Just Carole: True Story of Carole Baker

by Marianne Hancock (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1996

  $8.81

  Beginning in Tanzania in 1980, the story tells of carole Baker's triumph over Hodgkin's Disease. Originally form Leicester, Carole and her family lived in Dar-es-Salaam while her husband Nick completed an overseas contrat. An avid ornithologist, Nick fell in love with another woman who shared his interest and eventually confessed his affair to Carole who was naturally devastated. Carole had just discovered some lumps in her neck. The swollen lymph nodes were diagnosed to be the tumours of Hodgkin's Disease, a relentless, rapid and (less commonly now) often fatal form of cancer. Carole had to return to Leicester to undergo a year of radiotherapy and chemotherapy leaving her husband and children behind. The story guides the reader through Carole's treatment and experiences. The course of radiotherapy weakened her health and also showed irregularities in the lymph system. Consequently Carole had to undergo six chemotherapy treatments, the initial parts ofwhich made her violently sick. In addition, her medication caused uncomfortable bloating and giddiness. She was horrified when her doctor informed her that she would have to undergo three additional chemotherapy treatments, but after her sixth treatment of chemotherapy, a body scan revealed that Carole no longer had any cancer left in her body and she recieved no further therapy. Carole then returned to Tanzania where she tried to salvage the fragmented relationship with her husband, but the marriage had irretrievably broken down. Moreover, post treatment depression added to her unhappiness, so once more she returned to Leicester, this time with the children. Regular check-ups with her consultant in Leicester indicated Crole's continued good health. Although life continued with its ups and downs, the final triumph emerged when Carole's consultant at Leicester Royal Infirmary said that he no longer wished to see her.