Print Book $14.95
By Musa Mayer
March 2003
Pages: 216
ISBN 10: 0-596-50783-6 |
ISBN 13: 9780596507831
(Average of 1 Customer Reviews)
Over 400,000 women in the US ended treatment for breast cancer in the past two years This is the only book focused on their biggest worry: the possibility that the cancer could come back. After Breast Cancer reviews new research about best practices for follow-up testing, the true risk of recurrence over time, and how other women cope with their concerns. It also features the voices of over 40 women who have been through this same tough journey of tears, fears and triumph.
Full Description
- When will I know for sure that I am cured?
- Shouldn't my doctor be doing more follow-up testing?
- What are the real figures on breast cancer survival for women treated today?
- How would I know if I had a recurrence?
- How do I answer family and friends who think I worry too much?
- Do other women ever feel the way I do, and how do they cope?
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Browse within this book Book details
First Edition: March 2003
ISBN: 0-596-50783-6
Pages: 216
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 1 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
After Breast Cancer Review, October 26 2003
Just finished the book. A two year survivor, I still had lots of questions,and this book provided lots of answers. Some of the topics were things I needed to know, wanted to know, but didn't even know how to ask the question. I will pass this title on to my oncologist and his nurse for further recommendations to others like me.
Media reviews
"I loved the book! It is beautifully written, compassionate, clear, supportive and informative. It's personal and therefore, interesting, but also makes complex information clear and relevant. Musa, who is a breast cancer survivor, deals with the ambiguities that haunt all survivors. She cuts through complex scientific data and tells us what the data implies for us. She handles this difficult information on all levels: emotional, social and intellectual. As the Hotline Director at SHARE: Self-help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer, I consider this book a 'must read' for all Hotline Volunteers and for any survivor who is experiencing post treatment anxiety."
--Barbara Krauser Hotline Director, SHARE: Self-help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer, New York City
"'After Breast Cancer: Answers to the Questions You're Afraid to Ask' is an unbelievable resource. I would suggest that all survivors read it, especially when they reach that point where they are worried about not having a way to fight the cancer after treatment is over. After reading the book, I feel like Musa Mayer wrote about me and everything that I went through and continue to revisit as a survivor."
--Joy Simha, Co-Founder, The Young Survival Coalition, www.youngsurvival.org
"Really up to date. Written by a 14-year breast cancer survivor who is a writer by profession and inclination, so very well written and easy to understand without talking down to the reader. Deals mainly with emotional issues so not overburdened with technical terminology, although excellent lay-person explanations of the real meaning of statistics in terms of individual prognoses and of follow-up tests such as CTs, MRIs, and PET scans. Fascinating to learn that, with present technology, all these tests accomplish is to make the symptomless patient aware that she's had a recurrence a little bit sooner than if she had discovered it for herself, i.e., they do nothing to prolong her life or improve its quality. Actually, this is good news for patients in Nova Scotia, where most of these tests aren't readily available anyway, so it's just as well to know that they're worthless in terms of saving your life. It made me feel better anyway, and a little less inclined to obsess about having a recurrence, which is one of the book's main objectives. Strongly recommended, both in terms of style and content. Actually, I have never seen these particular issues addressed in depth before."
--Rosanna Bechtel, Co-Chair of BCANS (Breast Cancer Action, Nova Scotia)
"In this long-needed book, Ms. Mayer gives voice and answers to those questions about possible recurrence that haunt women in the months and years after breast cancer treatment. Her honest but hopeful view will enable her readers to move beyond anxiety and statistics towards understanding and optimism. This book should be part of every breast cancer survivor's post-treatment education."
--Hester Hill Schnipper, LICSW
Chief, Oncology Social Work
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
"'I'm grieving for my own soft, wobbly, small, individual breasts all over again. Three years of breastfeeding, 51 years old, they were nothing to write home about. But I miss them dreadfully,' says Caroline, a breast cancer patient.
"In After Breast Cancer: Answer to the Questions You're Afraid to Ask, Musa Mayer, a consultant with the Food and Drug Administration and breast cancer survivor, discusses with women their thoughts concerning what they have lost, their fear of the future, and how they've changed. It is the transition between 'after-treatment' to 'survivor.' Mayer clarifies the overwhelming risk information patients receive, and shares stories from others who have experienced treatment. Cancer survivor Francine, for example, now acknowledges that she has not control over life's events. It is this fatalistic approach that allows her to 'do what I like to do, at all times.
"After Breast Cancer ends encouragingly, focusing on life's essentials, and offering insight for grappling with the uncertain.
--ForeWord Magazine
"For the two million women living today after treatment for breast cancer, mention of the disease often elicits the response, 'Been there; done that; don't want to do it again.' Mayer, a counselor, activist, and contributor to publications such as MAMM magazine, felt the same after her diagnosis in 1989. But having researched the disease, she knew other women were at sea regarding their feelings and concerns about what happens next. Are they cured? Is the breast cancer gone? Will it recur? In an attempt to demonstrate the universality of these concerns, Mayer includes comments from women who are veterans of the breast cancer campaign...Ultimately, Mayer encourages women to be thoughtful, not tormented; they should let their bodies tell them if something is wrong. Breast cancer patients are basically all in the same boat. Mayer's final advice is to grab an oar and keep rowing. For comprehensive patient-health collections.
--Library Journal
"This book provides accurate and helpful information for people who are worried."
--Dr. Clifford Hudis, Chief, Breast Cancer Medical Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
"After the intense treatments of adjuvant therapy patients are cast adrift on the lonely seas of uncertainty. Out of her own experiences and the research she has done, Musa Mayer provides an accurate and sensitive map to these waters. With this guide, patients are no longer alone and doctors can offer their continued support when the last treatment ends."
--Bill Buchholz MD, Oncologist and Author of Live Longer, Live Larger: A Holistic Approach for Cancer Patients & Families
"This long-overdue book helps women acknowledge what has happened to them, their uncertainty about what might happen in the future, and their great need to 'live life well.' Musa is the quintessential advocate; we are indebted to her for her courage, honesty and guidance."
--Alice Yaker, former Executive Director, SHARE: Self-Help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer; President, Connections Health Consulting
