Customer Reviews

24 reviews

• Goodreads

  Almost 50 years in the making: Me and My Shadow – memoirs of a cancer survivor, is a brutally honest account of one teenager’s struggle to understand and deal with the most feared diagnosis known to society: cancer. At 18 years of age, John Walker Pattison was thrust onto a roller coaster ride of emotional turbulence - his innocence cruelly stripped from him; his fate woven into the tapestry of life. After years of failed chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments that ravaged his physical frame and almost destroyed his psychological stability – his parents were told that he would not survive. Yet, today, he is one of the longest-surviving cancer patients in the UK. Eight years after his unexpected recovery, the news that all parents fear, his daughter is diagnosed with terminal leukaemia. Yet like her father, she too would defy the odds and go on to become an international swimmer. Pattison turned his life full circle and became a cancer nurse specialist at the same hospital that made his diagnosis decades earlier. He prescribes chemotherapy and cares for individuals with the same cancers experienced by both him and his daughter. Throughout his journey, Pattison's inspirations were the space rock legends, Hawkwind. He would get to play on stage with his heroes at the Donnington Festival in 2007. More significantly, he found solace throughout his cancer journey in the history and spirituality of the Lakota Sioux Nation. In 2018, he would spend time on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with the indigenous people of South Dakota. The same people who, unknowingly, supported him through life's greatest challenge: cancer.

• Book Dragon

  Me and My Shadow by Author John Walker Pattison is an honest and raw account of John’s battle with cancer. His memoir gives readers, who have never had the misfortune of dealing with this nasty intruder, a deeper understanding of how cancer affects every part of our being, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. His narration of his diagnosis as a teenager and how his life changes takes readers on an emotional rollercoaster ride, and rooting for John, who refused to give up fighting and made every second of his life count, finding solace in music. As I followed John’s story, it was with much admiration at the way he handled everything that cancer had to throw at him, and how he and his daughter defied all odds, surviving and building a life for themselves. And what I find remarkable about John, is how knowing that not everyone who is diagnosed with cancer is as fortunate to survive their battle, he used his own experience, his understanding, and genuine empathy to bring support and comfort to others, working on the very ward & hospital he had spent so much time on, as a patient. As a reviewer for, Me and My Shadow, there is absolutely nothing to be critiqued, as the story is true, the writing comes from the heart, and his pain, sorrow, hope, joy and grit are all very real and felt by the reader. There was nothing I could identify in the writing that would distract or pull you out of the story, and from the very beginning, you are with John, and all those people, family & friends, whose lives were touched by his and his daughter, Donna, cancer diagnosis. I am privileged to be given a small insight into this cruel and unforgiving disease, and I want to thank the Author for his courage in sharing his story. I award, Me and My Shadow, 5 stars.

• Sassy 39

  "Me and My Shadow: Memoirs of a Cancer Survivor" is an intriguing story about the author John Walker Pattison. This is the story of John surviving the most feared diagnosis, a cancer diagnosis. During chemotherapy, John struggled both physically and mentally. In spite of being in treatment for a year, the cancer wasn't halting. John even contemplated suicide for a moment. The cancer diagnosis allowed John to discover himself and realise how important life truly is. For 32 years, John worked as a nurse at the same hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer. I appreciate the young nurse Syd who intervened in John's life and saved it. The love and support from family and extended family means a lot to the survivor. So, we should be compassionate and loving towards others. Grab a copy of this book and read the highs and the lows of John's cancer journey. I appreciate John's tolerance throughout his cancer journey. This book will take readers on the rollercoaster ride of emotions. John is on a lifelong project as a longest living cancer survivor and my good wishes are with him. This book is an inspiration for cancer patients. It gives an important message of NOT GIVING UP no matter how many lows you may face in life. A beautifully narrated memoir. Must read it.

• Author Spot

  In his memoirs the author takes the reader on his personal journey of how cancer changed his life. As a survivor of cancer himself being told he would not make it; however he would go onto to be one of the longest surviving patients in his country. I found his background and youth that he describes excellent. I felt I got to know him somewhat with his background which involved his love for music. Something I could relate to being an avid fan myself. After feeling as I knew him a little better I was then blown away by his battle with cancer. He was broken down by all of his treatments something I couldn't even imagine. Discussing the drugs he had to take and the transformation that his body took. Slowly his illness was taking toll after toll on him. Lymphoma would eventually become his diagnosis after many test and his already declining health. I was very impressed with his telling his family dynamics when he was initially dealing with his cancer. The author goes into very good details of his treatment of chemotherapy and how he handled the best he could. He discusses his emotions caused by his treatments and cancer, a very real situation that I don't think anyone could understand unless they had been through it. I love the information given about his time later on of him studying the Lakota Sioux spiritual ways. After all they helped support his recovery. He was told he wouldn't survive but he did. Eight years later he would learn his daughter would be diagnosed with terminal cancer as well but she too would overcome her illness. John would go on to get educated so that he could help others battling cancer as well. He is truly a beacon of hope and positivity. This is an amazing journey of a man who defied the odds and emerged on top. This is an excellent read and an inspiration to everyone facing problems when the odds are stacked against you. This is a great read for everyone with a lot to learn from one man's journey!!!

