Night Reflections - A True Story of Friendship, Love, Cancer, and Survival

"Life was great for Dr. Robert Winn, medical director of Deer Valley and The Canyons in Park City, and his wife Nancy. But when, seemingly out of the blue, Nancy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Leukemia, their world went tumbling and careening out of control. Because Dr. Winn could not speak of Nancy's illness without beginning to cry, he started the daily ritual of sending emails to friends and family to provide updates on Nancy's condition. An elegant and introspective writer, and medical expert, these letters have been compiled and edited to create an inspirational story of treatment, courage, love, devotion, struggles, and ultimately triumph over this deadly disease. A story that will help cancer victims, their loved ones, caregivers, and the medical community alike find the courage fight the deadly disease of cancer"--

About the author

DR. ROBERT T. WINN is the long-serving Medical Director for the Deer Valley Ski and Park City Ski resorts in Utah. In this capacity he administrates and sets policy for the on-mountain clinics that care for thousands of guests from around the world each year. For over twenty years he also served as the Medical Director at the Old Faithful clinic in Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park created in 1872. Dr. Winn’s writing career is a direct outgrowth of his many years as a “teacher.” Indispensably, he continues to enjoy showing students how to provide medical care like an “old time country doctor.”

TIMOTHY R. PEARSON is the author of the number-one International and New York Times best seller The Old Rules Are Dead; president and CEO of the Thomas L. Pearson and the Pearson Family Members Foundation, the philanthropic intermediary of the Pearson Family that conceived and established The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy Studies; and founder, president, and CEO of Pearson Advisors & Partners.

Summary

"Dr. Winn’s story is remarkably open, unguarded and intimate. I believe that almost any physician, staff member, patient, patient family member or friend will come away with new insights and understanding after reading this moving memoir." —Frederick R. Appelbaum, M.D. Director, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Little does he know that an unexpected call that interrupts an early Spring bike ride in the Wasatch mountains above Park City will change his life forever. A day later, when Dr. Robert Winn’s beloved wife Nancy is diagnosed with the life-threatening disease acute myeloid leukemia (AML), he is too devastated and emotionally shattered to communicate with family and their many friends. For many months he can’t even speak without getting choked up or crying.
At the nadir of her illness Nancy is given a 5% chance of survival and Winnie (the name lovingly bestowed upon Dr. Winn by his many patients and friends) commits to always be by the side of his soul mate and to never leave Nancy alone at night. As a result, during the entire two years his wife is gravely ill and, at times, near death, he sits in the quiet of Nancy’s hospital room late into the evening and writes to their family and friends. These trials and tribulations are movingly and remarkably captured for posterity in Night Reflections: A True Story of Friendship, Love, Cancer, and Survival.
Life with cancer, a devastating disease for any patient and family, is a constant struggle and fight for survival that demands that you learn to live through the entire day, each hour, and every minute. Night Reflections chronicles an inspirational story of courage, love, devotion, struggle, and ultimately triumph. Night Reflections will help anyone suffering from a devastating illness, their loved ones, caregivers, and the medical community alike and the strength to face even the darkest of days.

Additional text

"Like Dr. Winn, the mountains have always beckoned me and been my home. My parents Edgar and Polly Stern, visionary innovators in the ski and hotel industries, had a deep commitment to excellence and a philosophy of unstinting service to our community. Both were fortunate to be among the many friends that received Dr. Winn’s original late night letters. My mother fervently believed that their story “of despair, of love, and ultimately of survival” was an important one that needed to be saved for posterity. Simply, she was passionate that the Winn’s love story needed to be told and shared like a gift. I agree with her unconditionally and wholeheartedly."

—Lessing Stern

Chairman, CEO and President of Royal Street Corporation
General Partner to Deer Valley Ski Resort and Solitude Mountain Resort

"The opportunity to defeat blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma has never been greater. Over the past 67 years, LLS has invested more than $1 billion in blood cancer research. Meaningful treatment advances are being made every day and the research pipeline of exciting new therapies continues to grow. Our goal, to save the lives of blood cancer patients not someday, but today, is within reach. Night Reflections is a wonderful and moving true story of one family’s journey of survival that inspires us all to achieve that goal."

—Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)

As a non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma survivor who underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and five weeks of daily radiation therapy, I am all too familiar with the devastating impact of a blood cancer. I know that during the darkest of times people need encouragement and inspiration – and I believe that Night Reflections does both astonishingly well. Dr. Winn’s story is remarkable in its telling. It is truly an uplifting and moving story of friendship, love and survival.

—Paul Azinger

PGA Champion, US Ryder Cup captain, Fox Sports lead golf analyst
Author, Zinger and Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy

"Illness has an insidious way of stripping one of their dignity. Importantly, Night Reflections serves as an invaluable guide for any individual or family who have loved ones going through a life-threatening crisis or chronic illness. Dr. Winn stirringly and poignantly shares the intimate and terrifying roller-coaster ride of highs and lows. In the process, his beloved wife Nancy’s illness strips him to his very core in such a way that is both ennobling and empowering. Ultimately, instead of being diminished by the experience, all are strengthened."

—Corinne O’Kelly

Widow of Eugene O’Kelly, Author

Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life

“Cancer may invade one person’s body, but it attacks the entire family. I know this from personal experience as a survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, who relied on faith, hope, and the love of family and friends to battle this unrelenting opponent. Dr. Winn’s incredibly moving story of love, friendship, and survival is absolutely stunning, candid, and uplifting. Night Reflections is powerful beyond words.”

—Ernie Johnson, Jr.

Studio Host, NBA and Inside the NBA, TNT
Lead Television Announcer, Major League Baseball, TBS
Play-by-play announcer, PGA Tour, TNT
Contributor and Studio Host, NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Turner Sports and CBS

“Dr. Winn’s story is remarkably open, unguarded and intimate. I believe that almost any physician, staff member, patient, patient family member or friend willcome away with new insights and understanding after reading this moving memoir.”

—Frederick R. Appelbaum, MD

Director, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Product details

• Authors: Robert Thomas Winn
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 22.11.2016
• EAN: 9781630060701
• ISBN: 978-1-63006-070-1
• No. of pages: 380
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 231 mm x 36 mm
• Weight: 590 g
• Assisted by: Timothy R. Pearson
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Guides > Health; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > General; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs, HEALTH & FITNESS / Women's Health, HEALTH & FITNESS / Diseases & Conditions / Cancer