Crossing the Phantom Pass

“In Crossing the Phantom Pass, Julia Kwong offers a deeply personal and courageous account of her battle with cancer, sharing not only practical strategies for navigating illness but also profound reflections on the human side of healthcare and on a system often stretched to its limits. This compelling memoir is essential reading not only for those facing cancer, but for anyone confronting life’s challenges with resilience, insight, and hope.” -- Min Zhou , Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles “With bravery and deep insight, Julia Kwong recounts her courageous journey with breast cancer – a journey that takes her into the dark wilderness of a medical system filled with hostile gatekeepers, fragmentation of care, and indifferent, arrogant, and rarely caring doctors. Her survival hinges on an inner strength and resiliency that she absorbs from her ailing father, also a cancer patient. This book is both a deeply moving personal narrative and a sharp critique of modern medical practice.” -- Charles Hayter, MA, MD, FRCPC, author of <EM>Cancer Confidential: Backstage Dramas in the Radiation Clinic</EM> “This first-hand account of the strengths and weaknesses of our modern, Western medical system is impactful. The human consequences of the system’s failings will have the reader wanting to reach out to the author and assist in the face of inevitable confusion and fear. All healthcare practitioners and those wanting to understand our health care system could benefit from reading this book.” -- Neena Chappell, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS, FGSA, CM, LLD(hon), Former Canada Research Chair in Social Gerontology and Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of Victoria “This book is a must-read for any middle-aged or older woman for whom a diagnosis of breast cancer has been made or is a possibility. It poignantly presents the realities of not knowing what questions to ask and specialists’ lack of understanding for what patients do and do not know. Julia Kwong underscores the limitations of the concepts of person-directed and person-centered care. In addition to patients, physicians and gatekeepers need to read this book.” -- Gloria M. Gutman, Professor Emerita of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, and Past President, International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics