You know your body more than anyone else does, if something doesn’t seem right, GO GET IT CHECKED OUT. Some people I have met through Instagram have been misdiagnosed for months and years, and it’s amazing how relentless they are to finding out what the heck is going on with their body. With that being said, sometimes you have to be an advocate for yourself and keep pushing your doctors for more tests and getting other opinions. I thought I had the flu and had been feeling well for only a week. She had a wide variety of symptoms and numerous misdiagnoses over the course of A YEAR. Suleika was nowhere near lucky as I was in the beginning. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do until something, aka your body, tells you to stop? When I was diagnosed with leukemia, I too had been living a life of going 100 mph. Reading the first few chapters about her life, her pre-cancer life, and how she had a wide variety of symptoms including extreme fatigue and anemia, all I could think about was how damn lucky I was and continue to be. And she had my type of cancer which only intensifies my reaction to her story. Whether they are better off or worse off than you, it can be a big mental game. One of the biggest reasons why I was hesitant to get the book at first was because sometimes it’s really hard to hear about other people’s cancer experiences. I tabbed almost 100 pages and underlined things that I felt were noteworthy. Ha, our lifestyles seemed pretty similar other than the fact that she was a senior in college when she started having symptoms, and I was 27 almost 28. But I did start the book and read the first few chapters of her life leading up to her diagnosis.

With those two factors, I didn’t end up reading that much while I was away. The getaway was not long enough, but filled with nice warm and sunny weather and I got to see some friends. I picked it up, read the back, front and back flaps, and decided to get it for my little getaway. I didn’t feel that it was the right time for me to read that book for many reasons.Ībout a month ago, I was running last minute errands before going to Maryland for a few days, and I saw the book in Target. To back up a little bit, I am very selective not only about what books I read, but WHEN I read books. I looked up her book and what it was about after a few people had told me it was about a woman named Suleika Jaouad ,who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in her early 20s just like me. On Sunday February 14th, my phone was blowing up with texts from friends and relatives asking if I saw the CBS Sunday Morning segment on Suleika Jaouad and her new book called “ Between Two Kingdoms”. “Your cancer friend will know if and when they want to read my book.” – Suleika Jauoad Suleika Jaouad’s first novel: “Between Two Kingdoms”

Beyond two kingdoms