Difficult Gifts

Book excerpt: When Courtney, a young American physician studying medicine in Thailand, began to experience unexplainable neurological symptoms, the last thing she expected was to diagnose herself with a malignant brain tumor. Difficult Gifts is an honest, intimate, and liberating memoir written by a physician who becomes a patient. At first filled with sadness, she learns she can also find joy. Facing mortality before the age of thirty, she finds courage rather than fear. Through it all, she shares how to embrace the life we have been given. With daring honesty, this new writer teaches us the value of a difficult gift: a gift that teaches us, motivates us, changes us, and inspires us. Using lessons learned as a physician, a patient, an avid reader, and a student of Buddhist wisdom, Courtney shares how sometimes, suffering can open a door to happiness, and through dying, we can learn to fully live.