Product Description

Your support group in a book, filled with boundless strength and profound hope - until the fight is won.

Along with the shock, fear and loss many women face upon a breast cancer diagnosis comes unexpected strength, wisdom, and strong networks of sharing, support and healing. In Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul, survivors and their family members talk openly about how difficult their fight with breast cancer has been and how they made it through the dark times with a belief in a higher power and the support of those closest to them.

Find strength in the encouraging stories of how family members confront their fears and show genuine affection for one another through gestures such as a granddaughter cutting the hair off of all her dolls so that they will look more like her grandma, who is bald from chemotherapy, and the gentle touch of a three-year-old son on his mother's back giving comfort to his sick mommy, and a husband who shows his wife the depth of his love during a weekend getaway after she heals from a total mastectomy.
Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivors Soul will show you the beautiful side of the human spirit and spark the optimism sometimes lost in the mist of an illness. It is for everyone with breast cancer and everyone who loves someone touched by the disease.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60921 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780757305214
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
This addition to the popular Chicken Soup series should help anyone diagnosed with or undergoing treatment for breast cancer, as well as their close friends and family members. Divided into categories such as love, healing, challenge and courage, the wide-ranging first-person accounts set a positive but realistic tone. Donna St. Jean Conti describes how a saleswoman, seeing Conti's scar from a mastectomy, whispered that she had found a lump in her breast and asked her for advice on what to do. Beverly Vote writes about the difficult problem of holding on to her sense of herself as a woman after undergoing a mastectomy and of how her husband's devotion helped her. In the face of her beloved sister Meemee's diagnosis, Barbara Curtis dealt with her fears by cooking and freezing healing foods for Meemee during her treatment (Curtis shares a recipe for Chemo Popsicles to fight nausea). Jennie Nash details how difficult it was to handle the worry about who would raise her children if she died. The editors touch all bases by including a useful account of a male breast cancer survivor. B&w drawings. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen are the #1 New York Times and USA Today best-selling authors of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. They are professional speakers who have dedicated their lives to enhancing the personal and professional development of others.

A breast cancer survivor herself, Mary Olsen Kelly is active in the field of woman's cancer as a writer and lecturer and has spoken at breast cancer fund-raising events and on television and radio.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

You'll Never Feel So Loved

Where there is great love, there are always miracles.
-Willa Cather

A few days after hearing the devastating news that the shadow on the mammogram was indeed cancer, I received a call I'll never forget from an aunt who was a breast-cancer survivor. The only part of the conversation I remember was one simple line: "You'll never feel so loved."

At the time I had no clue what that could mean, but I thanked her for calling and began the journey that every cancer patient goes through.

I began to understand the power of these five little words a few days after my aunt's call, when I telephoned my daughter about the diagnosis and the upcoming surgery. Her first words were simple and direct: "I'm on my way!" Not, "What can I do?" Or, "I'll try to come," or even "Do you want me to come?" but simply, "I'm on my way!" With the support and encouragement from her husband, my daughter was with me until I no longer needed her help. I felt so loved.

Later that same day, with only twenty minutes' notice, a friend volunteered to meet my husband and me at the doctor's office to be the extra ears and note taker. Quietly, in the background, she was the one who held it together when my husband left the room (sick), and I began crying. She asked all the right questions and later went over the facts one by one, helping us comprehend all that was happening. What a gift! I knew she cared about us, and I felt so loved.

In spite of all the frightening, horrific things that were taking place, I began to understand how the love of God and others would carry me through, and I knew I would be able to conquer this thing called cancer. The love was manifested in so many ways: cards, calls, prayers, meals and sometimes just one little sentence would carry me through a difficult day.

I remember my husband holding me in his arms, reading from a book given to me from a coworker of his, also a breast-cancer survivor, who was sure we would both enjoy reading it. I was too tired, so he read aloud every night, and we laughed and cried together. I not only felt his love, but also was touched by the fact that someone I had never met cared enough to think of me.

