Anna Fitch Courie - The Adventures of Cancer Girl and God: A Journey of Faith, Health, and Healing

Advance praise for The Adventures of Cancer Girl and God

Having had melanoma in my thirties, I am so grateful for this piercingly honest, encouraging, real, and straightforward book. Courie offers her readers the open invitation to tell the truth of their experience of cancer, and to carry that experience into sustained prayer through reflection and journaling. Highly recommended.

Mary C. Earle, author of Days of Grace: Meditations
and Practices for Living with Illness

Anna Fitch Courie writes with a brutal honesty thats refreshing and disturbing all at the same time. As a cancer boy myself, I was there with her through every sentence of her book. There is no redemptive quality in having cancer. Its not a God-induced opportunity to witness to our faith. As Anna writes, it just plain sucks. So, cancer can never give us a hyphenated identity, because our full identity, as Anna attests, is already grounded in the God who wonderfully created us and more wonderfully redeemed us in Jesus Christ.

The Rt. Rev. Scott Anson Benhase, Bishop of Georgia

There is so much to love about The Adventures of Cancer Girl and God! Imagine a memoir that is also a retrospective, accompanied by a playful workbook where the reader is invited to reflect on his or her own life alongside the author. Anna takes our hand and guides us through every nook and cranny of her diagnosisfrom denial, to anger, to gratitude, to denial, to faith, to denial, to joy. Along the way, we reflect with her on our closest relationships, on our own anger or sadness, on our favorite swear words and deepest prayers. I found reading this book was like reading through the Psalms; all human emotions are present, and are of God. Honest, raw, and courageous, the authors story is at once intensely personal and universal. Her experiences along her journey, even when solitary, remind her to reach out to those around her, and to God. You will find yourself journeying beside her and cheering her on, while leaning more deeply into your own life and faith.

The Rev. Cricket Cooper, author of Chemo Pilgrim

In Christ Walk Anna Fitch Courie invited us all on a journey, a Lenten walk with Jesus. Now she takes us on a heros quest, with an honesty and tenacity like no other. Whether you have felt betrayed by your body, gone through the illness of a loved one, or simply strive each day to be a follower of Jesus, Cancer Girl inspires, challenges, motivates, and empowers all of us toward a closer relationship with God.

The Rev. Benjamin Gildas of Priest Pulse podcast

For Treb

Copyright 2018 by Anna Fitch Courie

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked CEB are taken from the Common English Bible copyright 2010, 2011 by Common English Bible, used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The CEB and Common English Bible trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Common English Bible. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Common English Bible.

Christ Walkis a registered trademark of Anna Fitch Courie.

Church Publishing
19 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
www.churchpublishing.org

Cover design by Marc Whitaker/MTWdesign.net
Typeset by Rose Design

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-010-7 (pbk.)
ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-011-4 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

As this book goes to press, it is estimated that over 1.6 million people will be diagnosed with cancer and over 600 thousand will die of cancer this year. As shocking as the numbers are in aggregate, they do not tell the whole story because the entire story is composed of millions of individual stories, with each representing a unique person, their family, friends, and everyone with whom they interact. The ultimate reach of these diseases that we collectively call cancer is millions of people at any one time. And yet, each patient, though surrounded by loved ones and support systems, is still alone in their feelings in a way that others cannot quite comprehend.

In this book, Anna Fitch Courie gives us some insight into the effects that cancer has at the personal level. Beyond the statistics, this book allows the reader to see up close the thoughts and fears, challenges and concerns that are all but universal as each person faces their disease. Thought-provoking, frank, and uncompromisingly honest, the words on these pages reflect the truth as faced by a woman confronting this difficult ordeal. And though we in medicine are beginning to have great success in many areas where we battle cancer, the hard and frightening work of these battles is being waged by Anna and millions like her who must confront this enemy.

This book will have familiar tones for those who are facing or have faced such an ordeal themselves. As such, it can serve as a valuable resource for those patients who are looking for answers in areas where even the questions are not easily formed. Sharing in Annas journey can provide a comfort to other patients in knowing that they are not alone in their questions of medicine, life, and even faith.

For caregivers, family, and loved ones, this book serves as an indispensable guide to let us see beyond the diagnosis, beyond the treatment options, beyond the prognosis. Indeed, through Annas generosity and sharing, the reader sees the person who must deal with all the issues that this disease brings. Though her journey is personal and unique, Annas questions, struggles, and even answers will resonate with others who have trod their own difficult paths. This universality of emotions gives these words applicability in other lives.

The book is not always easy to readthe subject matter is difficult and frightening by definition. But the struggle that Anna wages ultimately is ennobling and gives the reader a sense of hope even in the dark times. I recommend this book to all who are personally or peripherally confronted with cancer as a means to share in the humanity of these experiences and better understand what each patient faces in their own personal struggle.

Dr. Ben Emanuel

Anatomic Pathology & Clinical Pathology

Anderson, South Carolina

I am a nerd. I love epic stories. I love fantasy, science fiction, action, and adventure. Upon reflection, it is not necessarily the genre itself that calls to meit is the plot formation where the good guy (or gal) wins the battle. I like heroes and heroines. I like good versus evil, and I love happy endings.

When I sat down to write The Adventures of Cancer Girl and God, I wanted more than anything to be the hero of my own story. I want desperately to win out over cancer and beat the snot out of this evil disease. That wasnt in the cards I was dealt. I have a type of cancer that is chronic. I dont get to get rid of it. Its a part of me. My wellness depends completely on how well I take care of myself and manage my disease on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes I rock my cancer world, and other days, it gets the better part of me. Through my journey, Ive learned tricks for dealing with living with disease; one of those tricks is visioning how I want to see myself.