Factfulness - Things Are Better Than You Think

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

 Author: Hans Rosling

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publication Date: April 3, 2018

Length: 341 pages









About the Author
Hans Rosling was a medical doctor, professor of international health and renowned public educator. Mr. Rosling died in 2017, having devoted the last years of his life to writing Factfulness. 

"We are on the cusp of immense possibilities".
Hans Rosling believes that we are, historically speaking, at the best possible time in human history. 

Mr. Rosling bases his claims on publicly available data compiled by organizations like the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the World Bank.

Many people think the world is divided into two types of countries: developed and developing. This approach of dividing the world into two categories is now outdated and fundamentally wrong. It blindly labels countries as rich and poor and this leads to people making some poor assumptions about the problems the rest of the world may be facing.

There are about seven billion people living in the world today. The author divided the world into the following four levels of income;

• Level 1: Average income per person is about $1 per day. Roughly 1 billion people in the world live like this today.
• Level 2: Average income per person is about $4 per day. About 3 billion people in the world fall into this category.
• Level 3: Average income per person is about $16 per day. About 2 billion people in the world are in this situation.
• Level 4: Average income per day is about $64 per day. About 1 billion people in the world fall in this category.

A vast majority of the world's population is spread out across Levels 2 and 3. This is a much more accurate way to look at the world than the popular "we" vs. "them" narrative.

My Thoughts

I learned about this book on Bill Gates' blog and decided to put in a request for this selection at my public library. I waited several months for the opportunity to read this book but found it well worth the wait.

I believe this book is extremely interesting and informative. Mr. Rosling provides many charts and graphs that illustrate the data he has collected about the living conditions of people around the world. In terms of health, nutrition, income, vaccination, sanitation, and many other parameters, the world is in much better shape than ever before.

I agree with the author that the selective reporting of "bad news" in the media has led us into an extremely negative mindset. Unfortunately, the media does not highlight the positive aspects adequately and we end up suffering from an irrational fear that the world is becoming increasingly dangerous. Our journalists need to develop a less dramatic and more fact-based method of reporting world events.

This book is not attempting to provide us with an unrealistically glowing vision of the world. Instead, it uses facts and hard data to show us that although there are serious problems in the world, we are still much better off than many of us imagine.

Bill Gates described this book as "one of the most important books I have ever read...an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world". This book was a real eye-opener for me. Highly recommended!

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5

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Cancer Patient Dies With Dignity

Dying Well: Our Journey of Love and Loss

Author: Susan Ducharme Hoben

Publisher: Canton Press

Publication Date: March 18, 2018

Length: 290 Pages




About the Author
Susan Ducharme Hoben feels passionately that we Americans do not die well, taking a terrible toll on us, emotionally and financially. She hopes that her experience with an uplifting end-of-life journey can contribute a valuable perspective to the growing interest in exploring how we die. 

An Uplifting End-Of-Life Journey
Susan Hoben was a breast cancer survivor. 

In 2008. Bruce Hoben was diagnosed with a tumor where the esophagus joins the stomach. Bruce was 67-years-old and appeared to be in excellent physical condition.

Bruce was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor. There was also significant disease in the lymph nodes and four nodules on the liver. Bruce had stage 4 cancer and the prognosis was not good.

Bruce received chemotherapy treatments and experienced a brief remission. When the cancer came back, the Hobens decided to refuse any further treatments and let the disease run it's course. This is their story.

My Thoughts
This book was written in the form of a personal diary or journal.

Mrs. Hoben wrote about her husband's final months with love, compassion and empathy. This book is truly a celebration of life.

Bruce Hoben spent his final weeks saying goodbye to former coworkers, neighbors, friends and family members. The family events and interactions were especially heart-warming and poignant.

Mr. Hoben did not spend his final days in a hospital undergoing extreme measures that would put his quality of life in jeopardy. He was under the care of his physician and a hospice service, but he stayed at home with his loved ones.

Bruce Hoben passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on June 15, 2009. 

