Kimberly Allison - Red Sunshine: A Story of Strength and Inspiration from a Doctor Who Survived Stage 3 Breast Cancer

A moving memoir from a physician who became a patient with a very difficult diagnosis. This book offers an infusion of hope and inspiration for cancer survivors, regardless of their stage.

Julie Silver, M.D., Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School and author of What Helped Get Me Through: Cancer Survivors Share Wisdom and Hope

Dr. Allisons perspective is both unique and familiar. As a breast cancer specialist, she knows all too well her prognosis and treatment plan as soon as shes diagnosed. She then embarks on an emotional journey through uncharted territory, warmly related in Red Sunshine. Her description is both heartfelt and down-to-earth. Id recommend it to my patients as well as my colleagues.

Julie R. Gralow, M.D., Professor and Director, Breast Medical Oncology, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, Author of Breast Fitness: An Optimal Exercise and Health Plan for Reducing Your Risk of Breast Cancer

Red Sunshine is full of honesty, reflection, and information that people diagnosed with cancer, as well as those who support and treat them, will find so helpful. So many books sugar coat things but this memoir really gives a realistic picture of the experience and still manages to be funny, uplifting and a great read.

Kristine Calhoun, M.D., Breast Surgeon and Associate Professor, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA

I could not put this book down. As a survivor myself, I was struck by the similarities in our experiences with cancer; the fear, the determination to be here for our children, the love and support from friends and family and our willingness to explore a variety of traditional and non-traditional ways to heal our bodies and our minds.

Julie Wheelan, Director, Center for Integrative Health & Wellness, Marin General Hospital, Marin County, CA

This is a captivating book. Once you start reading, you wont be able to put it down. You will feel the fear, pain and anger Kim faces, along with the strength, and sometimes even humor, she is able to summon in her journey as a cancer patient. I know all too well what Dr. Allison went through, having lived through breast cancer myself, and this book would have been a good friend to have on that journey.

D.O., survivor, professor, and mother

Who else has literally looked directly at her own cancer and said, I am going to absolutely crush you! Red Sunshine is the girlfriends guide to kicking cancers ass.

S.D., physician and mother

From assigning her friends as various gurus to help her through, to performing backyard magic, and dreaming of Barbie Boobsthis book had me hooked because of her hilarious and creative perspective.

S.K., survivor

Her voice is at once familiar. I felt like I had a new girlfriend that I wanted to call up and talk to about my diagnosis.

M.K., survivor

Reading your memoir was like being given an opportunity to peek into your soulit means a great deal for someone like me who is at the brink of the treatment pathway with the great unknowns. I feel good for the first time after receiving my diagnosis.

A.S., physician and mother of twins, diagnosed at age 36

A must-read for anyone with cancer or who knows someone with that diagnosis. It is beautiful, poignant, humorous, and real.

A.M., supporter of a breast cancer survivor

When your doctor is advising you on a serious health issue its so easy to think, Easy for you to say, buddy! Well, the doctor is in the patients shoes in Red Sunshine and that is what makes it such a great read. Dr. Allison is honest and clear-sighted, but this is no angsty cancer memoir. She is in a place of privilege when it comes to medical knowledge and connections, but has the good sense to know that all that knowledge and all those connections cant change her diagnosis. She also knows that it is up to her how she responds and she does so with grace, dignity, and wit. I recommend this for both doctors and patients.

Debra Jarvis, author of Its Not About the Hair: And Other Certainties of Life & Cancer