Learning to Dance in the Rain: A Parent’s Guide to Neuroblastoma Diagnosis, Treatment and Beyond

Product Description

Families fighting this battle may request a free book at [email protected]. When Nathan was first diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2006, our family entered a world we knew nothing about. The world of childhood cancer is terrifying and complicated. We had a lot to learn and quickly. We had to learn about treatments, scans, blood draws, labs, medicines, and side effects, including how to handle them. We looked for help from other parents and Nathan’s medical staff. One thing that would have helped was a guide that we could have read and made notes in as we traveled this path. A guide to all those things other families have already learned. Something we could have carried around with us that would help us make sense of this new vocabulary and the things we needed to know. This book is for just that purpose. It is intended to help navigate some of the things you will find during your child’s treatment and recovery from cancer. It is not intended to be inclusive or to replace the doctors; it is intended to share experiences and knowledge, parent to parent. This book contains what my family has learned from the medical staffs we have worked with, other parents, and the kids we have been privileged to meet on our journey.This book is part of a non-profit organization. All revenue from sales of this title will be used to print and give away for free this book to families fighting childhood cancer.Versión española también disponible.

About the Author

Rachel Ormsby is a wife, mother of two, aerospace engineer, and has earned her second Dan (black belt) in taekwondo with her son Nathan. When not running a household, she develops science hardware for the space program. This has included experiments on the Space Shuttle looking for new treatments for cancer, a cure for deafness and new ways to treat bone disease. Most recently she has worked on a bone densitometer for the International Space Station. She is the author of many scientific publications and co-holder of a patent. Rachel is the mother of Nathan and Kate. Nathan was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in August of 2006 when he was three and Kate was just 1 year-old. When Nathan was diagnosed, she extended a planned “maternity leave” from her engineering career by an additional 7 years to care for Nathan and Kate. She has been married to her husband, Scott, since 1992.