Morphine and Malts: A Daughter's Path Through Her Father's Cancer, Caregiving, and Letting Go

MORPHINE AND MALTS — AMAZON BOOK DESCRIPTIONSome people love with lists and follow-up calls and showing up when it matters.That is how Natasha Warren loved her father.On May 9th, 2016, John Warren was diagnosed with Stage 4 Renal Pelvis Squamous Cell Carcinoma. He was given six months to two years. He lasted 105 days. In the space between the diagnosis and the night her father passed, Natasha became his primary caregiver — the one with the notebook, the one who asked the right questions, the one who drove the familiar stretch of road between Rockford and Hastings more times than she can count.Morphine and Malts is her account of those 105 days.It is a story about a big, tall, stubborn, steadfast man who could hear four notes of a jazz ballad and know exactly what song it was. Who sat in a chemo chair and started a conversation with a stranger and found the jazz connection within ten minutes. Who, on the drive home from the appointment that changed everything, said quietly and matter-of-factly that he wanted to stop treatment and go on hospice — and then took his daughters to Toledo for one last perfect day.It is also a story about what it means to be a caregiver and a daughter at the same time. About the particular exhaustion of loving someone who will not tell you when something is wrong. About the notebook that became a lifeline. About an oncology nurse who said conserve your energy for what you value most — and meant it for both of them.And it is a story about a clear August night, a path through the trees, a sky full of stars, and a shooting star that said everything that needed to be said.If you have ever sat in a waiting room with a prepared list of questions and a heart full of fear, this book is for you. If you have ever loved someone stubborn and brilliant and impossible to fully protect, this book is for you. If you have ever driven home in the dark after a long day and let yourself feel it, just for a little while — this book is for you.You are not alone in this. Read more