This book is an excellent resource for families who are facing end-of-life decisions. We will all have to face our own deaths and the deaths of loved ones. This book provides many important subjects to think about.  Highly recommended!

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5


FYI ~ I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

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A Transplant for the Cure - Tomorrow

Sign pointing to the Bone Marrow Transplant area
at the University of Kansas Medical Center

Tomorrow is Day Zero for our long-awaited stem cell transplant. The past two days have been filled with clinic visits and a little sight-seeing on the side.

I have been plagued with sinus problems since I arrived in Kansas City. A bit of stuffiness in my head turned into a painful earache, pressure in my neck, and jaw pain. At times it felt like my teeth would fall out. I have been taking two Neupogen shots a day for the past four days, and I think this has aggravated my head problems.

The nurse at the clinic told me that I could only take Extra-Strength Tylenol for the pain. After much discussion, a doctor prescribed a 14 day supply Amoxicillin. I don't know if I really have an infection, or if my ear/head ailments are side effects of the Neupogen shots. It appears they are going to take my stem cells and then send me home sick.

Tomorrow, I report to the BMT Apheresis room at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Lois will drive me to the hospital for my 7:00am appointment. The nurses will check my veins and determine if they can take the stem cells from my arms. I am hoping and praying they will be able to do this. I will then sit in a dentist-style chair for four to five hours while they take blood out of one arm and put the unused blood back in my other arm. The apheresis machine will filter out the needed stem cells.

If they can't use the veins in my arms, I will have to have a line surgically inserted into my chest. The blood will then be take from the line, filtered through the apheresis machine, and then back to me through the line in my chest. A nurse called today and said that if I have to have the line in my chest, they will keep me in the hospital for one night. They will then harvest more stem cells the next day. 

The long hallway to the Apheresis area of the hospital.

Karen's schedule tomorrow includes a visit to the BMT clinic in the morning, radiation treatment at the KU Medical Center Hospital in the afternoon and the stem cell transplant at the hospital in the evening. She will then be sent home for the night and report back to the BMT clinic on Wednesday morning. That is the plan, if all goes well.

I will be very glad when this is over and Karen has a brand new immune system to fight any remaining cancer cells in her body. Many patients consider a stem cell transplant as a type of "birthday", a fresh start.

I know that many, many of our family and friends have been praying for us and the success of the stem cell transplant. I want to thank each one of you and tell you that we know you are with us in your thoughts and prayers. The next few weeks will be critical in Karen's recovery, so please continue to keep us in your prayer.

I want to especially thank my Uplifters Life Group from First Baptist Church, Conroe, Texas. They have been supporting me in prayer every step of the way.

 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalms 23; 6. 

A Transplant for the Cure - Transplant Countdown

Karen is keeping detailed medical records for the transplant.

We are only three days away from transplant. The time is going very fast. We had a good day today. I had my third and fourth Neupogen shots this morning. They were injected into my stomach but did not sting and burn as much as yesterday. I think I had the first day jitters yesterday, but today was much better. The only side-effects that I am feeling from the Neupogen are a series of headaches. My head is also congested and I have a cough, but this could be from a change in climate and environment. I have been taking Extra-Strength Tylenol for the headaches and it helps a great deal.

Karen received a breathing treatment and her second pre-transplant chemotherapy treatment this morning. She is feeling amazingly well during these treatments. The transplant is entirely outpatient so Karen will not spend any time in the hospital.

This is how Karen recently described her transplant in a Facebook post;
The stem cell process is a relatively simple one. Janette will get some shots of Neupogen to cause her morrow to release more stem cells into her blood. Then they will hook her up to an apheresis machine that will filter out her stem cells and give her back the rest of her blood. Then they will give me the stem cells though an iv and they will graft into my morrow and start killing the cancer cells. They have found it is no longer necessary to completely destroy my immune system before giving the new cells, just suppress it. Since our HLA codes and blood types are identical, I am believing and expecting this new immune system to develop successfully with no infections or rejection issues. Bless the Lord who heals all my diseases and redeems my life from destruction. Goodness and mercy will follow me through this valley right to the next mountain top. I will start 3 days of chemo today, one day off then a full body radiation followed by the infusion of the new cells. Believe with me for supernatural protection from the side effects of the chemo and radiation.

