Mary brophy marcus biography channel

Mary Elizabeth Williams, a mom of two girls, and writer from New York, was doing what moms do -- juggling laundry, making meals, helping with homework, working, and navigating a recent separation -- when in the summer of 2010, she was blindsided by the news that a little scab on her head was actually malignant melanoma.

Her malignant skin cancer diagnosis was the beginning of a story that mingles the power of science, friendship, love, and cancer, she told CBS News -- a story she turned into a book, which comes out today, called "A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer" (National Geographic, April 2016).

Q: Can you share a bit about how your inspiration for the book began?

A: I was 44 at the time and I discovered a little bump on the top of my head, a little scab, and didn't think anything of it.

And I went to the dermatologist and it was biopsied and it was malignant cancer. I lost a giant portion off the top of my head and went throu