Overview

Poems centered on survival and perseverance in the face of long-term illness. Delivered a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia with a ten percent prognosis for survival, Dr. Dianne Silvestri surrenders her white coat for a hospital gown. Aided by her attentive medical team, family, and friends, she navigates the surreal world of chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and subsequent threats from graft-versus-host disease and serious infections of her compromised immune system. But I Still Have My Fingerprints speaks to the difficulties of “surviving survival.” With a clear eye for irony and analogy and a commitment to curiosity and truth, Silvestri writes through her struggles and victories. She gives us poems with unique perspectives, fresh images, and unquenchable optimism, in her perseverance to redefine life beyond what was lost.

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9781933880945

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Silvestri's fine lyric poems are written with the clear vision of the physician who herself becomes the patient with a serious illness ('beached / my white coat surrendered'). She travels with honesty and courage her 'long essential / diversion' from the everyday of her life. There is the night phone call with bad news ('I endure for the verdict at dawn'), followed by the complicated journey through pain, treatments, fears, losses, consolations, leading to a 'first-ditch list' of hopes. An inspiring, merciful, beautifully-written collection. * Ann Taylor, author of 'Sortings' *

Author Information

Dianne Silvestri was associate professor of dermatology at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine until her retirement. She is the author of the chapbook Necessary Sentiments, and her poems have appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Barrow Street Journal, Main Street Rag, and Naugatuck River Review, among others. She is cofounder and leader of the Morse Poetry Group in Massachusetts.

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