Lois Crane is standing outside the KU Cancer Clinic

Lois (our younger sister) and I had to leave the treatment room this morning while Karen received her breathing treatment. We used this time to explore the KU Cancer Clinic building. We went outside the front door and took a picture of Lois standing by the name of the clinic. We then sat down on a bench, and decided to take a selfie of the two of us with our shades on. A nice man walked by and asked us if we would like for him to take our picture. What fun!

When we returned home from the clinic, Karen wanted to take a nap. Lois and I went to an Italian restaurant and had a big pasta meal. I was feeling very energetic UNTIL I got back to the house. A full belly and an inviting bed was all I needed to take a little power nap. I dozed-off for about two hours, and felt refreshed and restored when I got up.

Sisters - Janette and Lois.

Tomorrow is Sunday. We have an appointment at the Cancer Clinic at 10:00am for Karen to get her final pre-transplant chemotherapy treatment. I will get my third set of Neupogen shots.

Before I close, I want to mention an outstanding book I read on my Kindle. The title of the book is, "My Cancer, My Faith; One Man's Battle With Cancer, and His Reliance on Faith During His Journey" by Jim Davis. I would like to end with a quote from this book;

"If you are ever feeling down, or feeling that life has taken a recent turn for the worse, just take a couple of hours sitting in the waiting area outside a chemotherapy treatment center. It won't take long for you to see that things could be a lot worse, a whole lot worse." 

A Transplant for the Cure - Finding a Donor

Karen Luehrmen, Janette Luehrman Fuller, Lois Luehrman Crane.
The Cancer Treatment Center of America in Tulsa is in the background.

Many changes were coming in 2014. Karen had been living with CLL/SLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma)  for six years. She decided it was time to leave her job at Joyce Meyer Ministries and move back to our childhood home in Higginsville, Missouri.

She sold her house in St. Louis and completed the move by mid-July. She was feeling good and enjoyed helping our mother on the farm.

In November, Karen was feeling symptoms of the disease and knew that it was back. She decided to make an appointment with a doctor at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa. Her new doctor strongly encouraged her to consider an allogeneic stem cell transplant.

In March of the next year, Lois and I decided to accompany Karen to her doctor appointment in Tulsa. Even though Karen had not decided to have a transplant, the doctor wanted to have Lois and I tested to see if we were a match. An allogeneic transplant uses cells from a volunteer donor. The chance that any one sibling would be a perfect match (that is, that you both received the same set of HLA antigens from each of your parents) is 1 out of 4.

When the results of the testing came in, Lois was a 50% match and I was a PERFECT MATCH!

I was totally shocked when I heard that I would be a donor for my sister's stem cell transplant. I don't even give blood! At the age of 62, I was unprepared for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give the gift of life.

However, Karen was still not convinced that a transplant was the right choice for her future treatment. She posted the following message on Facebook the week after we received the results of the donor testing.

