This book gave an honest perspective from someone diagnosed and living with cancer and how they dealt with it in their personal, work, and social lives. As someone who hasn't had cancer in my immediate family, I appreciated up front feelings the author provided. I was a little confused about the tango sections but it became clear at the end. It was an enlightening book. Whether you just want to understand or if don't want to feel alone, this is a book you should read.

If you care, this is worth reading.
1. Moon/ Tango brings us to the common threads of joys, pain, fears and hope.
2. It weaves you through the “fabric of us“ —of belonging to each other- family, community, medical staff—the whole team of humanity that were a part of her journey.
3. It brings you to the reality that “everything you do throughout the year is a brushstroke, and how you fill the canvas is completely up to you.”
4. And you are pulled into Michele’s heart and compassion for those surrounding her, “paying attention to the intricacies that make each of us uniquely ourselves. Because love is in the specifics, I didn’t want to miss any of them. “

There are memoirs and then there is this memoir. Michele Wheeler has crafted a written record of her nine-year “cancering” journey as she calls it, for her beloved twin daughters. She possessed unimaginable strength, courage and sheer will to create this precious work of love, while navigating and authentically sharing her daily life, the unknowns, fear and intensity of this disease; from her first diagnosis of the “good kind of cancer that is treatable” to her last one. Michele’s profound messages on living and the complexity of acceptance, rich in metaphor, is meticulously braided through every chapter with each strand closely intertwined into the essence of her life. Her written prose is at times lyrical, while also lucid and direct, punctuated with humor and short, dynamic sentences for quickly absorbing the dialogue throughout. This powerful book is that one read you just cannot put down and promises to continue to deeply inspire and transform long after you have finished.

Michele Wheeler courageously shares her journey in this deeply personal, inspiring memoir. Granting the reader full & intimate access to her path in facing cancer, no matter her challenge her spirit shines in the light of gratitude for life, love, family and friends. Uniquely blending an incisive wit and unrelenting truth, her story inspires us to be better people, more loving, open, supportive, appreciative. Michele’s Tango opens the heart and draws us to the dance floor to move, to feel, to shimmy, twirl and sway..

This book is a raw, heartbreaking account of facing terminal breast cancer at a young age. It will resonate with anyone who has experienced or witnessed life-threatening disease, and it offers a painfully authentic window into the experience for those that haven’t. With wit and clarity, Wheeler tackles challenges of loss of identity, grief, denial, anxiety, and despair, but also finds much love, hope, humor, connection, and ultimately acceptance in her battle with cancer. From admitting that “There are worse things than getting stage IV cancer and watching your daughter get it is one of them” to realizing she has to sit down and tell her daughters that she is dying, the author invites readers into the private world of navigating stage II and later terminal cancer. I was crying but also laughing as I steamed through this jaggedly beautiful account of one of life’s cruelest challenges.

Michele paints a beautiful picture of a woman who is learning how to accept a harsh truth with grace and dignity. The acceptance of living with stage 4 cancer. She does this by bringing the reader into her world on a deeply personal level. Humor is sprinkled in to recounts of tireless cancer treatments, countless tests, and procedures, and learning along the way how to be present with the people around her, especially her twin daughters. . Michele also weaves a fictitious story of a couple learning how to dance Tango- not an easy thing to do. These interludes provide a context to her personal story and leaves it up to the reader to decide your own interpretation. Michele’s life is a triumph of the highest order. And that order is love. Above all, she loves people. All people. You! Yes! She loves you! What a wonderful gift for all who read.

The Throbbing Moon and the Three Season Tango is the author’s personal journey battling cancer for nine years. This is a book you could easily read in a couple of days, and at the same time, not wanting it to end. This book should be read by everyone who knows someone going through any life-threatening illness. She shares her experience with treatments and the side effects, her unspoken thoughts, and the love of her family and friends. Michelle’s ability to impact the lives of so many left me with feeling deprived by not knowing her. She seemed to be an awesome wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

This beautifully written memoir is about so much more than cancer. It's about the connections that make us who we are and about the changes that happen deep within us when we "leap from vine to vine" trying to get to the other side of a seemingly impossible life-altering challenge. The change started when the author first took "a sabbatical in the 'cancery' cosmos ...that treasured reverence for living so highly that it took no time for granted...where a love for the beauties of now were made greater and more fragile because an un-promised future was a central tenant in the practice of living". Her description of the difficulty returning "to a world oblivious to how precarious our lives are, to a world filled with people who innocently assumed a security I could not feel" is a must-read for anyone who loves someone with a terminal illness. The author has the unique ability to seamlessly move from light-hearted antidotes of good times with her family and friends to life-altering realizations brought on by devastating news but still, somehow, she continues to make the reader feel like we're grabbing that "next vine" along side her. When the book ends and she's made her journey through all the things cancer has forced her to learn, even those of us who may never face a terminal illness come out on the other side as better people for having learned from her experience. I very highly recommend this beautiful memoir!

Michele Wheeler provides an insightful look into what it's like to be the one "cancering" in her memoir The Throbbing Moon and the Three Season Tango. Michele's recount of her journey with cancer as a delicate dance that changes through time is devastatingly beautiful and at times achingly funny. It seems that more often than not we hear cancer stories from the perspective of the folks whose lives have been touched by cancer peripherally-- those who are in the caregiver or supporter role-- and what it was like for them. But Michele brings the perspective of what it was like to be the one fighting the battle herself. She provides a raw and honest truth about the internal struggle to maintain optimism and hope, as a means to protect her family and friends, yet at the same time never being able to escape the grim reality she discovered she was facing. While no one's "cancering" (as she calls it) is exactly the same, Michele's book is an important account for those who seek to try and understand what it may be like for the person going through something like this. This book is a beautiful read for all of those who knew her in real life and for those who meet her for the first time through this book. Michele's thoughtful account has put something into this world to show the reader how to have more love, empathy, and compassion for others, as well as for ourselves.

Quickly, I became entrenched in Michele Wheeler's book about family, friends, community and battling cancer. Her writing is stunning and her story is unforgettable. Whether she was describing her first chemo, a benefit given for her in her small town, or a friend being there, by her side, as she dealt with panic attacks, her words are personal, powerful and honest. You feel her fear, see her joy, witness her trauma, and are awed by her courage. Most of all, in her own words, Michele Wheeler inspires you, again and again, to reflect on relationships in your own life, "to slow down and pay attention," because she continues, "love is in the specifics, I didn't want to miss any of them." This is a story about life, love and how we help each other through life's challenges and darkest hours. It is riveting!

I especially liked how the author's story went back and forth between diagnosis, the uncertainty, the happier times and then back to more diagnosis, treatments and each time a different emotion would emerge. She moves forward w/as much ease as possible and laughter for the sake of her family. Much support came in all forms between community, coworkers, friends and family. The author had an uncanny way of staying upbeat and looking at life in a way you never knew possible. I especially liked how she explained her illness to her daughters. A very inspiring book.

This beautifully written memoir and honest, engaging journey drew me in from the first page and I stayed by the author’s side throughout. Unlike other memoirs I have read, “The throbbing Moon and The Three Season Tango” not only shares the difficult and sad sides of living with Cancer but also provides ways to deal with the toughest of life’s challenges, whether it be illness or any other life struggles. The author teaches us how face life straight on, how to love and laugh, and how to see the best in ourselves and others. There is a quote from her book that I feel sums up the impact this book had on me. “It makes me want to be a better person”