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Naked In The Wind - Chemo, Hairloss and Deceit
Shirley Ann Ledlie, former UK magazine columnist, experienced what thousands of women are diagnosed with every year. The memoir begins AFTER her breast cancer treatment ends and a different battle begins. It quickly becomes a mission to uncover the truth about this little known side-effect all women (and men) should know about. With unstoppable determination her conflict with a drugs company, doctors and anyone that stands in her way, continues to rage on often in her own unique unconventional style. Last but not least the struggle with herself...
220 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2014
3 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
S.A. Ledlie
6 books6 followersShirley is a former weekly columnist for the Bella magazine, author of three books, numerous media articles and she is never short of invitations to take part in podcast/radio interviews.
Currently, Shirley is writing short fiction stories for women's mags and working on her first novel, which she's very excited about: 'it's a psychological suspense thriller inspired by a true story.' There is also a fun memoir, with a release date of June 2018. It's the first in a series of motorhome memories which focuses on her camping trips to Spain, Portugal and France where she has lived for eighteen years.
Shirley's been married to her husband John for thirty-two years, has two grown-up children, one granddaughter and a cat. She spends most of her days writing or gardening, practising yoga and meditation, working as a 'patient information reviewer' and having the odd lunch or two with her friends. Every Wednesday morning she can be found her local commune's l'epicerie sociale helping the Red Cross.
Currently, Shirley is writing short fiction stories for women's mags and working on her first novel, which she's very excited about: 'it's a psychological suspense thriller inspired by a true story.' There is also a fun memoir, with a release date of June 2018. It's the first in a series of motorhome memories which focuses on her camping trips to Spain, Portugal and France where she has lived for eighteen years.
Shirley's been married to her husband John for thirty-two years, has two grown-up children, one granddaughter and a cat. She spends most of her days writing or gardening, practising yoga and meditation, working as a 'patient information reviewer' and having the odd lunch or two with her friends. Every Wednesday morning she can be found her local commune's l'epicerie sociale helping the Red Cross.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 13, 2015
Independent publishing has changed the world. No longer can big institutions – government, corporations, or establishments – silence those who would speak. Shirley Ledlie has shared her story of adversity in her book Naked in the Wind: Chemo, hairloss and deceit. As part of her treatments for breast cancer, she is given a chemotherapy agent that results not in temporary baldness, but permanent baldness. Shocked by this disfigurement, she seeks answers, and learns that many, many women have had the same outcome. She unites fellow sufferers in an online support group, and from that, her efforts take in to the taxing world of patient advocacy. In true David versus Goliath fashion, she takes on Big Pharma, asking questions of the Corporation that developed the drug. She enters into a labyrinth of bureaucratic obfuscation, avoidance, and double-dealing. Ever intrepid and irrepressible, Shirley pushes through the obstacles put in her path, and she also discovers new villainy from unexpected quarters. Naked in the Wind raises questions about the rights of patients to information about preventable harms. But it is also a story about acceptance and the courage to move on, told with liberal doses of humour. Thank you, Shirley, for having a voice in this world. So many of us do not.
May 18, 2016
The Author has taken-on Cancer & undergone treatment which is where this Memoir begins on it's 7 year trip.... Life is taking a turn for the better - or is it... !! It's always difficult to say you 'loved' a Memoir when the subject is likely to have been sole-destroying for the Author - but, I really couldn't put this book down and have no hesitation in recommending it. Devastating side-effects come to the fore - Shirley Ledlie comes across as a tenacious, brave lady who likes a giggle and loves her family - she had to either 'get on with it & possibly crumble' or take the drug company with its total lack of honesty & secrets on'. Apart from the tenacity and will-power this must have taken - together with the frustration and emotional turmoil it must have caused (I have no idea) Shirley dug her heels in and this Memoir takes us on that part of her journey. It's well written and has laughter, fun and 'light' times intermingled within it - as the family had also begun their new life in France. I feel sure this Memoir is an important piece of 'advice/help' for others whether or not they have suffered the same or similar such side-effects.
September 3, 2014
Moving, Memorable And Inspiring.
