Laughing through the Tears of Breast Cancer is a source of inspiration for women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, and for their caregivers. The easy-to-read style of writing takes you through a year-long journey of dealing with the emotional experiences of the breast cancer diagnosis and the physical treatments that lead to eventual healing. Although it is a personal journey, this story offers enough similarities that help those who are part of the breast cancer "sisterhood" recognize that, even as they are experiencing their own pain related to this diagnosis, many blessings will result. By sharing her story through journal writings, emails and inspirational messages, Carla creates enjoyable reading, in a girl-talk format, with an abundant amount of practical information about breast cancer. You will laugh while the tears flow from your eyes as you read her story and share her experiences.
Let's face it, when a white coat touting doctor and her posse deliver a breast cancer diagnosis, your life has a way of turning upside down and even a little sideways. And when you're a 39 year old single, working mother of two, the roller coaster ride that ensues will either lead you to a straight jacket or a back brace. Connie Bramer gives laugh out loud humor to her adventure, along with poignant moments of self-discovery as she blogs her way to good health. Follow along with her adventure and bare witness to her crazy antics, the comments of love she received, and the unwaivering support of her friends and family that helped to get her through...
Do you believe that joy is a choice? Dawn Barton does. She's an upbeat Southerner with good hair and a successful business background, but she's had more heartache than most of us can imagine. Laughing Through the Ugly Cry is a collection of honest and sometimes raw stories. Dawn throws an arm around readers as she brings them along on her journey through the loss of a child, divorce, cancer, rape, the death of her only sibling, her husband's substance abuse, and finding her way back to Jesus in the middle of it all. Dawn shares her personal story to show readers how to find happiness and purpose even in the darkest of days. By laughing through the ugly cry, you will discover how to: Shut down negative feelings causing you to feel inadequate Identify the pros despite how challenging the cons may seem Embrace joy wherever you can find it Learn how to be honest with yourself and process grief in a healthy way Dawn writes, "If more women were open about just how difficult our lives feel and how hard we are on ourselves, I think we'd learn to relax a little and give ourselves the grace God gives us every day." Laughing Through the Ugly Cry is great for: Women of any age seeking comfort, encouragement, and inspiration Book clubs and girls' nights--Dawn poses thoughtful group questions to support meaningful conversations about growth and joy
Finding a cancerous lump in her breast seven weeks after a clean mammogram was terrifying. But fitness expert and race announcer Fitz Koehler, refused to play the victim or allow breast cancer to steal the extraordinary life she was living. In My Noisy Cancer Comeback, Fitz reveals the juicy and gory details of her 16-month battle, all while zigzagging across America. Enduring chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries in the public eye wasn't easy. You'll laugh, cry, wince, and cheer as she chronicles the clash of an avalanche of side effects with 22 major race weekends. Her inspirational tale encompasses the terror of diagnosis, bald heads and black dresses, spectacular stages, parenting with cancer, perspective and most importantly, triumph. You'll walk away grittier, more optimistic, and inspired to conquer any obstacle.
Breast cancer affects everyone it touches, whether firsthand or through the life of a loved one. Counselor and teacher Yvonne Ortega discovered this when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and began her journey. In Finding Hope for Your Journey through Breast Cancer, she shares with readers her personal triumphs and setbacks with humor and refreshing candor, always reminding us of God's desire to meet us exactly where we are. In this repackaged book, sixty devotions are divided into sections--diagnosis, surgery, treatment, and recovery--each incorporating Scripture into daily life. It also includes a new chapter on living with the possibility that cancer may return. Ortega's attention to even the most basic hopes and fears that a cancer patient faces each day offers encouragement that can come only from one who has been there herself.
A hilariously funny and informative memoir to guide breast cancer patients, their families and friends through the rocky terrain.Dr. Aronoff is the perfect Sherpa. Impossibly deep armpits, wigs named Brenda, nipples shaped like bullets and when to play the C-card. These are some of the things they never tell you about breast cancer. In this uplifting and poignant tale, Dr. Tali Lando Aronoff shares an honest account of her journey through the various stages of advanced breast cancer and beyond. As a pediatric ENT surgeon and mother of two toddlers and an infant just out of the Neonatal ICU, she was blind-sided by her cancer diagnosis. This well-crafted and appealing book uses small-bite storytelling to explore heavy topics such as body image and complex relationships with friends and family. Dr. Aronoffs voice is unique and relatable combining the knowledge-base of a physician and the personal insight of a patient. This is the book for the recently diagnosed, those in the thick of it or those who are finished with the battle, their family and friends and everyone else in between, including the doctors who care for them. Candid and honest her perspective as a doctor shines through heart-warming filled with truth I laughed out loud. Patients will surely benefit Subuhee Hussein, MD, Oncologist Loved it. Totally relatable and informative. F*@ck Cancer! Sara C., Breast Cancer Survivor Health care providers can learn a lot from reading this It is so important to understand the full impact of this illness on the patients we care for. Dr. Lando Aronoff is a surgeon and outstanding writer. Carolyn Wasserheit, MD, Oncologist
