Pain Killers and Gummy Bears is a very high value read, and it is my perception that most people should read it. When you finish the book, you will be a more able father, mother, sister, brother, friend, or neighbor. You will not stop until you finish. This is a gripping story of what it means to be a family, a brother, and a parent. This is an emotionally gut-wrenching, “hard realities of life”, deeply intelligent “documentary” of one family’s desperate medical war to save their young teenage boy, Christopher.
Christopher and his mother, Gail, wrote this book; a joint effort that began haphazardly during his fight for life. So powerfully written, and yes sometimes a painful read, but painful in an enlightening way. As you read, you feel yourself learning how to be a better, more able person. Gail (co-author) is an obviously strong, exceptionally able mother, who in sad irony is an accomplished cardiac specialty nurse.
I called my sister as I finished and put down the book, and said: “You have to read this! We always think that we are clever enough to understand someone else's ordeal. I will never ever consider myself able to understand, fully understand what someone else is experiencing when they face something so grave as what this family lived through with Christopher's illness. This book redefined my concept of "empathy". And, of course I am better able to understand all families so stricken. I told my sister we needed to pass this along within the family and to friends. We have.
The authors (plural) share the raw emotion of a medical journey filled with every kind of pain and worry imaginable. The journal entries made by Christopher are not only evidence of his amazingly bright intellect; they are so very human. His brother, Jeff’s participation in this journey is something few young men ever experience, much less, manage with strength, love, humor, and impossible responsibility. What is additionally appreciated is the blending of a mother’s journey with that of her sons’.
I am a very picky reader. If I start a book and it is fluff, or I feel the author has not learned enough about life to be putting thoughts in print, I will pitch the book in the trash in a second. This book is the real deal, written by a real person who knows about life and loss. We learn from such people.
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K. scott
Wonderful testimony to love, suffering and hope
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2021