I loved this book-quite a different approach to a memoir of this type, but, it works really well. Shirley's memoir begins after her fight for life-she has had all the tests, diagnosis, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, hair loss etc. then, devastating and final, she is told her hair is never going to grow back. Maybe her reasons for not including all her experiences of her Breast Cancer are that she wanted a different memoir to all the rest where they mainly tell of the symptoms, diagnosis, surgery, chemo? Or maybe she didn't really want to relive it all through the writing? The book starts with a good intro, this encompasses what's going to be in the book without being too long and really makes you want to read on. I loved the conversational style-it's like she's in the clinic waiting room and you've got talking to her and she's telling what's been happening, what she's feeling etc. There were a couple of little remarks which made me smile, even in this opening section, she still manages to incorporate these despite the more serious issues. I really liked this technique: Italics for her thought-which she didn't voice-it expresses this exactly, the italics convey how she's feeling, the desperation of the situation. Shirley begins her search for anything at all that could help her situation but nothing works. Although told this terrible side-effect of a particular drug combination is exceedingly rare, she starts to find more people in the same position and they form a support group. I was a bit mixed up at first: the book starts after chemo and finding out her hair isn't going to grow back, then it goes back to 2000 when they move to Brittany, then back to her battles with the drug company and forming support group, then to 2001 in Brittany etc, it keeps switching. Once I got the pattern, it was fine. The episodes with the earlier move to Brittany offset the more intense stuff. There's a comedy anecdote at the Creperie; due to trying out the lingo to order food, this results in a smelly galette-still not sure what it actually was really! Sounds like chaos-the packing up and moving to Brittany. A few laughs here concerning their journey to a new life in France. Again, amusement re vehicle/kids embarrassment. Good concise style, lots of facts in few words. All very fast moving, flowing writing here about arriving at their new home and renovations, a Gite which they rented out, things are doing well, bookings looking really healthy. The book has gone back to before her illness. They soon expanded to own a B and B and she started writing for a UK women's mag-things are rosy and they are busy busy busy-the world's their oyster-for now. Then it's moving back to the present again-contacting others who have been affected. Her daughter's idea for Shirley to see a Counsellor-doesn't turn out good! Disgusting-call herself a counsellor?! Interspersed with occasional support group member's thoughts, differentiated from main part of the book as these parts have bold headings and italics. Very easy to read writing style, I could really whizz through it. Shirley had a pet Donkey and fostered a pregnant Donkey for a while also. A great amusing way of recounting the tales about Donkey etc. Gourmet dining for rats?! Loved these-how she recounted the rat tales, very entertaining, light relief, this book is so varied, Shirley's bubbly personality shines through. These animal tales are a unexpected bonus-it's not all medical memoir and legal stuff-plenty of variety, an interesting and different memoir. A couple of incidents prompted her to buy her first wig but these do not prove as easy to wear as they seem. I admire how she has the confidence to throw caution to the wind and take the bull by the horns and do something so plucky as post a photo of the top of her head on the drug company's Facebook page. One of the support group in London was approached by the Daily Mail to do an article-the condition was, they wanted photos-this lady couldn't go through with that but Shirley did. There were some terrible comments online as a result of the article, some from some relatives of cancer patients who had died, they had totally missed the point, it really did beggar belief as Shirley said. This is easy to read in one way, from the writing point of view but also hard to read about the things people have to go through, endure. Really makes you want to read on and on and captures your emotions. Amazing, memorable. A wonderful and different memoir to the usual ones of this type. A well-deserved 5 Stars.
I loved this book-quite a different approach to a memoir of this type, but, it works really well. Shirley's memoir begins after her fight for life-she has had all the tests, diagnosis, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, hair loss etc. then, devastating and final, she is told her hair is never going to grow back. Maybe her reasons for not including all her experiences of her Breast Cancer are that she wanted a different memoir to all the rest where they mainly tell of the symptoms, diagnosis, surgery, chemo? Or maybe she didn't really want to relive it all through the writing? The book starts with a good intro, this encompasses what's going to be in the book without being too long and really makes you want to read on. I loved the conversational style-it's like she's in the clinic waiting room and you've got talking to her and she's telling what's been happening, what she's feeling etc. There were a couple of little remarks which made me smile, even in this opening section, she still manages to incorporate these despite the more serious issues. I really liked this technique: Italics for her thought-which she didn't voice-it expresses this exactly, the italics convey how she's feeling, the desperation of the situation. Shirley begins her search for anything at all that could help her situation but nothing works. Although told this terrible side-effect of a particular drug combination is exceedingly rare, she starts to find more people in the same position and they form a support group. I was a bit mixed up at first: the book starts after chemo and finding out her hair isn't going to grow back, then it goes back to 2000 when they move to Brittany, then back to her battles with the drug company and forming support group, then to 2001 in Brittany etc, it keeps switching. Once I got the pattern, it was fine. The episodes with the earlier move to Brittany offset the more intense stuff. There's a comedy anecdote at the Creperie; due to trying out the lingo to order