Miracle Ride by "Tzipi Caton"

cookielady

Sun, Jul 06 2008, 8:18 pm

I read the book. It was great, Very acurate about how others react to ilness as well as ppls idea of chessed when its not necessarily the recipients idea of bikur cholim etc. I also really appreciated the honesty in the book, not attempting to gloss over real issues that take place when a person is going thru an illness, how the family is affected, etc.

"Michal" Im so glad you posted, I have always had a hard time understanding when people put so much effort into keeping an illness a secret, I feel like maybe the effort takes away from their healing. Im very interested to hear more about what you have to say about this topic. I'm also very happy to see you posting and I take that as a sign you are doing well, I hope.

↑ Cdlf ↓

Sun, Jul 06 2008, 8:24 pm

Michal, did you want to keep your illness a secret or was it bec. of pressure from your family? Was it bec. of Shidduchim? Would you advise others to keep their illness a secret? Do you wish you could've told people or not?

morahg

Sun, Jul 06 2008, 8:37 pm

bjjgirl5767 wrote:

hi everybody. I am "michal" from tzipi caton's book, miracle ride.
I'd love to hear what you specifically liked from the book!

"Michal," I admire your courage. Everyone has to handle their challenges in the way that works best for them. May Hashem grant you good health till 120!

↑ scb88 ↓

Sun, Jul 06 2008, 10:14 pm

hi it's michal again.
so nice to hear from all of you!
yes, b'h, I am "all better", and actually married!
I dont know if this came across in the book, as I was only a minor character in it, but I did want it kept quiet. not many knew. I would never, ever go public in a bandanna as tzipi did. not bec of shidduchim or anything else. basically, I was a popular, top girl academically and socially, and did not want to become a nebbach case overnight. also, truthfully, I am not the type of person to waltz into school one day and announce my life story to all.
was it really hard to do what I did? yes. am I happy I dealt with it that way? certainly.
if I would have a repeat experience would I deal the same way again? hard to say... im not a teenager anymore... I dont know.
would I recommend keeping it quiet? tzipi and I have had many good-natured arguments on the subject. I see the pros of each side... to each his own.
hatzlacha to you all! I'd love to hear more from you all....
you can check out tzipi's blog - jacancerpatient.blogspot.com

momto4 ↓

Mon, Jul 07 2008, 9:24 pm

I LOVED the book. I read it over one shabbos. some interesting things that struck me was the fact that tzipi made it sound like haveing cancer was so not a big deal to her. she wrote so humorously about everything she went thru. "michal" I was so happy when I read in the book that u were ok. it sounded like u had a very bleak prognosis and I am so happy that u r B"H better and married too! I was kind of surprized that tzipi got married. she was definately young but I can kind of understand where she felt like she wouldnt be able to fit in and be a regular teenager in school again. all in all it was a great book and tzipi seems like an amazing person!

↑ scb88 ↓

Mon, Jul 07 2008, 9:56 pm

it's michal again.
in the book, it's not true. I wasn't really in remission right after tzipi's wedding... but it helped make a good ending lol. b'h though I'm over it, and married now. tzipi really is a great person - im lucky to be such good friends with her! we are both teachers and have alot in common besides cancer b'h.

im so glad everyone likes the book! I felt so weird letting tzipi put so much personal information about me out there, but I see that it was well worth it!

star ↓

Mon, Jul 07 2008, 10:02 pm

Hey, I'm new to posting, but I'm Tzipi from the book. I guess if Michal can post so can I. Smile

Thank you to everyone for liking the book!

Michal and I always talk about the different ways we dealt with our illnesses and I think we decided that we each had to do what was best for us. It's that simple. We don't judge anyone who handles it differently. When dealing with a rough time in life you discover things about yourself very quickly. Each person has to take their strengths and use them to help them through a challenge.

We both though knew that writing this book and getting our stories out there was going to be very hard personally because it would mean that people were going to feel free to judge us and what we went through and maybe disagree with us or whatever, but so far B"H the response has been very positive and I'm so happy we did it because it looks like a lot of people out there needed to hear what we had to say.

Thanks again!

HappyPurim

Mon, Jul 07 2008, 10:28 pm

I loved the book, (I usually never read) but couldnt put down the book from the minute I started it,
the saddest part is when you sound so bubbly the whole time, and when you break down a couple of times crying, it was so surreal, good luck to both of you.

↑ momto4 ↓

Tue, Jul 08 2008, 12:51 pm

thank you "tzipi" and "michal" for posting! I feel like I "know" you guys just from reading the book. I also wanted to add that I really liked the part at the end that if I remember correctly was written by michal. it was about how we can still become stronger to Hashem without having to get the nisayon of having cancer. I think it was something along those lines. it really made a very strong impression on me. thank you!

ILOVELIFE

Tue, Jul 08 2008, 2:03 pm

I loved the book! I actually have two copies one for home and one at my org's office.

'Tzipi' I think I met you at some point. You subbed when I was teaching with your dh's niece. You wld never remember me but I certainly didn't forget you! You were so normal and were throwing comments around the teacher's room that were so me!

↑ star ↓

Thu, Jul 10 2008, 1:30 pm

ILOVELIFE wrote:

I'd probably know you by face if not by name, cos I don't think you go by ILOVELIFE in school!

Zeeskeit

Thu, Jul 10 2008, 1:58 pm

I just finished the book - UNBELIEVABLE....."Tzipi", I was totally inspired and uplifted when reading about your exp. I couldn't believe the story you wrote about that happened in the grocery - I still can't imagine that there are ppl like that out there, and thought you handled it VERY APPROPRIATELY!

I'm also amazed at how you and "Michal" handled the situation sooooo differently but it was apparant that this was best for each of you - I found that very interesting....

Just to mention, there ARE some teenagers out there who feel mature beyond their peers without experiencing such life altering situations....they have a hard time finding friends and participating in "normal" teenage activities/conversations they find petty and shallow. Many of their peers view them as "weird" and they are very often isolated from society or find themselves older friends with whom to socialize.