I had retired the year before my diagnosis, and one day a former coworker of mine stopped by with a basket full of thoughtful gifts from friends at the office: a warm hat to cover my thinning hair, inspirational books to lift my spirits, aromatherapy candles and bubble bath to soothe my body, and much more. They cared enough to remember me, and I felt so loved!

In times of need, everyone knows that family will be there for you, but I was overwhelmed by the way my immediate and extended family came through. Parents, sisters and in-laws joined together to provide support and encouragement in so many wonderful ways. They were with me every step of the way. In fact, my sister was there when I had my last chemotherapy session, and a niece planned a big surprise party to celebrate the end of my treatments!

A daughter-in-law, without being asked, came and cleaned our whole house; our sons provided hugs, teasing and comforting words; neighbors and friends brought meals. The prayers, flowers, calls and cards of countless others were all given in the name of love. These are the things I still remember today because they carried me through a difficult time, and I am filled with gratitude.

As I look back, I have experienced what my aunt meant when she said, "You'll never feel so loved." In great part because of this love I am a cancer survivor. Yes, the treatments and advice of wonderful doctors and the prayers of many helped save my life, but I also believe that if the soul is being fed, the body will heal.

If you are going through a journey like mine, look for all the love that is being sent your way, for you will be comforted and treasured. Believe me, you'll never feel so loved!

-Sharon Bomgaars

Customer Reviews

Stories of love, families, and laughter
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (11/06)

I started reading the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series several years ago and have always been amazed and inspired at the wonderful stories in them. "Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul" does not disappoint. Right after I agreed to review this book I had my annual physical, which included a breast exam. The doctor found nine lumps in my breasts and scheduled me for a mammogram and sonogram. This book arrived on the day that I had the tests. I began reading it not knowing what the tests were going to turn up and immediately found myself in awe of the people that faced this disease, some winning, some not, but all discovering that the most important thing in life is to live each day as if it were your last--simple advice, yet so hard to follow when we are caught up in the everyday problems and rat-race in our lives.

The pages of "Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul" are full of stories about love, families, and laughter and the incredible support that breast cancer survivors give each other. The book is perfect for a person diagnosed with breast cancer and survivors of breast cancer and their families and friends. Many of the survivors look back on their experience with cancer as a gift because they learned what is truly important in life during their treatment and recovery time. Oftentimes, we feel so helpless when a loved one is facing tough times and there are also many wonderful suggestions for things that can be done to help.

I was also amazed at the bond that forms between women, and more increasingly men, who have breast cancer. They join support groups, educate each other about treatment and rally around people who are trying to make it through treatment and recovery. They do not just move on when they reach the five year cancer free mark, but wear their pink ribbons with pride and do their utmost to support others. The people in this book are true heroes, who have met one of life's toughest challenges and instead of giving up in despair learned that life is worth living minute by minute.

I highly recommend this book for people with breast cancer, survivors and their family members. After reading it I am making a personal goal of mine to participate in the 60 mile walk for Breast Cancer Research. That will make the marathon that I completed a few years ago seem like child's play, but if these people can survive this disease with so much courage, then a 60 mile walk will be nothing. I received the results of my mammogram and sonogram and found out that I have cystic breast disease and not breast cancer. After experiencing those few days of uncertainty, I am in even more awe of the powerful survivors' spirit in "Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul."

Support Group Between Two Covers
As the co-author of this book, I have to thank the amazing story contributors who wrote deep and moving stories about their journey through breast cancer in order to help those who have been newly diagnosed, their families and friends. This book would not have been possible without their courage, strength, and humor. Yes, there are a lot of funny stories in here too. It was an honor to work with such talented and generous women survivors (and one man) who are all surviving and thriving. This book is inspiring, it gives you a lift and lets you know that as you go through the often scary treatments for breast cancer, you are not alone.

comforting
I bought this book several months after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a comfort for me to read about other experiences that were positive. It is a club that nobody wants to belong to but...it is a club filled with wonderful people.