5-13: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Survival - Softcover

Shelton, Nancy Rankie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1942146353 ISBN 13: 9781942146353

Publisher: Garn Press, 2016

Synopsis

In 5-13: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Survival, the realities of sharing life and death exemplify what it means to live and to love and will resonate with readers.

It’s two days after Christmas and seven days after Jack’s 58th birthday. Jack and his wife, Nancy, are enjoying their morning in their second home in Gainesville, Florida, when out of the blue Jack has a seizure. That afternoon he’s diagnosed with stage four metastatic lung cancer. In the following weeks, the constant uncertainty and ever-changing diagnoses of his disease, his rapidly deteriorating health, and the stress and confusion of managing his treatment define their lives. After four emergency trips to the hospital that all result in lengthy stays, he fights back from everything, even partial paralysis, absolutely refusing to stay down.

By March, Jack is strong enough to return home to Maryland with Nancy, where he continues treatment while they try to pick up the pieces of their lives. He survives three more emergency admissions to the hospital, but the stays are much shorter and he experiences more outpatient than inpatient care. Though Jack is able to return to work, Nancy is not – she spends her time and energy supporting Jack’s efforts to heal and providing care and encouragement for him. Jack’s health continues to fail. On June 9th he dies.

Cancer is not the sum total of their lives or this memoir. Reflections of the 35 years they were together are woven throughout the narrative. Jack’s childhood, their first date, the birth of their only child, their relationships with others that shaped both their personalities are all part of their story. Nancy’s identity as a wife, mother (and mother-in-law), sister, daughter and friend are all part of the experience.

In 5-13: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Survival Nancy Rankie Shelton encourages readers to overcome their fears of cancer, remain steadfast and loving, survive the death of a loved one, and continue living. 5-13 is a brave love story beautifully written.

About this title

About the Author

Nancy Rankie Shelton is a Professor of Education at UMBC in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in a remote area in New York State, the youngest of five children, and moved to Pass-A-Grille Beach, FL in 1976 after graduating from SUNY Albany with a BA in interdisciplinary social sciences at the age of 19. She married her husband, Jack, in 1978 and they lived in Gainesville, Florida until 2003, when Nancy earned her PhD from the University of Florida. In June 2012, Jack died of metastatic lung cancer. Nancy has one son, Conrad Shelton, who still resides in Gainesville.

Nancy has worked with children since she was young. She held many positions, from babysitter and playgroup organizer, to teacher, and finally professor of education. She has always advocated for the children most in need. In her work as an educator, Nancy has 23 publications that appear in premier academic journals or with leading publishing companies that specialize in literacy research and/or education policy.

Reading and writing have been essential activities throughout Nancy’s life. One summer, she and her sister Carol read every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery available in the Speculator, New York library. That summer, Nancy wrote her own mystery but she knew she could never publish it because she had stolen too many ideas from Franklin Dixon and she didn’t want to get caught. Now, more than forty years later, she finally has her own completely original story to share.

Review

Nancy Rankie Shelton has shared her personal and heart-felt perspective of being a caregiver in "5-13 A Memoir of Love, Loss and Survival." While every caregiver's journey is  certainly unique to them, this story can be an opportunity for readers to explore this challenging topic and hopefully inspire them to have those important, end-of-life conversations with family and friends.

 
Patricia Krogh
Haven Hospice
Manager of Public Relations and Communications
 

Kirkus Review found at:kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nancy-rankie-shelton/5-13/KIRKUS REVIEWA professor offers a painful recollection of the path she and her husband traveled during his battle with cancer.
Shelton (Literacy Policies and Practices in Conflict, 2014, etc.) stepped away from her academic writing to pen this memoir. She's an avid note taker, and her coping mechanism for dealing with the barrage of medical information and treatment options for her husband, Jack, that seemed to be always in flux was to write everything down as it was happening. Her book, written primarily in the present tense, brings readers along with her on this arduous journey. From the first crisis on Jan. 27, 2011, "Terrible Tuesday," when Jack suffered a sudden seizure, until his death 5 months and 13 days later, Shelton records everything--the details of the disease (Stage IV lung cancer that metastasized to his brain and, it turned out, to his hip), the prognosis for "longevity" (three to six months), the various phases of treatment, and the author's own fragile emotional state as she helped Jack navigate this onslaught. She never left his side. Whenever he was in the hospital, she was living there with him. Shelton is a literacy professor, and her narrative is lucid and graphic: "My face is wet from my tears and I can't control my sobs. My chest is jerking. My hands are shaking." As grim as the story is, there is also respite during the quiet moments when she reflects on the many special moments in their relationship, beginning with their first meeting in 1977. At these times, the narrative becomes a love story. Constantly trying to balance that fine line between reality and hope, Shelton struggled to understand every detail of the treatments and recommendations that came rushing at the couple like a tsunami of opinions, tactful and otherwise, while terrified of the upended life that lay ahead of her. Ultimately, she must, of course, learn to live again, without Jack physically by her side: "But my brain had been injured by the stress of Jack's illness and death. Grief continued to impair me cognitively. I had to find a way to heal." And she does: "I eat well, drink very little, exercise daily, and laugh as much as I can."
A poignant memoir delivers a powerful tribute to love and grit.

Winner of the USA Best Book Award in category Health: Death and Dying

About this edition

• Publisher: Garn Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1942146353
• ISBN 13: 9781942146353
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288