Adrienne Wilson is a depressed, suicidal teenager—until the
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day she receives a diagnosis of stage IV liver cancer. Facing the fight of her life, Adrienne discovered just how much she wants to live. In Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days, Andrea Wilson Woods chronicles her sister's remarkable life, from the time she was born to the day she dies at age fifteen. Written like a journal, Andrea takes the reader inside her and Adrienne's journey explaining how she gained custody of Adrienne from their mother and how the sisters' relationship evolved over time.
Adrienne's courageous spirit shines through as she squeezes
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more life into 147 days than most people do in a lifetime. From meeting Jay Leno to spending the day with Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, Adrienne makes every moment count.As she lay dying, Adrienne teaches Andrea how to live. After living in Los Angeles her entire adult life, Andrea returned to Birmingham in December 2014. She had an epiphany about her future after working with a client. She decided to become a life/business/career coach and create her own company, program, and brand. She completed an ICF-certified holistic life, career, and executive coach training. The mission of her company Build Your BLISSS (BYB) is to coach, teach, and empower clients through live workshops, DIY programs, classes, e-books, and one-on-one consulting. Andrea believes through BYB’s practical methods and the power of storytelling that people can create joyful, passionate, and authentic lives so they will become role models for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities.
Besides writing, teaching, and coaching, Andrea’s other passion is advocating for liver cancer patients. In 2002, she founded Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association after losing her 15-year-old sister Adrienne, whom she raised for seven years, to stage IV liver cancer. Blue Faery’s mission is to prevent, treat, and cure primary liver cancer, specifically hepatocellular carcinoma, through research, education, and advocacy. In 2015, Andrea received four scholarships to attend various conferences in Washington DC and Chicago to tell her story, increase her knowledge, advocate for more funding, and continue her professional development. Andrea is currently writing an e-book to teach patients how to advocate for their healthcare needs. Raising Adrienne has been Andrea’s greatest joy in life; losing Adrienne to primary liver cancer has been her greatest loss.
Andrea obtained her master’s degree in writing from the University of Southern California where she focused on non-fiction. She loves telling and writing stories. After teaching as an adjunct professor for Kaplan University, she started a freelance writing business that focused on content and resume writing as well as social media training for individuals and small businesses. She has worked as a social media manager for the nation’s largest wine importer, as a seventh grade English teacher for the Burbank Unified School District, and as a family service specialist for the Legacy for Children research study sponsored by UCLA, CDC, and RTI.
Blue Faery’s Mission
Blue Faery's mission is to prevent, treat and cure primary liver cancer, specifically Hepatocellular Carcinoma, through research, education and advocacy. Our work will improve the quality of life for HCC patients, support their caregivers and give them hope, information and a voice.
Research
- To accelerate the acquisition and application of scientific understanding and to advance the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
- To increase the scientific understanding of the correlation between hepatitis, lifestyle choices and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
- To establish international alliances in a joint effort to find a cure for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
- To make clinical trials and treatment options available to all patients diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma regardless of age, gender or ethnicity.
Education
- To educate the public on the causes, symptoms, treatment options and prevention of Hepatocellular Carcinoma through lectures and literature developed by the organization, as well as through the use of Adrienne Wilson's name, likeness, personal story and medical case history.
- To educate the public on the correlation between hepatitis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
- To educate the public on the other known causes of HCC, including Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) caused by obesity and lifestyle choices.
Advocacy
- To increase influence with private and public organizations to achieve Blue Faery's goals.
- To increase awareness of Blue Faery among the general public in order to increase support for our mission and reach more people with the services we provide.
- To facilitate contact among patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma, their families and healthcare providers for the purposes of support, exchange of knowledge and participation in clinical trials.
This brochure discusses Blue Faery's mission, our primary programs, Adrienne Wilson's story and pertinent information about Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
More information about Hepatocellular Carcinoma can be found on this brochure here Brochure.
With permission of Andrea I am posting pictures in memory of Adrienne! There are some amazing pictures taken of her with her sister, some showing her amazing personality, and meeting Dave Novero (which I think she is very blessed to meet)! May you RIP Adrienne and look over your sister! You both had an incredible bond and you were lucky to have each other!
Better Off Bald A Life in 147 Days
By Andrea Wilson Woods
Review by Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews
First, I want to thank Andrea Wilson Woods for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
Better Off Bald A Life in 147 Days by Andrea Wilson Wood is a book that I highly suggest you add to your TBR list!! However, don’t forget to get your tissues ready, It is an incredibly beautiful written memoir about her sister Aidrenne’s journey as she battles Hepatocellular Carcinoma. My heart goes out to Andrea as this book must have been very emotional to write relieving everything that happened. I thank her for introducing her readers to her amazing, brilliant, larger than life personality, love of music, and beautiful on the inside and out.
Medical Memoirs are one of my favorite genres as I find medicine fascinating but also the human aspect. Now, I am not saying I wish for any disease I don’t-trust me I don’t! However, Andrea totally blew my mind in this book. She did a fantastic job about educating her readers about Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Every Dr. appointment and hospital stay she took her readers to. We got to see the growing list of meds, the medical tests she had and the results, etc.
I will say that I was not a fan of Dr. No and his terrible bedside manner! Having my own medical issues I know that I need a Dr. with good patient care-not a cold hearted one! For that experience I want to hug Andrea.
Not all of the book was medical based though Adrienne had some exciting things happen to her!!! She was incredibly blessed to attend the Jay Leno Show and meet her Idol Dave Noverro! However, that was not the only time she got to meet Dave!! Make a Wish Foundation makes incredible dreams happen for deserving people! This was one of my favorite parts in the book! Dave actually remembered her and it made her the happiest girl alive!!
Throughout this book you get to see Adrienne’s own words of what she was going through in journal entries. Plus, beautiful pictures of her as a child, many with her sister, and some with Dave. I loved how Andrea did this to personalize the story.
One of the most powerful scenes in the book where I cried my eyes out was when she was first diagnosed. The incredible emotion behind it and all the questions. I wanted to reach out to Andrea and Adrienne and give them both a hug! I couldn’t imagine her reliving that moment as she wrote that.
One thing that I loved about Adrienne is that she never gave up and kept fighting!!
I admired her for the amazing relationship she had with her sister/caregiver Andrea. She really stepped up to the plate in a huge way!
Other than sharing this incredible story of a beautiful girl inside and out-I am hoping this book can help someone going through Hepatocellular Carcinomoa.
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