Suzy and Nancy Goodman were more than sisters. They were best friends, confidantes, and partners in the grand adventure of life. For three decades, nothing could separate them. Not college, not marriage, not miles. Then Suzy got sick. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977; three agonizing years later, at thirty-six, she died. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Goodman girls were raised in postwar Peoria, Illinois, by parents who believed that small acts of charity could change the world. Suzy was the big sister—the homecoming queen with an infectious enthusiasm and a generous heart. Nancy was the little sister—the tomboy with an outsized sense of justice who wanted to right all wrongs. The sisters shared makeup tips, dating secrets, plans for glamorous fantasy careers. They spent one memorable summer in Europe discovering a big world far from Peoria. They imagined a long life together—one in which they’d grow old together surrounded by children and grandchildren. Suzy’s diagnosis shattered that dream. In 1977, breast cancer was still shrouded in stigma and shame. Nobody talked about early detection and mammograms. Nobody could even say the words “breast” and “cancer” together in polite company, let alone on television news broadcasts. With Nancy at her side, Suzy endured the many indignities of cancer treatment, from the grim, soul-killing waiting rooms to the mistakes of well-meaning but misinformed doctors. That’s when Suzy began to ask Nancy to promise. To promise to end the silence. To promise to raise money for scientific research. To promise to one day cure breast cancer for good. Big, shoot-for-the-moon promises that Nancy never dreamed she could fulfill. But she promised because this was her beloved sister. I promise, Suzy. . . . Even if it takes the rest of my life. Suzy’s death—both shocking and senseless—created a deep pain in Nancy that never fully went away. But she soon found a useful outlet for her grief and outrage. Armed only with a shoebox filled with the names of potential donors, Nancy put her formidable fund-raising talents to work and quickly discovered a groundswell of grassroots support. She was aided in her mission by the loving tutelage of her husband, restaurant magnate Norman Brinker, whose dynamic approach to entrepreneurship became Nancy’s model for running her foundation. Her account of how she and Norman met, fell in love, and managed to achieve the elusive “true marriage of equals” is one of the great grown-up love stories among recent memoirs. Nancy’s mission to change the way the world talked about and treated breast cancer took on added urgency when she was herself diagnosed with the disease in 1984, a terrifying chapter in her life that she had long feared. Unlike her sister, Nancy survived and went on to make Susan G. Komen for the Cure into the most influential health charity in the country and arguably the world. A pioneering force in cause-related marketing, SGK turned the pink ribbon into a symbol of hope everywhere. Each year, millions of people worldwide take part in SGK Race for the Cure events. And thanks to the more than $1.5 billion spent by SGK for cutting-edge research and community programs, a breast cancer diagnosis today is no longer a death sentence. In fact, in the time since Suzy’s death, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer has risen from 74 percent to 98 percent. Promise Me is a deeply moving story of family and sisterhood, the dramatic “30,000-foot view” of the democratization of a disease, and a soaring affirmative to the question: Can one person truly make a difference?
Art keeps good alive in the worst of times. In the face of ugliness, pain, and death, it’s art that has the power to open us all to a healing imagining of new possibility; it’s art that whispers to the collective that even in the ashes of loss, life always grows again. That’s why right now, in this tumultuous time of war and pandemic, we need poets more than we need politicians. In response to the multitude of global crises we’re currently experiencing, editor Stefanie Raffelock put out a much-needed call to her writing community for art to uplift and inform the world, and the authors of She Writes Press answered. Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis—a sometimes comforting, sometimes devastating, but universally relatable collection of prose, poetry, and art about living through difficult times like these—is the result. Addressing topics including grief and loss, COVID-19 and war in Ukraine, the gravity of need and being needed, the broad range of human response to crisis in all its forms, and more, these pieces explore how we can find beauty, hope, and deeper interpretation of world events through art—even when the world seems like it’s been turned inside out and upside-down. Proceeds: Our Commitment The collection of essays, poetry, and art in this book are meant to feed and nourish our hearts and minds. It’s what women do—we feed people. To that end, the proceeds from this work will be donated to the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, an organization conceived by chef José Andrés as a way to feed people affected by natural disasters and war. World Central Kitchen financially supports food banks and restaurants that provide free food throughout the world.
Christine Clifford says, “laughter reaches a place no medicine can touch; the soul”. She firmly believes, that during her cancer, laughter saved something as important as her life during cancer: her spirit. All too often our sense of humor escapes us in times of trouble, yet Christine believes laughter has many therapeutic effects and can assist in fighting illness. She is founder of The Cancer Club® (www.CancerClub.com) and Laugh ‘Til It Heals is being published in response to the thousands of funny stories Christine has been collecting from Club members since she started the company in 1995. Laugh ‘Til it Heals explores the humorous side of cancer while also providing information on how to support someone who has cancer, and giving advice regarding beneficial nutrition. The book is also practical in citing resources created by cancer patients worldwide. As you read these touching stories you will laugh out loud with the storyteller. Laugh at the story of a woman chasing tumbleweed (her wig) across the parking lot on a windy day, or the woman who suffered the side effect of a powerful diuretic in public. As Christine says, “Don’t forget to laugh!”™ One of Christine’s members had been very depressed since her mastectomy. One day all that changed and she appeared to be much more back to her “old self”. A good friend noticed and asked her friend what the difference was. Her reply encapsulates the essence of the book, “Last Tuesday I just woke up and I realized that my sense of humor wasn’t in my left breast”. THE AUTHORChristine Clifford is a well-established author with an exceptional background in sales and marketing. She has enjoyed success with her previous books including her bestselling “Not Now … I’m Having a No Hair Day!”. Sixteen years on from having breast cancer she founded The Cancer Club® (www.TheCancerClub.com) which is the world’s largest producer of humorous and helpful products for people with cancer. Facing another overwhelming challenge, divorce, not just once but twice, Christine co-founded Divorcing Divas LLC® (www.DivorcingDivas.net). KEY SELLING POINTS* Christine believes Laughter: Prescription for a Cure! and advocates laughing when fate deals us a blow in order to overcome a problem. * The book also features advice from nine of the world's leading authorities on the use of therapeutic humor and contains practical information and guidance for cancer patients.* Christine Clifford is a media-savvy bestselling author and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)
