Terminal Hope: What Cancer Taught Me About Living and Dying

Sharon Eagle

Nov 2017 · She Writes Press

About this ebook

How can anyone feel hopeful after learning she is fatally ill? Sharon Eagle seeks to answer that very question in Terminal Hope, which chronicles her experience with stage 4 lung cancer. After receiving her diagnosis, Eagle, a longtime nurse and educator, understands immediately that her cancer will probably kill her. What she can’t foresee is the remarkable wisdom she gains from the spiritual and emotional quest that her diagnosis sparks. As she navigates the land of cancer, seeking new purpose and meaning, Eagle discovers that her illness has a great deal to teach her. Among many other lessons, cancer inspires her to examine her own faith journey, rebuild relationships, and reconsider patient-caregiver communication and support. Above all, she uncovers compelling evidence for her belief that death is not the end but rather merely a transition to something even better. A moving memoir about the power of positivity, gratitude, and faith, Terminal Hope offers a new perspective for people of all belief systems.

About the author

Sharon Eagle and her five siblings were raised in the beautiful Willamette Valley in western Oregon. After high school, Eagle left home to attend college in southern Idaho but withdrew during her second year, feeling unsure of her life goals. Over the next ten years, she relocated to central Washington, married, and had three children. While they were still quite young, she discovered her interest in health care and entered the nursing program at the local college. She began her career working the night shift at the town’s only hospital. She discovered her love of teaching when students from the local nursing program came to the hospital for their clinical rotations. That inspired her to earn a master’s degree that would qualify her to teach nursing on a full-time basis. During the last several years of her career, she authored a number of health care textbooks. Her career, which lasted a total of twenty-four years, ended prematurely when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Eagle is a mother of three and a grandmother of eight (including twins) and, when time and energy permit, loves to read and quilt.