Recommended Reading
There are a number of books available about breast cancer - here we list a few you may find useful. (NZ) indicates the book is by a New Zealand author. Most of these books are available in our libraries or can be ordered from all good bookstores.

Two books for younger women:
Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips by Kris Carr (USA)
Everything Changes: An Insider's Guide to Cancer in Your 20s and 30s by Kairol Rosenthal (USA)  
 

Life with secondary breast cancer:
The Pink Party by Jane Bissell (NZ)
Susan's Blog - online resource on the Sweet Louise website
Oysters for Lunch - collected stories and poems by women living with secondary breast cancer

Also:
Sink or Swim by Shelley Hanna (NZ)
Welcome to the Amazon Club by Jane Bissell (NZ)
Dr Susan Love's Breast Book by Susan M. Love M.D. with Karen Lindsey

Oysters for Lunch
Edited by Jane Bissell
The Louise Perkins Foundation 2011

This remarkably moving collection of short stories and poems written by women living with secondary breast cancer highlights with extraordinary honesty, humour and poignancy how living with this advanced form of cancer can be.

Sweet Louise initiated the writing project with its Members in October 2010. After a year of working with editor/writer Jane Bissell (Welcome to the Amazon Club, The Pink Party), the writings were published into a collection and Oysters for Lunch was launched by Sweet Louise at a gala Christmas event in December 2011.

Within the pages of this book you will find stories of hope and truth, courage and perseverance, all celebrations of the human spirit, taking joy in the moments of each day.

The book can be purchased for $20 from the Sweet Louise website. All proceeds from sales go towards the provision of Sweet Louise support and services.
 

Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips by Kris Carr

"An advice-from-the-trenches cancer survival guidebook for young women with cancer. Actress and photographer Kris Carr thought she had a hangover, but a Jivamukti yoga class didn't provide its usual kick-ass cure. A visit to her doctor confirmed her "liver looked like Swiss cheese," covered with cancerous tumors. She entered trench warfare (wearing cowboy boots into the MRI machine, no less), vowing, "Cancer needed a makeover and I was just the gal to do it!" She began writing and filming her journey, documenting her interactions with friends, doctors, alternative "quacks," blind dates, and other women with cancer--sadly a growing group. These include hip, young women such as illustrator-author Marisa Acocella Marchetto (Cancer Vixen), Glamour writer-editor Erin Zammett (My So-Called Normal Life), MTV personality Diem Brown (Real World/Road Rules Challenge), model Sharon Blynn (founder, Bald Is Beautiful), and music manager Jackie Farry, among others. Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips gathers the lessons learned and advice offered from Carr's own journey, as well as the experiences of her cancer posse. Full-color photos accompany personal stories and candid revelations in this scrapbook of advice, warnings, and resources for the cancer patient. Chapters cover your changing social life, dating, sex, and appearance; essential health tips on how to boost your immune system; recipes; medical and holistic resources; and information on young survivor support groups. The resulting book is a warm, yet informative tool for any woman newly diagnosed with the disease and for those who love them."  

Everything Changes: An Insider's Guide to Cancer in Your 20s and 30s by Kairol Rosenthal

On a shoe-string budget and with tape recorder in hand, Kairol Rosenthal emerged from treatment and hit the road in search of other twenty- and thirty-something cancer survivors. From the Big Apple to the Bible Belt, she dusts the sugar coating off of the young adult cancer experience, exposing the gritty and compelling stories of twenty-five complete strangers. The men and women in Everything Changes confess their most vulnerable moments, revealing cancer experiences they never told anyone else – what they thought about at night before going to bed, what they wish they could tell their lovers but were too afraid to. With irreverent flare and practical wisdom, Everything Changes includes stories, how-to resources, and expert advice on must-know issues including: 

• Dating and sex
• Medical insurance and the healthcare system
• Faith and spirituality
• Employment and career
• Fertility, adoption, and parenting
• Friends and family
• Clinical trials and alternative medicine
• College life and scholarships
• Young adult caregiving 

Sink or Swim by Shelley Hanna
(Foreword by Mark Inglis)
(HarperCollins, Auckland 2009)
"Being diagnosed with cancer is a frightening experience ... This is the story of my recovery. While my prognosis and treatment (for breast cancer) were not particularly unusual or special, my recovery took me beyond my wildest dreams. I have written my story to give hope to both newly diagnosed and recovering patients. Have strength, have courage and, above all, have hope."

Welcome to the Amazon Club by Jane Bissell 
(Foreword by Dr Belinda Scott, endorsed by NZ Breast Cancer Foundation)
(Longacre Press, Dunedin 2004)
"This is the story of my first year with breast cancer - from diagnosis to my first 'all-clear.' I kept a journal during that time, charting my physical and emotional responses but also trying to understand what was happening to me... We each have a remarkable capacity for hope, bravery and strength. Sometimes it takes a traumatic event to make us realise it." (Available from www.janebissell.co.nz - click here to read an excerpt on this site.)

Dr Susan Love's Breast Book by Susan Love M.D. (4th Edition)
(Da Capo Press, USA 2005)
"From guidance on screening techniques and benign disease to comprehensive and heartening advice on living with breast cancer, Dr. Love's book will be a priceless help to recovery on every level, medical, practical, and psychological. Once again readers will lean with gratitude on the extraordinary empathy and expertise in the book that Newsweek called 'One of the most complete and trustworthy books ever published on breast cancer.'"

Back to top>>>