Days Like These

Kristian Anderson with Rachel Anderson

HarperCollins, $19.95

Kristian Anderson began his journal with these words:

Let me bring you up to speed.
I have cancer.
In the bowel and liver.
I am 34 years old.
I have a beautiful wife and two boys under three years of age.

He then chronicled his journey through grief, treatment, the support of friends, family and strangers, comments from insensitive but well meaning people, meeting Oprah, travelling overseas and his fears, hopes and faith.

Rachael, Kristian’s wife, also tells her side of the journey and the steps she took to cope.

There is no happy ending, no miraculous cure in Days Like These, but Kristian found and made meaning and purpose in the last years of his life.

He made a video on YouTube for Rachel’s 35th birthday, which was viewed by almost 400,000 people.

He found comfort in Leonard Cohen’s songs, the Bible and prayer. He lobbied successfully for the drug Erbitux to be subsidised. Most importantly, he kept a blog which he used to write this book.

Days Like These is a wonderful book; well written, gripping, even funny at times. It’s a wonderful legacy to Kristian’s family, friends and readers he will never meet.

It also helps children with cancer. The publisher is making a donation to Bear Cottage for every copy of this book sold. Bear Cottage is a hospice that helps families care for a child who has a life-limiting illness.

Katy Gerner