Every woman's experience with breast cancer is unique. There are different diagnoses, surgeries, treatments, histories, and prognoses. Ten brave women share stories of their ordeal with breast cancer. Each story in "B.O.O.B.S." is different. The women are black, white, and Hispanic. The life-changing diagnosis came at ages from 45 to the early 60's. As predicted, these stories "enlighten, encourage, and empower" the reader. Some women have a supportive spouse. Family ties can grow stronger, or break under the strain of fear and pain. Acquaintances become loyal friends even as those believed to be close friends distance themselves because they don't know what to say, what to do. Laughter and humor are at least as powerful as the medicines and surgeries on the road to recovery and regained health. This is a book that every woman and every man who loves his wife, mother, girlfriend, or daughter should read. "B.O.O.B.S." gives a good overview of types of breast cancer and their treatment options. More than that, it may help anyone understand that each person dealing with this disease must make the choice that is right for her (him). Attending and participating in a professionally-facilitated peer support group helps immensely with understanding the language of the disease and its treatments, as well as the emotional roller-coaster. "B.O.O.B.S." reminds us that we are not alone.
The style of the book is breezy, chatty, and funny in places, poignant elsewhere, informative, smart and entertaining, even though these are tales of women faced with breast cancer. Written with insight, humor, raw emotion, and honesty, B.O.O.B.S. offers hope to women facing breast cancer. It also offers families and friends insights into what their loved ones are going through. A must read for anyone who has to travel this road. We all need to know we are not the only one who has had these feelings or experiences.
They are not just statistics or case studies, nor are they "genetic mishaps." They are everyday modern women struggling to survive breast cancer. They share the same diagnosis but are a crazy-quilt of many patterns and colors, with ages spanning twenty-five years. Some of them are wives and mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers; some are single, some are divorced. They have different religious backgrounds, different occupations, different lifestyles, different values, and different treatments. But despite their differences, they all are B.O.O.B.S.
B.O.O.B.S. shares the personal experiences of ten courageous women—from shocking diagnosis to surgery and beyond—and the effect breast cancer has had on them and on the people in their lives. Brought together by the Wellness Community, a program offering cost-free psychological support to cancer patients and their loved ones, the ten women in this book strongly believe in the healing power of group therapy and peer sharing. Some of them have even become patient advocates and spokeswomen in a quest to make a difference in the lives of other women coping with breast cancer, a disease that strikes more than 200,000 women every year in the
"Have cancer, will travel" summarizes her upbeat, can-do attitude. Despite the rigors of testing, biopsies, diagnoses, treatments, pain, medication, surgeries, anxieties, hospital stays, nausea, and more, she enjoys health, energy, and a pain-free life that includes painting and piano playing. Neither Goldstein nor any of the other contributors, whose ages span 25 years and whose stages of cancer range from 0 to 4, minimizes the harsh realities, and all bring admirable strength of spirit to bear on their situation, which more than 200,000 additional American women face each year.
About the Author
ANN KEMPNER FISHER is a literary editor and former television writer. She lives in the north suburban area of
- Title: B.O.O.B.S.: A Bunch of Outrageous Breast-Cancer Survivors Tell Their Stories of Courage, Hope and Healing
- Editor: Ann Kempner Fisher
- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher:
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1581825234
- ISBN-13: 978-1581825237
- Book Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1 inches
- List Price: $14.95
- Amazon.com Price: $10.17
- You Save: $4.78 (32%)