Illness came calling when Richard M. Cohen was twenty-five years old. A young television news producer with expectations of a limitless future, his foreboding that his health was not quite right turned into the harsh reality that something was very wrong when diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For thirty years, Cohen has done battle with MS only to be ambushed by two bouts of colon cancer at the end of the millennium. And yet, he has written a hopeful book about celebrating life and coping with chronic illness.
Welcome to my world, writes Cohen, where I carry around dreams, a few diseases, and the determination to live life my way.
Autobiographical at its roots, reportorial, and expansive, Blindsided explores the effects of illness on raising three children and on his relationship with wife, Meredith Vieira (host of The View and the syndicated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). Cohen tackles the nature of denial and resilience, the ins and outs of the struggle for emotional health, and the redemptive effects of a loving family. And while dealing with illness is not the way he chose to live his life, it did choose him.
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"As someone who suffers from a chronic illness herself, Richard Cohen echoes thoughts and feelings I myself have felt and stated. His memoirs travel through his life with multiple sclerosis while trying to hold a career and a family and details how he's had to make sacrifices along the way. It was interesting to see how I could relate to the author even though my diagnoses came decades later. It goes to show that no matter when the illness hits, we all share similar thoughts. It's a definite read for the newly diagnosed!"
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Desiree (5 out of 5 stars)