John Grisham says THE TUMOR is the most important book he has ever written. In this short book, he provides readers with a fictional account of how a real, new medical technology could revolutionize the future of medicine by curing with sound. THE TUMOR follows the present day experience of the fictional patient Paul, an otherwise healthy 35-year-old father who is diagnosed with a malignant brain … malignant brain tumor. Grisham takes readers through a detailed account of Paul’s treatment and his family’s experience that doesn’t end as we would hope. Grisham then explores an alternate future, where Paul is diagnosed with the same brain tumor at the same age, but in the year 2025, when a treatment called focused ultrasound is able to extend his life expectancy.
Focused ultrasound has the potential to treat not just brain tumors, but many other disorders, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, hypertension, and prostate, breast and pancreatic cancer.
For more information or to order a free hard copy of the book, you can visit The Focused Ultrasound Foundation’s website. Here you will find a video of Grisham on the TEDx stage with the Foundation’s chairman and a Parkinson’s patient who brings the audience to its feet sharing her incredible story of a focused ultrasound “miracle.”
Readers will get a taste of the narrative they expect from Grisham, but this short book will also educate and inspire people to be hopeful about the future of medical innovation.
more
Everyone needs to read this book. It discusses focused ultrasound radiation as opposed to regular chemo and radiation. Cancer is prevalent in all walks of life, no one is immune so having read this book, should I or any of my loved ones receive the diagnosis, we will be looking for a physician who recommends focused therapy.
The name John Grisham is sure to catch eyes; however, this work, The Tumor, is completely unrelated to his previous books. Grisham states that this is his most important work. He presents the case of a family man born in 1980 who develops brain cancer, and his story is a sad one. Next, Grisham rewinds the tale in a fascinating way and asks the question, What if this man had been born ten years later?
In a form of reimagined history, he goes through this man’s altered history, one that is brighter due to his updated birth year. How is this so? Well, a new medical procedure is available to this man of a later generation: focused ultrasound.
This medical technology is real. Grisham offers this story to give patients hope. He explains through the use of a fictional man’s story how his life would change through the use of the new technology. He would live longer, his ordeal in the hospital would be quicker and easier, and he would save a lot of money.
This is a quick story but an interesting one. It is bringing to light a new medical breakthrough that people could ask their doctors about.
Inspiring bit incredibly sad
John Grisham, known for his legal thrillers, made a detour in The Tumor: A Non-legal Thriller. It’s very short—74 printed pages—though I read it on my Kindle.
The story begins with Paul, born in 1980 and now 35 years old, his wife, Karen, and their children. The family lives a normal, busy life. Paul is healthy, active, doesn’t smoke and takes no medication.
One day Paul suddenly experiences a grand-mal seizure and is rushed to the hospital. In looking back, Paul and Karen realize that he has been gradually showing unusual symptoms. He has headaches, has difficulty concentrating at work, becomes irritable, and at times experiences blurred vision.
Tests reveal that Paul has a brain tumor about the size of an egg, a type known as a glioma. Surgery is the only solution and the operation takes about three hours. Gliomas are graded one through four, with one and two benign; three and four malignant. Paul’s is a four and his chances of survival for more than five years are slim. Grisham goes into some detail about the actual surgery, the findings, the recovery, the recurring symptoms and the grim prognosis.
Had Paul been born in 1990 and diagnosed with the brain tumor at age 35, his story could be rewritten. With focused ultrasound technology, it is possible to have a non-invasive therapeutic treatment that will improve outcomes and decrease the cost of care. In addition to brain tumor treatment, focused ultrasound treatment is in development to treat many other diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and tumors of the liver, pancreas and lung.
John Grisham believes this book is the most important he’s ever written. He is an active member of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation (https://www.fusfoundation.org/). The Foundation’s mission is “To accelerate the development and adoption of focused ultrasound.” The book refers the reader to different aspects of the foundation’s functions to find treatment centers, learn about clinical trials, and how to become active in the support of the foundation and its goals.
I found The Tumor, published 2016, enlightening and well-written. I admire the author’s departure from writing best-selling legal thrillers to applying his impressive talent toward furthering a technology aimed at saving or improving lives.
Wonderful way to inform people about a very important subject.
Really a nice book about brain cancer.
The story is about a man with brain cancer. It goes through his actual treatment, diagnosis, and eventual death from the tumor as treatment stands in 2015. The story then talks about what his treatment and prognosis might have been had he been diagnosed in 2025 instead using ultrasound therapy to remove the tumor and treat the patient. Instead of living 8 months in pain and agony, the patient could have lived 10 years or more – seen his children grow up. The results are the same – glioblastomas are still not a survivable cancer, but his life would have been longer and a better quality.
This was such a fast book. Not much to think about it, really, since there wasn’t much content. The story about Peter – the patient with the glioblastoma – was good….and very sad. And the idea that a new technology could prolong a person’s life from 1 year to 10 is an astronomical feat. To know we are on the verge of such science is encouraging.
I would not buy this book because it is so short. But right now you can read it for free on your Kindle through Amazon. So check it out.
I had no idea how focused ultrasound could be used to shrink tumours. Very informative and easy-to-understand. I hope the ultrasound can be approved for more widespread use.
The Tumor by John Grisham is more like a hospital brochure on focused ultrasound. Focused ultrasound is a new treatment for a lot of tumorous cancers. Focused ultrasound is in its infancy, so there is a great need to inform people of this new treatment. This brochure was very informative and gives new hope for people who suffer from cancerous tumors.
Interesting book.
I did not care for it, to me it was advertising