ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Twice in her life, Joanna Giangardella beat the odds. In her previous book, Girl from the Tower, she recounts how she was born on the Greek island of Pergos and was separated from her family at the age of ten through a UNICEF adoption program. Finding herself in a dysfunctional family in America where she was not allowed to embrace her coming of age years in a normal fashion or even speak her own language, she had to rely on her own internal strength to rediscover herself and her birth family. Later in life, as the hard-working owner of a hair salon, Joanna discovered she had Stage IV Cancer. Her road to recovery meant battling medical misdiagnosis and dealing with her own worst fears. Now an artist and a nutritional consultant, Joanna actively supports cancer research and nutures others cursed with a similar diagnosis.
People deserve encouragement to listen to their intuition. Do not listen to one doctor, one prognosis--seek out your options. I didn't have information to help me understand what a patient goes through and what I could do or shouldn't do. I want to offer what information I have learned to others. Stage four, too, can often be treated, and miracles happen. In writing this book, I believe that my subjective experience and the knowledge I've gained on my journey of battling cancer, as well as in being an artist, will help others draw on their strengths to prevent or heal from illness.
"Dancing Skelton: A Journey through Stage IV Cancer" is one of the most inspiring, hopeful and riveting books of 2014, I highly recommend that everyone put this book on their most read list. Joanna, thank you for your courage and fortitude for giving hope to cancer victims, their families, and others. You are truly an Angel with a mission!
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