Every now and then a book comes along that speaks directly to your heart.
Marala Scott’s Bad to the Bone takes you on a journey that started for David Tuccaro Jr. on Christmas Eve 2006, when the joy of the season turned into pain that changed his life forever.
The 25-year-old Miksew Cree from Fort McMurray, Alberta was diagnosed with late stage three leukemia. The need to belong and understand that belonging, weave their way through the book as David speaks to us of his battle with cancer.
Up until the age of 12, children have a far higher rate of responding to treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) than adults. Faced with these statistics, the doctors on that Christmas Eve were concerned that David wouldn’t live through the night.
In the midst of David’s extraordinary battle for life itself, he realizes he has internalized the emotions he felt over his adored mother divorcing his highly successful and sometimes distant father. His lack of self-esteem had defined his world view, but now the game had changed and he needed to save himself.
Bad To The Bone is a raw handbook for the heart that enlightens readers in nuanced and subtle ways about cancer, hospitals and the people who work in this industry of sadness and hope. Tuccaro shares insight into what it’s like for his 6’2” frame to be treated in a radiation machine designed for children:
“In the first position I’d lie on my back and stare at the ceiling to find a beach scene and several stickers of Disney characters on the light fixtures. They were probably there as a distraction for every one of the children that laid on that bed begging for a miracle. I wondered how many little eyes had stared at them in a desperate attempt to forget what they were going through. It worked for me. I remember staring at the ceiling, realizing I wasn’t feeling any pain.”
These words help the reader to see the world through two sets of eyes – those of the child and the young man. Throughout the book David works to demystify and decode his own deeply personal language, moving between shock and disbelief on one hand and pure joy on the other.
As we follow David’s journey we discover the importance of bone marrow transplants. After waiting for months for a bone marrow donor that shared his B+ blood type, one finally showed up. The doctors, however, were not optimistic about David’s bone marrow taking because of his poor health history.
David knew almost nothing about his donor. All he knew was that a donor has compassion that exceeds the boundaries of life and blocks the door to death for those not ready to walk through it. David was not ready for that; he was, however, ready to fight. David dedicated all his remaining strength to countering the side effects and damage of the drugs and treatments for leukemia. Once he’d beaten leukemia, he needed to acknowledge he was in remission. Remission meant he’d only beaten it for now, and the possibility of its return was a dark unknown.
David now had to heal the rest of himself. He had developed an addiction to many of the drugs that helped him fight the pain. After an intervention by his family, David booked into the Betty Ford Clinic and heeded the holistic teachings of Dr. Gary Ruelas.
In the years following his bone marrow transplant, David has become a champion for convincing the public of the urgent need for people to donate bone marrow. His story takes us through the uncertainty of finding a bone marrow donor and, after his successful match and procedure, his quest to find and ultimately meet the person who gave him the gift of life.
Bad to the Bone is a story within a story. David Tuccaro Jr. realized that he really wanted to live beyond the demons and insecurities of his youth. His battle with leukemia brought him face to face with his acceptance of life and a new reason to live. The body and soul of this book is his challenge to the world to encourage others to donate bone marrow and save lives.
Reading Bad to the Bone reaches into your heart and gives new meaning to walking in another man’s moccasins. We live his journey through leukemia and, as a result, gain a new perspective through the emotional, physical and spiritual eyes of a young man on a mission of hope.
Bad to the Bone – The true story of David Tuccaro Jr. by Marala Scott can be purchased on Amazon.ca.
