Life Interrupted - A Memoir by Karina Stell
Life Interrupted — A Memoir by Karina Stell
‘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 follows her journey from her first cancer diagnosis through to her fourth and final diagnosis and, ultimately, palliation. She wrote this book for those who would find themselves on a similar journey, for the people who love them, and for those working in haematology and oncology who must never forget the importance of compassion and humanity in their care.
Karina passed away on 27 September 2018. Her story is her legacy.
The Road to Life Interrupted
Karina began writing Life Interrupted during her first remission from Hodgkin lymphoma in 2014. She continued to write for the next four years, through aggressive treatments, surgeries, hospital admissions, a further diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a stem cell transplant and, eventually, palliation. She believed her story could help others and worked tirelessly to complete it, writing until just a few weeks before she passed away in September 2018.
Throughout those years of treatment and relapse, Karina began a degree in Psychology and worked as a mindfulness therapist, helping others who were struggling. Although she passed away before she could complete her degree, she continued writing through palliation at home, determined to share her journey in the hope that others walking a similar path might find comfort, compassion and courage in knowing they were not alone.
Karina’s Journey
Life Interrupted tells the story of Karina’s experience with cancer - from her first gynaecological cancer through to Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her memoir chronicles her evolution from a patient who felt like an invisible number, at the mercy of other people’s decisions, to an empowered advocate for herself who learned the difference between blind compliance and trusting her own voice.
In 2016, Karina was told she had relapsed with Hodgkin lymphoma. When she felt unheard by her treating team, her newfound courage to advocate for herself led her to seek a second opinion.
That decision brought her to Dr David Joske, whose whole-person approach to cancer care changed the course of Karina’s journey. It ultimately led to the discovery that she had been misdiagnosed. Karina had not relapsed with Hodgkin lymphoma as her original team believed, but had developed a much rarer form of the disease: T-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
It was through this experience that Karina came to understand just how important it was to share her story - and how profoundly the experience of illness can change when a patient finds a team that listens and connects with them; one that walks beside them rather than in front of them, and recognises that the illness belongs to the person living it.
No matter the outcome, she believed every patient deserved that humanity.
Who Is It For?
Karina wrote Life Interrupted for everyone touched by cancer.
For those facing a similar journey, she wanted them to feel seen and understood. For the people who love them, she hoped her words might offer a deeper understanding of what that journey can feel like and how best to walk alongside them.
And for those working in haematology and oncology, she wanted her story to be a reminder of the enormous privilege of caring for someone who is fighting for their life - and of the importance of never losing compassion and humanity in that care.
Her greatest hope was to help humanise cancer treatment, so that patients would always be seen and respected as the human beings they are, rather than reduced to the disease or numbers that too often come to define them.
Your Purchase Will Help Fund Blood Cancer Research
When Karina relapsed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma following her stem cell transplant in 2018, there were no further treatment options available to her.
It was therefore her wish that all funds raised through sales of Life Interrupted go towards blood cancer research, in the hope that patients who reach the end of existing treatment options may one day have access to new, groundbreaking and life-saving treatments that were not available to her.
All funds raised from sales of Life Interrupted go to blood cancer research.
When you purchase the Life Interrupted + If You Were Here book bundle, you will receive 10% off, with $30 from every bundle donated to blood cancer research.
For more information about Karina’s chosen blood cancer foundations, click here.