Now that you know how my family feels, I would like to speak for myself. I originally received a diagnoses of CLL-SLL in 2008. For the past 7 years, I have had oncologists tell me there is no cure and eventually I will have to die from this. This doctor says a bone morrow transplant will cure the disease but can only offer a 50% chance that it will be successful. The other option is to continue using chemo to attack the disease until it is no longer effective and I die from the disease.
Now, I am not against doctors and medical science but they are NOT God. This is what He (Jesus, my Lord and Savior) has to say about my situation:
Exodus 15:26 "...for I am the Lord that healeth thee".
Ps. 118:8 "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."
Ps. 103: 2 - 5 "Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits: Who FORGIVES all your iniquities; who HEALS ALL YOUR DISEASES; who REDEEMS your life from destruction; who CROWNS you with loving kindness and tender mercies; who SATISFYS your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles".
Is 53:4 - 5 "Surely he hath borne our sicknesses and carried our pains; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But HE WAS WOUNDED for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes WE ARE HEALED".
Matthew 9:35 "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching...and preaching...and HEALING EVERY sickness and EVERY disease among the people".
I Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by who stripes ye WERE HEALED.
Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by FAITH in the Son of God, who loved me and gave HIMSELF for me.
Col. 1: 13 Jesus HAS delivered me from the power of darkness and translated me into the kingdom of the Son of His love
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death
Prov. 4:20 - 22 "My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings; do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for THEY ARE MEDICINE to those who find them and HEALTH to ALL their FLESH.
Mark 11:22-23 Have faith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.
Mark 9:23 IF you can believe, ALL THINGS are possible to him who believes.
Jesus said the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus has already carried my disease in his body and by his stripes, I AM healed. Circumstances come to exalt themselves above the knowledge of God but I will NOT tremble in fear at the lies of the devil. He has already been defeated and I have the victory. Healing is mine and I will NOT allow him to steal it from me.
My request is that you stand on these scriptures with me and pray in agreement with me that the manifestation of my total and complete healing will be verified and documented through medical test by this doctor, that she may come to know the God who brought about this miracle. Gods timing is perfect and He is never late. Praise His holy name! Greater is He who lives in me, than he that is in the world!!

This Facebook message demonstrates the strength of Karen's faith in the healing power of Jesus Christ. The time would soon come when she realized that God uses doctors to assist in His healing work.

Book Review: What Really Matters; 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying

A "perfect storm" is brewing for 79 million members of the baby boom generation, according to Colorado physician Karen Wyatt. With advancing age, these individuals must cope with the passing of their parents while also confronting the inevitability of their own death.
"What Really Matters; 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying" by Karen M. Wyatt, M.D., is a collection of stories about dying patients and their insights on living and dying.


About The Author
Karen M. Wyatt is a family physician who has spent her 25 year medical career working with patients in challenging settings, such as hospices, nursing homes and indigent clinics. She has founded a free medical clinic in a homeless shelter, accompanied three medical mission teams to Honduras, and led a non-profit clinic for the uninsured in its growth from a 4-hour per week all-volunteer operation to a full-time, full-service medical center.

7 Lessons For Living
This book was written by a physician who has spent many years caring for hospice patients. She wrote this book to share the life lessons that she learned from her patients. The lessons are based on seven statements that Jesus Christ uttered on the cross;

• The meaning of Suffering "I thirst."
• Love and recognizing life's priorities "Woman behold your son; behold your mother."
• Forgiveness and letting go of limiting beliefs and past traumas "Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing."
• Paradise "Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise."
• The true Purpose of existence "My God, my God for this I was kept (this was the destiny for which I was born.)"
• Surrender and the key to unlocking the flow of grace "O my Father, into thy hands I commit my Spirit."
• Impermanence and transcending fear "It is fulfilled."

This book uses verses from the Bible but it's spiritual focus is not limited to any particular religious belief. The book has a strong message for readers of any faith or philosophy.

The chapters in this book include case studies of specific patients that Dr. Wyatt has worked with in the past. These stories illustrate how patients and their family members can experience profound spiritual growth during the final days of life.

My Thoughts
I read this book because of the experiences that my family had with hospice care when my father suffered from congestive heart failure and passed away in October, 2010.

I found the case studies and the teachings in this book to be very poignant and touching. I found myself in tears many times as I read this book.

I think one of the hardest lessons to learn is that we will all die and that death is not to be feared. We must stop denying death and focus on living lives that really matter. The final chapter in this book provides ideas for implementing the "7 Lessons" in daily life. I think you will find much food for thought in this book. This book will inspire and motivate you to make some changes in your life.
Highly Recommended!

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I received a paperback copy of this book to read and review from the author's publicist. Thank you!

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