Foreword, I Signed as the Doctor

After I had been a radiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York for 17 years, I developed left arm numbness, heaviness, and loss of dexterity. I consulted a neurologist and had three months of tests that resulted in the diagnosis of widely disseminated lymphoma, a malignancy of the lymphocytes, which are a group of white blood cells in the body that normally fight infection. I knew from the beginning that I would be treated at Memorial. I worked at the best cancer hospital in the world—where else would I go?

This book is organized primarily as a collection of emails that I wrote immediately before, during, and after treatment. Most of the emails are to my dear friend Jen, although a few are to other people. Occasionally I include an email sent to me by someone else. In writing this book, I aim to tell a survival story accessible to all readers, to help people living with cancer or other serious illness (either personally or in a loved one), and to help doctors take better care of their patients, from my unique perspective as both a cancer doctor and a cancer survivor.

The individuals who were kind enough to read and comment on the manuscript have asked me if it is memoir or fiction. The book is memoir. As President Barack Obama writes in the introduction to Dreams from My Father, the book is almost entirely true as written, but I have taken liberties, such as altering the order, time frame, or dates of events, compressing two characters into one, and changing some of the characters’ names or backgrounds, primarily to protect the privacy of others.

I gratefully acknowledge the help of my friends, including Ellen, who suggested that I write about my cancer experience; Maureen, who used her cancer battle to guide me through mine; my sister-in-law, Laura, whose resilience and humor gave me hope; Monique (“Q”), who helped me believe that I would survive; and Christine, who makes the world’s most fabulous hats. I’m indebted to Richard I. Dewitt for magnificent photography, Todd Engel for beautiful cover design, Angela Hoy for shepherding me through the publication process, and Steve Bennett and colleagues at AuthorBytes for spectacular work on the website, www.LauraLiberman.com.

I thank my father for his love and inspiration; his spirit is always with me. I thank my mother for her caring, support, and priceless artistic advice. I gratefully acknowledge my brother for teaching me the alphabet when I was three and for always being able to make me laugh. Thanks to all who wrote to me and prayed for me during my treatment, and to the amazing doctors and nurses at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who saved my life.