Advanced Breast Cancer:: A Guide to Living with Metastatic Disease, 2nd Edition

by Musa Mayer

An estimated two million Americans alive today have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Each one of them lives with the fear of recurrence, and for good for at least a third of women diagnosed with breast cancer, the disease will eventually spread. When this happens most people assume it means an immediate death sentence. The reality is often different, as explained in Advanced Breast A Guide to Living with Metastatic Disease . Newly updated and revised, this is the only book on breast cancer that deals honestly with the realities of metastatic disease, yet offers hope and comfort.All aspects of dealing with the disease are covered, Frank and moving descriptions from those who have been touched by metastatic disease make their stories meaningful to anyone who faces a life-threatening illness, whether they are talking about making end-of- life decisions or keeping hope alive.Women with metastatic breast cancer generally go on to live with their disease, often for many years. Through facing the reality and gathering information and support, the time that they have can be full and meaningful.Of the dozens of books and other resources dealing with breast cancer, few discuss the realities of metastatic disease. Advanced Breast Cancer gives a voice to the side of breast cancer no one wants to hear about, with stories of extraordinary ordinary people, forced by circumstance to call on resources in themselves and their families they never knew they possessed. It remains the only book on the market to offer authoritative information and hope as it empowers those who live with the challenges of metastatic disease.This comprehensive new guide provides updated resources and treatment developments, including novel formulation of conventional drugs, as well as the latest therapies being developed in cancer research labs today.

544 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Musa Mayer is an author, advocate, and 14-year breast cancer survivor. She left a career as a mental health counselor to pursue an MFA from Columbia University in writing. While she was a student at Columbia, she published her first book, Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston, her own story of growing up in the New York art world of the 1950s. Less than a year later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has since published two books on breast cancer: her 1993 memoir, Examining Myself: One Woman's Story of Breast Cancer Treatment and Recovery, Advanced Breast Cancer: A Guide to Living with Metastatic Disease (O'Reilly & Associates, 1998), the only book of its kind; and her latest, After Breast Cancer: Answers to the Questions You're Afraid to Ask. In After Breast Cancer, Mayer explores the the feelings of uncertainty and fear that breast cancer patients commonly face after treatment. She offers survival statistics and the voices of 40 breast cancer survivors to help readers cope and thrive.

Reviews

[Joan Winnek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although dated in its discussion of treatments, this is an excellent, compassionate book.