Product Description

5th Anniversary Edition! Featuring a new Foreword by the author, as well as an additional chapter that follows up on the lives of the original contributors.

With Uplift, bestselling author Barbara Delinsky, whose life has been shaped by her mother's breast cancer as well as her own, created a resource she wished she'd had for herself during her own treatment: one that is filled with all the helpful advice that only the women who have already been there can tell us about -- from tips on even the smallest details of daily life to inspiring personal anecdotes that amuse, comfort, and instruct. Here, readers can find answers to all the questions they were afraid to -- or never even knew how to -- ask: What kind of deodorant can I use during radiation? Are there certain foods that really satisfy on treatment days? How do I address my surgery with my coworkers? Will I still feel feminine? And what about a sex life? Practical, warm, often funny, always reassuring, Uplift arms readers with the various means by which countless women diagnosed with breast cancer have faced their fears, survived their illness, and bravely gotten on with life and love, career and family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #295113 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Amazon.com
A book as uplifting as the disease it discusses is tragic, Uplift is an inspiring collection of voices of breast cancer survivors. Barbara Delinsky, author of The Woman Next Door and other novels, and herself a survivor of breast cancer, presents inspirational snippets from more than 300 women sharing breast cancer tips and experiences. Reading this book is like listening to the friendly hubbub of a crowd of women all offering advice and comments. They share practical tips about comfortable clothing after mastectomy, treatments for radiation burns, nausea remedies, wigs, advice for friends, and more. They share stories of supportive husbands, boyfriends, and family members who continue to love them. "I will love you till the day I die, whether you have one breast or none," says one husband. "Breasts don't laugh, smile, share brilliance, or give kindness," says another man. Every experience is positive and supportive, but not gushy. The humor chapter will make you laugh aloud.

Delinsky envisioned this book as "the support group that I had never joined but could have used, the one that offered all the practical little secrets of survival that have nothing to do with doctors, machines, or drugs and everything to do with women helping women." She succeeds. (Delinsky is donating all her earnings on this book to breast cancer research.) --Joan Price

From Publishers Weekly
Delinsky (A Woman's Place), a prolific popular novelist, lost her mother to breast cancer and is herself a survivor of the disease. This practical guide is a worthy addition to recent literature about how individual women deal with this illness, like Jennie Nash's The Victoria's Secret Catalog Never Stops Coming (reviewed above). Delinsky has collected a compendium of survival secrets "that have nothing to do with doctors, machines or drugs and everything to do with women helping women" that she wished had been available to her when she was diagnosed in 1994. She offers short personal anecdotes contributed by breast cancer survivors of every age and background. They recount the strategies that helped them through all aspects of cancer, including diagnosis, treatment, support groups and how to best conduct relationships with family, friends and in the workplace. Upbeat in tone, the women share such tips as the types of deodorants that may be used during radiation, how to handle hair loss ("I called my hair dresser and had the remainder of my hair buzzed off.... My buzzed head represented strength and control"), what foods will lessen nausea and, in general, how to take charge of one's life and remain positive. Almost everyone will find something in this varied advice that applies to her particular situation. Several women, for example, thought that hiring a professional to clean for them was extremely beneficial during draining treatments, while another found the mindless "therapy" involved in weeding the garden helpful. Delinsky also contributes several reminiscences, e.g., of her determination to remain physically strong and emotionally healthy after her diagnosis.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Best-selling novelist Delinsky is also a breast cancer survivor, though for years only an intimate few knew of her 1994 diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Now she feels it is time to open up to other women and offer the kind of help that she rejected during her recovery. A sort of support group between covers, the book comprises contributed bits by women on various subjects ("Losing a Breast," "Chemo and Hair," etc.), with Delinsky adding chapter introductions where she reveals her own experience, information her fans will no doubt relish. It is her name that will bring readers to this book, but the tips (including brand-name products), suggestions, and support offered by the "sisterhood" will be invaluable to cancer patients. Highly recommended.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Your Personal Support Group
All breast cancer patients should read this while going through treatment. The stories provide hope during a difficult time in a woman's life.

Your own portable support group!
This book is organized well. Each topic has its own chapter so women going through one procedure don't have to hear stories about other procedures. (Sometimes, less or more.) The various entries provide advise, support and realism that only real breast cancer patients and survivors can. It was like having my own personal support group between the covers of this book at any time I needed it! A great tool for women going through treatment. It also provides insight to friends and family that want to know how they can help their loved ones. Lots of good practical ideas!

Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors
As a breast cancer survivor myself, my observation is biased. The book is actually a handbook for women going thru treatment, and beyond. I only wish this book had been available 15 years ago when I was going thru treatment. But its here now, and I certainly would recommend it for anyone going thru treatment, or as a gift for a friend or family member to give to a loved one going thru this very emotional disease. 5 stars isn't a good enough rating....but it's the best one you have.