Books to help you

“‘What Does it Feel Like?’ is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story.”
Eve is a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumour growing in her brain. As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again ― and wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children ― she begins to recall what’s most important to her.
A celebration of life, shot through with warmth and humour – it will both break your heart and put it back together again.

A picture book to support telling young children that a parent has a tumour or has cancer. The poem is aimed at children aged approximately 4–8 years and can be read together as a supportive way to open discussions, with beautiful illustrations to help children understand. The book includes a description for adults of author Simone’s own experiences of a brain tumour diagnosis and treatment and how she told her family.
You can read more about Simone’s story here.

The Butterfly Within follows Special Educational Needs PE teacher and international triathlete Rachel Bown through a year which changes her life forever. It begins on the day she is diagnosed with a brain tumour and finishes when she proudly returns to racing for Team GB. The reader is taken on a roller coaster ride of emotions. She writes about the characters she meets along the way and how they have helped her to become the person she is today.
You can read more about Rachel’s story here.

Slow growing brain tumours change lives forever. Gideon Burrows was told he had an incurable and inoperable low grade glioma brain tumour aged just 35. He discovered information was scarce for those with slow growing brain tumours and about the particular challenges patients like him face.
This readable and moving non-technical guide is about living with a low grade brain cancer, a diagnosis given to thousands of people every year. It gives patients and loved ones information and personal insights, from symptoms and treatments, to life with the disease and possible outcomes.

At the age of just 35, father of three Gideon Burrows was told he had an incurable and inoperable low grade glioma brain tumour. He has now been living with this life-limiting disease for over a decade, and his book shares invaluable insights and personal narratives gathered from extensive interviews with patients, loved ones, and medical professionals. It presents an honest, realistic picture, with a personal approach, to glioblastoma and anaplastic astrocytoma, and offers information, reassurance and support on these most complex of brain tumours.

When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales of Neurosurgery, is the story of one man’s evolution from naïve and ambitious young intern to world-class neurosurgeon.
With poignant insight and humour, Frank Vertosick Jr., MD, describes some of the greatest challenges of his career.

A book mentioned by someone we support – it really helped her, having been recommended by her neurosurgeon.

What is it like to be a brain surgeon?

Do No Harm offers an unforgettable insight into the highs and lows of a life dedicated to operating on the human brain, in all its exquisite complexity. With astonishing candour and compassion, Henry Marsh reveals the exhilarating drama of surgery, the chaos and confusion of a busy modern hospital, and above all the need for hope when faced with life’s most agonising decisions.

Jo’s real life story of feeling constantly dizzy and drunk for 4 months at the start of 2016, finally getting a MRI, and finding out she needed urgent brain surgery on a Hemangioblastoma (a benign blood vessel tumour) in her cerebellum. Written in the hope that her explaining how she felt both emotionally and the odd physical sensations that worried her, will support and help others who have been diagnosed with a brain tumour, or anyone needing brain surgery.

The true story of Adam Blain, a 44-year-old London lawyer and family man who one day, ends up in A&E after a series of headaches and consistent nausea. Expecting to be sent home with a packet of Paracetamol, he’s shocked when harassed doctors are suddenly offering to buy him gourmet coffee. Worse still, the diagnosis of a late-stage brain tumour is made by his oncologist wife. So far, so not funny. Adam, however, is determined not to slide into defeatist misery, and approaches the saga of surgery and chemotherapy with a chirpy, irreverent black humour.

This sequel to ‘Pear Shaped’ charts a year in Adam Blain’s life that, according to statistics, he really shouldn’t have had. How will he explain to friends and family that, despite previous assurances, he isn’t dead yet? Can he go back to normal life with two thirds of a brain? Surely nothing else can go wrong?……Warning – this book is intended for mature audiences due to the subject matter and use of strong language.

For those cast adrift in the lonely sea of grief, this collection offers solace for when the water gets rough. Donna Ashworth’s poetry reminds us that love and grief are intertwined, and life’s true treasure lies in those we hold most dear.
Intended to rejuvenate weary souls; these poems are a must for anyone who has lost someone.