Hell & Back: Wife & Mother, Doctor & Patient, Dragon Slayer

How do you save lives while fighting for your own?

At just 37, Dr. Tali Lando Aronoff was thriving as a pediatric airway surgeon, a wife, and the mother of three young daughters. Then, in the span of one harrowing week, just months after premature delivery of her youngest child, she learned her father was dying of brain cancer … and she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. Accustomed to being in control (in the operating room and beyond), Dr. Lando’s life became decidedly “out of control.”

With grit, candor, and surprising humor, Hell & Back takes readers inside the dual worlds of doctor and patient, charting a course through mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and recovery.

🔍Inside this powerful memoir, you’ll discover:

• A rare insider’s view of medicine from both sides of the scalpel
• Honest, unsparing accounts of cancer treatment, from nipple reconstruction to radiation fatigue
• The unexpected humor and humanity that can surface even in the darkest moments
• Reflections on resilience, family, and the bonds that sustain us.

A brilliant, raw, entertaining book for the entire cancer community: patients, families, friends, doctors, nurses, radiation and chemotherapy techs, and more. What’s it really like to juggle life, work, and cancer? This book gives it to you straight, with a dose of humor. For the recently diagnosed, those in the thick of the battle, or post-treatment. Hell & Back is a hilariously funny, uplifting, heartfelt, and enlightening guide to the roller-coaster ride of cancer diagnosis and treatment — told from the viewpoint of the physician-patient.

Readable and “snackable” (even when you’re nauseated) — a cancer memoir designed for the waiting room, the chemo suite, the train, the plane, or a weekend in bed.

💗Praise for Hell & Back

“A moving, impressively upbeat tour of a struggle with life-threatening disease.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Candid and honest … her perspective as a doctor shines through. Heartwarming and filled with truth. I laughed out loud. Patients will surely benefit.” — Subuhee Hussein, MD, Oncologist

“Healthcare providers can learn a lot from reading this book. It’s so important to understand the full impact of this illness on the patients we care for … Dr. Lando is a surgeon and outstanding writer.” — Carolyn Wasserheit, MD, Oncologist

“Loved it! Totally relatable and informative. F*@K CANCER!” — Sara H., Breast Cancer Survivor

📖Also by Dr. Tali Lando …

Don’t miss Dr. Lando’s second book, Breathless: Surgical Tales from the Brink (and Back), where her riveting story continues … in the operating room and beyond. Breathless is a powerful, unflinching, and deeply human exploration of life and death in the pediatric operating room. In this gripping collection of 19 exquisitely rendered chapters, Dr. Lando shares unforgettable tales of tiny preemies, trauma victims, surgical miracles, and heartbreaking losses. An unparalleled book for story lovers and would-be surgeons.

Tali Lando Aronoff, M.D., is a full-time pediatric otolaryngology (ENT) surgeon with a busy practice split between her offices and the operating room. She is also a mother of three young girls and an enthusiastic scuba diver and breast cancer survivor. She grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and lived in New York City for a decade before settling in Westchester, New York, with her husband and children.