Life Interrupted

‘I’ve decided to write this book, as painful as it is for me, because I know there are others, like me, who have faced the unimaginable, and wondered how to begin living their lives again… When I hear of any cancer story now, I don’t think of anatomy. I think about what it must have been like the day their life changed. The fear, the denial, the lack of hope that would come and go. I always want to internally say hello to them.

To say via my own wounded heart to theirs, ‘I know’.’ Karina Stell’s moving memoir details the journey from her first to her fourth and final cancer diagnosis through to her ultimate palliation. She wrote this book for everyone who would find themselves on a similar journey, for their loved ones, and for those who work in the haematology/oncology field who must never forget the importance of compassion and humanity in their care.

Karina passed away on 27th September 2018. Her story is her legacy.

About the Author

Karina Stell was a 60-year-old writer, therapist, mother of three daughters and doting grandmother. Karina was diagnosed with and fought three separate cancers, including Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma from 2009 before passing away in September 2018, a few weeks after completing her memoir, Life Interrupted. Throughout these years of treatment and relapse, Karina began her degree in Psychology and worked as a mindfulness therapist, to help others who were struggling.

Karina began writing her memoir, Life Interrupted , whilst in her first remission for Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015. Karina passed away before she could finish her Psychology degree, but through palliation at home, she persisted in completing her book so that she could share her journey with others in the hope that they might find comfort, compassion and courage in a journey only those who tread the path can every truly know.

It was Karina’s wish to share her story with others and for all money raised to go towards clinical trials and research to help find a cure for lymphoma.