Description

"I am not my breast, and I am not cancer; they are only pieces of who I am. What is my heart like, am I kind, strong, loving, compassionate. . . . Those are the things that count."

I Am Not My Breast Cancer gathers the warm, loving, frank, and informed voices of more than 800 women—from every state in the nation and from continents as far away as Australia and Africa—who reveal their fears, trade advice, share experiences, and express their deepest, most intimate concerns. Nothing before this groundbreaking book has captured the real experience of breast cancer. It is essential reading for any woman with this diagnosis.

I Am Not My Breast Cancer offers women the companionship of other women dealing with this disease. Ruth Peltason, who has twice undergone treatment for breast cancer, has woven their stories together while maintaining the authenticity of their voices. These are ordinary women dealing with this cancer and its many ramifications. They range in age from their early twenties to their late seventies. They are the collective face of breast cancer today. Their comments are moving, sometimes funny, always honest. They speak out on every topic, from lovemaking and intimacy to losing their hair, from juggling the day-to-day realities of being a patient, mother, wife, and coworker to the overwhelming worries about their own mortality. Remarkably, they emerge with grace and optimism and a determination not to be defined by disease.

Taking the reader chronologically through the stages of diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and self-discovery, I Am Not My Breast Cancer offers women a deeper understanding of themselves and living with cancer. As Peltason writes in her introduction, "My greatest wish for this book is that it offer comfort to any woman living with breast cancer and to those who care about her. If this book is kept on the bedside table, then I hope its need is brief and its impact lasting. I Am Not My Breast Cancer speaks of courage, heroism in deeds small and large, and incredible faith and fortitude."

"You can live without a breast. You cannot say the same for the human heart."

About the Author

Ruth Peltason runs Bespoke Books, a small book producing company that specializes in books on the cultural arts, including Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, Kate Spade's Occasions, Style, and Manners. I Am Not My Breast Cancer grew out of the author's passion to wed her skills as a book editor and her own experiences with breast cancer. She was previously senior editor, director of design and style books with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, and lives in New York City.

Praise For…

“Filled with experience, strength and hope. It even offers humor and fine words affirming to any woman with breast cancer that they are not defined by that cancer...I AM NOT MY BREAST CANCER is part support system, part honest analysis from women who’ve been there.” — RecoveryWorld.com