Walk It Off

by Ruth Marshall

  My amazing mom and dad, who remained calm from the beginning, and who were (mostly) successful in hiding their fears from me. I have learned how to be a parent because of them and how to love because of them, the best teachers of all. To Rose Caplan, only the best mother-in-law. My beautiful sisters, Karen and Jackie, who were there for me always, making sure that not only was I taken care of but that my boys were, too. To Sheryl Brodey, Diane Flacks, Joanie Silverstein, and Elizabeth Marmur, my touchstones; Sheila Wilson, Laura Neinhuis, Judy Adelman Gershon, Michael Redhill, Paula Boudreau, Jeff Pustil, Kathy Laskey, Nadia Commodari, Miles Kronby, and Marc Lewin—for the lunches, the books, the visits, and the check-ins. Thank you all, my friends.

  To Eleanor Domingo, for making sure that my kids were well-fed and well-played with.

  Thank you to my mentor, Isabel Huggan, who I was so fortunate to be matched with through the Humber College Creative Writing Correspondence program. Her exhaustive help and inspiring insights helped me turn a fat, 500-plus page manuscript into something not only much slimmer, but also much better-looking.

  Thank you to the hugely talented and gracious writer James Chatto, who, for a relatively small bribe (lunch, not even with wine), promised to read the first hundred pages of my book and, if they didn’t suck, pass them on to his agent.

  And thank you to that agent, the outstanding Bruce Westwood, at Westwood Creative Artists, and his equally outstanding, eagle-eyed assistant, Meg Wheeler. Together, you are an incredible dynamic duo. I am so grateful you took a flyer on me.

  To my cousin Dr. Joel Finkelstein and my brilliant neurosurgeon, Dr. Howard Ginsberg. I cannot thank you both enough for what you did for me. Because of you, I can walk again.

  And because of the patient, gentle, and superlative care of my physiotherapists at Lyndhurst, I can not only walk, but walk like a champ. I thank you every single day for this—especially Anne.

  Thank you to Dr. Susan Brunt for tirelessly pursuing the source of my tingling feet. And to Dr. Heather Zimcik—because of your great listening skills, amazing outfits, and sense of humor, you ensured that my spirits did not flag.

  Thank you to every last nurse I met along the way at St. Michael’s Hospital and Toronto Rehab—Lyndhurst Centre. You are angels. Every day, you made me feel loved and cared for. I hope that, in even a small way, I was able to do the same for you. Especially Ramona, Paulina, and Olga.

  Thank you to Kevin Hanson and the incredibly patient Sarah St. Pierre at Simon & Schuster. From our very first meeting, I thought: Oh, I want to be here. And thank you, too, to all the gems behind the scenes—Alison Woodbury, Ivy Mcfadden, Felicia Quon, Jessica Scott, Adria Iwasutiak, Lauren Morocco, Liz Whitehead, and Nancy Purcell—for their scrupulous work. And especially to my intuitive and brilliant editor, Nita Pronovost. Thank you for your enthusiasm and belief in me, and for pushing me to dig deeper and look more closely at the things that scared me most because you knew that’s where all the good stuff lay.

  And to my boys, Joey and Henry. You are both so damn smart and hilarious and also very, very good-looking. You were all the motivation I needed to get out of my chair and get my legs moving in the right direction, which was home to you.

  And finally, to the love of my life, Rich Caplan. You are, quite simply, everything to me. Everything.

  About the Author

  © Maria Ricossa

  RUTH MARSHALL, an actress for over twenty years, is probably best known for playing Clare’s mom on Degrassi: The Next Generation and Billy Ray Cyrus’s boss on Doc. She continues to do voice-over work for radio and television. Ruth lives with her family in Toronto, Ontario. Walk It Off is her first book.

   @ruthmarshallwrites

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  Copyright © 2018 by Ruth Marshall

  Some names and identifying details in Walk It Off have been changed.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Canada Subsidiary Rights Department, 166 King Street East, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario, M5A 1J3.

  This Simon & Schuster Canada edition January 2018

  SIMON & SCHUSTER CANADA and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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  Interior design by Carly Loman

  Jacket Design by Elizabeth Whitehead

  Author Photo by Maria Ricossa

  Jacket Photographs © Getty Images

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Marshall, Ruth, author

  Walk it off : the true and hilarious story of how I learned to stand, walk, pee, run, and have sex again after a nightmarish diagnosis turned my awesome life upside down / Ruth Marshall.

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-1-5011-7362-2 (hardcover).—ISBN 978-1-5011-7368-4 (ebook)

  1. Marshall, Ruth—Health. 2. Marshall, Ruth. 3. Meningioma—Patients—Canada—Biography. 4. Brain—Tumors—Patients—Canada—Biography. 5. Meningioma—Popular works. 6. Actresses—Canada—Biography. I. Title.

  RC280.M4M37 2018 362.1968’20092 C2017-904177-0

  C2017-904178-9

  ISBN 978-1-5011-7362-2

  ISBN 978-1-5011-7368-4 (ebook)