Palliative care is provided to people during the last months or even days of their lives, or to those who constantly need assistance. In recent years, this field of medicine has not received enough attention in Ukraine. Starting in 2020, the Ukrainian National Health Service will pay for palliative care services and, therefore, everyone needs to know what palliative care is and that it is not scary. "Not a scary book at all" explains it well. The book is about how we can help palliative patients and how we can make their lives easier. Each of us understands how s(he) comes into this world, and when we leave this world, sometimes we have a choice. And we must have a humane choice, where there is respect for a person, and for human dignity. I am very happy that this book exists.

“Not a scary book at all” is timely, important and necessary! Timely, because as stigma and taboos are being removed step by step from the the topic of serious illness and death, we are able to discuss these issues more easily, and unfortunately, we have a woefully insufficient amount of information! This book is important and necessary, because serious illnesses, death, loss, and grief have affected, are affecting, or will affect each of us and those close to us--this is how life works. And it is very valuable that this book is now available, because this book can become an unobtrusive guide and support. For 17 years (the last 12 in a Cancer Center), I have been dealing with people who have experienced severe illness and with their immediate families. I know only too well how difficult it can be sometimes to find the right words of support and encouragement. I am very glad that the author was able to find these words. This book turned out to be very serious, professional, and at the same time very warm, supportive, and clear. And what is most important, it's not scary at all.

In recent years, unfortunately, I haven’t read many books. I rarely have time, energy, or interest. It is even more uncommon for me to read books in Ukrainian. This book, which was written (or, more precisely, created as a team project) by Anastasiya Leukhina, “Not a scary book at all about life, death and everything in between” is a very rare exception. This is a book about the most significant and the most difficult moments in our lives--about severe, incurable diseases, about death and funerals, about taking care of people who are seriously or even terminally ill. It is a book about the suffering, illness and death of our relatives, of our loved ones, of ourselves. Also, one of the stories in this book is mine. Anastasiya was able to take a very calm, practical and even pragmatic approach to this difficult and painful topic. It’s not a secret that in the culture of the Ukrainian society the problem of suffering and death itself is shifted to the periphery, and is almost taboo. To put it simply, Ukrainians are very afraid of these topics and, because of that, avoid talking about them.

On December 30th, someone who was very dear to me passed away, and I was beside them. The previous two months had not been easy. I’ve learned many things during the last three years, but many things were unexpected for me. It happens often, that theory and practice are completely different things. Books are what saved me. I spent hours doing many different procedures and I spent hours lying on my bed and reading. I read a lot about faith, love, peace, and pain. “Not a scary book at all” can become your friend during the most difficult period of your life, as illness may or may not come to your home. Death comes to every home, sooner or later, whether it is your home or those of your friends, acquaintances, co-workers. This book will provide answers to all the questions. Even to those questions you feel you can’t ask anyone. It will help to fill the emptiness and reduce your fear. The major, even the key advantage of the book is that it addresses these topics calmly, without excess emotion or affectation, in a way that doesn’t make you eager to snap the book shut and to distance yourself from yet another source of anxiety in such a troubled world. The book contains many tips and examples that can make life much easier in such situations. In the case of Ukraine, we are talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of patients, their relatives and friends, doctors and social workers.

This book can galvanize you into action. A cancer diagnosis is always a shock for a person and his or her loved ones. Everyone goes through this sequence after the diagnosis: Denial-Anger-Bargaining-Depression-Acceptance-Action. In such a situation, time is precious. This book will help you work your way through this difficult sequence, to make the right decision and to understand how to keep on living. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to everybody who has encountered cancer; not only to patients, but also to their loved ones.