• For the Love of the Page

  Cancer affects those it encounters more than just physically. There are emotional impacts, psychological impacts, and lifelong influences resulting from the disease. Author John Walker Pattison, born in 1957, admits to having a rather uneventful childhood. While fun, happy, and full of life, nothing so newsworthy about his childhood would prompt a memoir. Until 1975, at the age of eighteen when he begins experiencing bouts of fatigue. So notable in fact that after climbing down into the cofferdams of a boat he is meant to be welding, he is found sleeping after missing lunch. Time and time again his family doctor writes it off as something less life threatening, until he is admitted to the hospital with suspected appendicitis. Tests, x-ray, pokes, and a series of investigations follows. Resulting in our author being given no type of explanation, at least as far as he’s aware. Learning later that his parents, in what they thought was an attempt to protect him, hid the truth of his cancer diagnosis. What follows is the toll this diagnosis took on him, his unrelenting love for Hawkwind and the unexpected support the Lakota Sioux Nation provided to him during his stage IV Hodgkin Lymphoma battle. As a reader this memoir had a unique contribution to the field of cancer survivors. Surviving stage IV lymphoma through the various treatments and long-term effects is an impressive and statistically unlikely event given his response to the treatment and options. However, it’s the forty-seven-year survival, career pivot working thirty-two years as a nurse in cancer services, and his daughter also battling cancer at a young age that truly set this read apart from the rest. The brutal honesty about his thoughts, psychological well-being, and treatment effects, open readers’ eyes to the gut-wrenching diagnosis of cancer and the guilt and responsibility that are placed on patient’s shoulders. But the ongoing life he lives, dedication to the field of nursing in the same hospitals that treated him, and the comfort he found in Hawkwind and the Lakota Sioux Nation all these years later makes this a memorable read even after the last page is turned.

• C J Wills

  In his memoirs the author takes the reader on his personal journey of how cancer changed his life. As a survivor of cancer himself being told he would not make it; however he would go onto to be one of the longest surviving patients in his country. I found his background and youth that he describes excellent. I felt I got to know him somewhat with his background which involved his love for music. Something I could relate to being an avid fan myself. After feeling as I knew him a little better I was then blown away by his battle with cancer. He was broken down by all of his treatments something I couldn't even imagine. Discussing the drugs he had to take and the transformation that his body took. Slowly his illness was taking toll after toll on him. Leukemia would eventually becom his diagnosis after many test and his already declining health. I was very impressed with his telling his family dynamics when he was initially dealing with his cancer. The author goes into very good details of his treatment of chemotherapy and how he handled the best he could. He discusses his emotions caused by his treatments and cancer, a very real situation that I don't think snyone could understand unless they had been through it. I love the information given about his time later on of him studying the Lakota Sioux spiritual ways. After all they helped support his recovery. He was told he wouldn't survive but he did. Eight years later he would learn his daughter would be diagnosed with terminal cancer as well but she too would overcome her illness. John would go on to get educated so that he could help others battling cancer as well. He is truly a beacon of hope and positivity. This is an amazing journey of a man who defied the odds and emerged on top. This is an excellent read and an inspiration to everyone facing problems when the odds are stacked against you. This is a great read for everyone with a lot to learn from one man's journey!!!

• Witches Brew

  What a journey this book was. I can't imagine what John went through both as a cancer patient and then as a parent whose little girl had cancer. The book is very well written, and in places, I found it quite humorous. However, this book was a memoir on a serious subject. Some things that were written made me smile. Even in his lowest of times, John was able to find comfort and escapism from his favourite band Hawkwind and Lakota Sioux. I enjoyed reading this book from beginning to end, and I felt like I was on the journey with John, a couple of my favourite parts of the book 1. When John received the all-clear. 2. When Donna received the all-clear, and 3. When John finally got the chance to go on tour with Hawkwind. I highly recommend this book.

• The Reading Bud

  Me and My Shadow: Memoirs of a Cancer Survivor by John Walker Pattison is a gut-wrenching, eye-opening and heart-melting read from the author who shares his experience of not only living with cancer but also overcoming it, having been through seeing his daughter having it and seeing her overcome it. This book is an emotional roller-coaster of ups and downs that the author had experienced throughout his life, since his teenage years when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This book serves as s tremendous source of information and inspiration because it has a lot to offer to all its readers. The emotional turmoil in the book conveys the hardships and predicaments that the author had to suffer many times in his life and makes the readers connect with the author on completely another level. This book would be best for anyone suffering from cancer or any other terminal illness, a survivor of one, or the family member of anyone suffering from a terminal illness or anyone really who wants to read about how it feels to be stuck in such a situation and yet not to lose hope and in fact come out of it stronger. Really, everyone should give this book a read as there are so many takeaways for each reader in this book.

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