In Danger A Memoir of Family and Hope

by Dietrich, Josepha

• ISBN13: 9780702259876
• ISBN10: 070225987X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-07-01
• Publisher: University of Queensland Press

Summary

One woman’s powerful story of how her mother’s death saved her life. When Josepha Dietrich was 21, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Years later, after her mother’s death, the disease reared up in Josie’s own cells. She was 35, and her high-needs son was not yet one. As the daughter of a woman who had sought out alternatives to conventional medicine, Josie used her own knowledge and her mother’s experience to find solutions for herself. Later, with what she’d learnt, she also helped her son rise out of his autistic state. Capturing Josie’s energy and force-of-nature personality, In Danger tells of her journey through breast cancer, exploring disease and the human condition, and shedding light on life’s darker aspects. At its heart, this moving memoir delves deep into how it feels when everything you love is in danger.

Author Biography

Josepha (Josie) Dietrich is an English immigrant to Australia. She lives in Brisbane in the home that she and her partner built on Passive House principles. After coming out of a long reign of being a carer, she’s worked as a research assistant for universities on projects to improve psychiatric discharge planning and women’s wellness after cancer. Her prior long-term work was in the After Hours Child Protection Unit, assessing children’s risk of harm alongside the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit of Victoria Police. To remain sane during this period, she flitted off overseas for months at a time to climb cliff faces while sleeping on beaches or in abandoned shepherds’ huts. After her cancer treatments finished and in light of her experience caring for her dying mother, Josie joined the advisory committee of CanSpeak Queensland as a cancer and consumer advocate.