When I First Found Out I Had Cancer: Reflections on Living and Learning with a Serious Illness

Susan Sandler (Education reformer and licensed clinical social worker)

Sandler Press, Oct 19, 2020 - Glioblastoma multiforme - 71 pages

When I First Found Out I Had Cancer: Reflections on Living and Learning With a Serious Illness is a collection of personal essays by Susan Sandler, who chronicles her journey with brain cancer and offers insight to both her experience living with grade IV glioblastoma, as well as how she has learned to cope and even thrive since her diagnosis. A slim book brimming with quiet courage, vulnerability and hope, Sandler generously offers up her story with the intention of helping others feel less alone. "I am not sharing my story because I think I have some answer or path that helped me work through how painful this situation is," she writes. "I don't have an answer. But I do hope there is something in my story that some people might find relevant or helpful to their own situations."

About the author

Susan Sandler has spent 30 years working in the non-profit sector, primarily on issues of education reform and educational equity. She is also a licensed clinical social worker. In September 2016, Susan was diagnosed with grade IV glioblastoma. Having undergone successful surgery, followed by radiation and chemotherapy, the tumor returned in 2017. Once again, she underwent surgery, followed by radiation and then immunotherapy. September 2020 marked the four-year milestone since her diagnosis. Susan lives in San Francisco, California, with her husband Steve and their cat Sylvester.

Bibliographic information

• Title: When I First Found Out I Had Cancer: Reflections on Living and Learning with a Serious Illness
• Author: Susan Sandler (Education reformer and licensed clinical social worker)
• Publisher: Sandler Press, 2020
• ISBN: 0578788845, 9780578788845
• Length: 71 pages