the treatments started. My Journey: A Worms Eye View of Cancer exposes some of the peculiarities of the medical system that can only be revealed from the bottom up, from the humble patient, one man who knew what it felt like to be a single, hurting cancer patient.