Dangerously Well

How do you respond when someone you know and love is struck down with a rare life-threatening cancer? That person is still very much alive and needs expert care, attention, and support during years of adjusting, relearning, and rehabilitation. This happens to thousands of Australians and their families every year. It is usually hidden and rarely talked about, but it is common, costly, and devastating. How do we and the person involved handle it?

Leading surgeon Dr. Chris O’Brien believed that the most aggressive and disabling cancers could be treated in ways that make it possible for people to live longer or, at best, be cured. His work led to the establishment of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in Camperdown NSW in 2013. The Lifehouse changed the way cancer care was delivered, all while Dr O’Brien was facing his own inevitably lethal brain cancer.

Author Roger Rees’ close connection with the Lifehouse began in 2018 when his dear friend Anne Marks was diagnosed with a rare type of salivary gland cancer. Dangerously Well is an elegant testament to Anne’s journey—and those of other patients—from good health to the end of life through the remarkable palliative care given by doctors at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

In this book, Roger offers valuable insights for patients, medical professionals, and families. He explores delayed diagnosis, that which Anne experienced for years, and raises questions at the heart of what should be best medical practice. He also bears witness to medicine at its finest and talks of the remarkable friendships between doctors and patients.

Anne Marks passed away in June 2024. Roger writes Dangerously Well in her memory.