Remember Me: Living with Cancer: A Story of Life, Love, and Courage / Edward H Cantor

In 1971, Ed and Micki Cantor were married. Ed was a successful attorney in Connecticut. Micki carved out a successful career as a cable television advertising executive, retired in 1997, and attended graduate school at Yale to obtain a graduate degree in Archaeology.

In 2003, their peaceful retirement life was shattered. Micki was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer. During the next eight years, Micki faced four surgical procedures, chemotherapy, several hospitalizations, a lengthy period of remission, and an uncontrollable recurrence and decline, before she died in 2011. Ed became the primary caregiver and frustrated bystander. For eight years, Micki and Ed were caught up in the medical system and consumed by the cancer-its diagnosis, its treatment, its uncertainty, its pain, unpredictability and heartbreak.

Finally, Micki and Ed had to face the essential question: where does the struggle to prolong life end and a concern for the quality and dignity of remaining life prevail?

This is a story for all families and partners. It is a story of life and death. It is a story of a human journey.