Book description:
GROWTH is about shattered expectations of motherhood.
GROWTH is about the collision of medical gaslighting and people-pleasing with a child's deterioration. What could possibly go wrong?
GROWTH is about a women's naive expectations of motherhood and her inability to speak up, even when her child's survival depend on it.
Karen is a happily married, slightly frazzled mother of two when her eight-year-old son, Matthew, develops a strange eye-rolling tic. Matthew’s tics quickly multiply. He becomes clumsy and lethargic, a gifted program dropout. Karen tries to get her husband and their pediatrician to acknowledge what’s happening, but they dismiss her concerns. As a people-pleaser, Karen lacks the skills to assert herself and stifles the growing dread in her heart. For three years, Matthew steadily deteriorates while Karen questions if she has the fortitude required of motherhood. Finally, desperation breaks through her fear of conflict, and she demands answers, only to be horrified by the truth.
Matthew has a brain tumor.
A delicate surgery and promise of complete recovery convince Karen her battle is over. But she is wrong. The ensuing years launch her on a journey of perseverance and personal growth she never imagined, teaching Karen just how weak she is--and then exactly how strong.
Taglines:
Can a woman who never learned to stand up for herself find the courage to speak up for her son?
What happens when “the most important job in the world” demands more than you have to give?
When medical gaslighting, people-pleasing, and a child's deterioration intersect, what could possibly go wrong?
People-pleasing is a liability when your child is sick.
Themes:
- People-pleasing; listening to your gut
- Societal and internalized expectations of mothers
- The education system’s expectations of children and parents
- Extreme demands of motherhood
- Childhood medical crises; mourning the loss of the child you knew
- Parenting a neurodiverse child;
- The healthcare system’s dismissal of women’s concerns
- Living with a mild cognitive impairment
- Binge eating disorder
- Perseverance. Love.
Target audiences:
- Mothers
- Women who struggle to speak up for themselves
- Parents of children with neurodiversity and educational challenges
- Individuals in the brain tumor/injury communities and their families
- Those who have fought to be heard in the healthcare system
- Readers who enjoy memoirs, medical mysteries, and inspirational stories
