Take a Deep Breath for Me: A Memoir

Take a Deep Breath for Me is a moving and witty medical memoir by Malaysian author Kuansiew.

What do you do when a routine check-up derails your life-not once, but thirteen times?

Take a Deep Breath for Me is a candid, witty, and deeply human memoir chronicling author Kuansiew’s series of unexpected hospital admissions that began with a single alarming phrase: “There is a growth on your right kidney.” 

Written with the precision of an engineer and the warmth of a natural storyteller, this memoir takes readers through the operating theatres, imaging suites, and WhatsApp conversations of a woman who refused to let illness define her-even when her own body had other plans. From kidney tumour and robotic surgery to cardiac catheterisation, each chapter is a vignette of vulnerability, dark humour, and hard-won wisdom. 

This is not a book about suffering. It is a book about showing up-for appointments you don’t want, for doctors who surprise you, for the husband who drives you back to the hospital even when you’d rather go home and be in denial, and for a life that turns out to be richer for every scar it carries. 

Readers who have ever sat in a waiting room dreading results, cared for someone through illness, or simply wondered how to hold fear and gratitude at the same time will find a companion in these pages. 

Take a Deep Breath for Me is for anyone navigating uncertainty-with just enough sarcasm to make it bearable. Those looking for an inspiring story of resilience and faith will find Take a Deep Breath for Me a comforting companion through life’s uncertainties.

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