I Am Not My Breast Cancer: Women Talk Openly about Love and Sex, Hair Loss and Weight Gain, Mothers and Daughters, and Being a Woman with Breast

I loved this book! I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36 and this book saved me from a horrible depression. The stories of others in my same situation was so comforting.

I purchased this book, along with four others, because I am writing a novel in which my character learns that she has breast cancer. I really wanted to know what she would be going through, and not just the medical side of it, but the emotional, the physical, the sexual and the psychological. It's all here and it comes directly from the women who experienced it. This is really a gem. I do not have breast cancer, thankfully, and I really hope I never have to endure these things that I've read about, however these women really shine in their honesty and their courage. I was shocked to learn how much they have to go through. They don't tell us these things. I had no idea that chemotherapy caused premature menopause. I knew it caused nausea, fatigue and hair loss but all of the other multitudes of difficulty, I just had no idea. Regardless if you have cancer or not, this book is something all women should read. I highly recommend it.

Reading I Am Not My Breast Cancer is like attending a support group for women with breast cancer, only better. Instead of hearing the experiences of one or a few women, the reader shares the cancer journey with hundreds of women. The 800 women who participated in the original project from which the book is drawn are from all across the United States and from several other countries as well. They shared their feelings and experiences with openness and honesty. They laughed and cried together, gave each other advice, and bonded with each other. Ruth Peltason took those many and varied threads and wove them lovingly into this book. I Am Not My Breast Cancer is not a medical resource, it is a practical resource. It is not the story of one woman's breast cancer, it is the distillation of hundreds of women's experiences with breast cancer--young women, women in midlife, older women, women with early stage disease and women with metastatic disease. Ms. Peltason, herself a two time breast cancer survivor, treats each woman's experience with dignity and respect. Any woman touched by breast cancer will find herself in the pages of this book, and it will help those around her understand a little better what she may be going through. Cancer centers and doctors' offices should be sure this volume is added to their libraries--it fills a void and meets a need like no other book out there. As a breast cancer survivor, I say, "Thank you, Ms. Peltason, for writing I Am Not My Breast Cancer!"

This book should-WILL become a key resource for any woman (or man) who has recently been diagnosed with Breast cancer. It will also bring those who have lived with the disease in remission or hence eradicated, with a sense of comraderie that you rarely glimpse once you are "years out", as we say in the world of survivors. Anyone reading this collection of online dialogs will be able to relate to what is being said. Those who have "been there" will smile, laugh, cry and nod in agreement while reading through the hundreds of passages that have been included in this rich, compassionate and inspirational book. The author Ruth Peltason has also added her own notations peppered throughout, to share some of her own experience as a 2 time Breast Cancer survivor. These women GET IT! I believe this book will also aid those who have stood by watching helplessly as someone they love is effected by this horrendous disease. It allows others to see and feel what these women really went through. Buy this book for a friend, a co-worker, a loved one, or to share with a medical professional. The wisdom, the humor, the warmth that these women have shared online and now in book form is a personal journey that touches the soul. Highly Recommneded!

As a man whose wife is undergoing chemotherapy, I wanted to read this book for several reasons. I wanted as much understanding as possible about the emotional aspects for all involved, I wanted to see how well I was doing as the significant other and I wanted to Understand what I might be missing/overlooking about the whole process. This book did an incredible job answering all three questions. The distillation of wisdom, anger, hope and total honesty of the 800 women involved in the creation of this book is amazing. The brief, but succinct comments, collected on such a diverse arrangements of topics will not only provide helpful paths for those undergoing treatment, but also for ANY family member, friend or co-worker sincerely interested in understanding and supporting the individual battling the disease of breast cancer. This book should be in every public and health science library as it will do for the soul and spirit what other books cannot.