food, this results in a smelly galette-still not sure what it actually was really! Sounds like chaos-the packing up and moving to Brittany. A few laughs here concerning their journey to a new life in France. Again, amusement re vehicle/kids embarrassment. Good concise style, lots of facts in few words. All very fast moving, flowing writing here about arriving at their new home and renovations, a Gite which they rented out, things are doing well, bookings looking really healthy. The book has gone back to before her illness. They soon expanded to own a B and B and she started writing for a UK women's mag-things are rosy and they are busy busy busy-the world's their oyster-for now. Then it's moving back to the present again-contacting others who have been affected. Her daughter's idea for Shirley to see a Counsellor-doesn't turn out good! Disgusting-call herself a counsellor?! Interspersed with occasional support group member's thoughts, differentiated from main part of the book as these parts have bold headings and italics. Very easy to read writing style, I could really whizz through it. Shirley had a pet Donkey and fostered a pregnant Donkey for a while also. A great amusing way of recounting the tales about Donkey etc. Gourmet dining for rats?! Loved these-how she recounted the rat tales, very entertaining, light relief, this book is so varied, Shirley's bubbly personality shines through. These animal tales are a unexpected bonus-it's not all medical memoir and legal stuff-plenty of variety, an interesting and different memoir. A couple of incidents prompted her to buy her first wig but these do not prove as easy to wear as they seem. I admire how she has the confidence to throw caution to the wind and take the bull by the horns and do something so plucky as post a photo of the top of her head on the drug company's Facebook page. One of the support group in London was approached by the Daily Mail to do an article-the condition was, they wanted photos-this lady couldn't go through with that but Shirley did. There were some terrible comments online as a result of the article, some from some relatives of cancer patients who had died, they had totally missed the point, it really did beggar belief as Shirley said. This is easy to read in one way, from the writing point of view but also hard to read about the things people have to go through, endure. Really makes you want to read on and on and captures your emotions. Amazing, memorable. A wonderful and different memoir to the usual ones of this type. A well-deserved 5 Stars.
October 14, 2014
This memoir is Shirley’s story of her battle with a French drug company when the combination of chemotherapy drugs she was given for her breast cancer left her with an unpleasant side effect. Having come through the cancer treatment and at a time when life should have been getting back to normal she was told some devastating news that would change her life forever.
This is a very personal journey full of raw emotions, anger and pain; it is not an easy story to read, but it is one that needs to be told. Shirley came across as a very strong lady who stuck to her guns and stood up to the big boys when most people would have crawled into a corner and cried. She may have shed many tears, but she has also bravely bared her soul in order to tell the world the facts and risks that the drug company and experts wanted to keep hidden. Alongside the difficult times Shirley shares stories from the happier days when her family had just begun their new life in France, which were very entertaining.
Writing can be very therapeutic and I hope that writing this book has helped Shirley emerge from the dark and lonely place where she found herself battling not just physical and emotional symptoms but a team of corporate lawyers too. This was a very inspiring and page turning book that women all over the world should read. Please do share this book, thank you.
This is a very personal journey full of raw emotions, anger and pain; it is not an easy story to read, but it is one that needs to be told. Shirley came across as a very strong lady who stuck to her guns and stood up to the big boys when most people would have crawled into a corner and cried. She may have shed many tears, but she has also bravely bared her soul in order to tell the world the facts and risks that the drug company and experts wanted to keep hidden. Alongside the difficult times Shirley shares stories from the happier days when her family had just begun their new life in France, which were very entertaining.
Writing can be very therapeutic and I hope that writing this book has helped Shirley emerge from the dark and lonely place where she found herself battling not just physical and emotional symptoms but a team of corporate lawyers too. This was a very inspiring and page turning book that women all over the world should read. Please do share this book, thank you.
May 6, 2016
I am a breast cancer survivor. My journey through diagnosis, surgery, chemo and radiotherapy was all I was promised it would be. I lost my hair as did the author, but my hair grew back. My own experience made this author's fight for recognition and some semblance of justice all the more poignant. Your frustration levels will be tested as you read of the endless red tape and brick walls involved in trying to hold a drug company and medical consultants to account. There are also delightful intermissions where the writer recounts some of her experiences of living in France.The contrast between rural normality and battling for due process makes for a very compelling read.
December 13, 2022
For an individual to take on big pharma is always going to be a lop-sided battle. To do so after having cancer, is really quite incredible. After her chemo, Shirley Ledlie is devastated to find that her hair is not growing back as promised. Doctors eventually admit this is a rare side effect in a ‘very small’ percentage of people. But how rare? When Shirley begins to delve, she discovers many, many more women affected than doctors suggest.
Shirley’s true story of her battle with the big boys is interspersed with snapshots of her life in France and includes emails from other sufferers showing just how shocking and humiliating baldness is to most women. There are, surprisingly, laugh out loud moments as well as ones when I wanted to scream on Shirley's behalf.
The book would benefit from some careful editing, but I take my hat off to Shirley, and her grit and determination not to give in; to cancer, to the big boys, to baldness. I applaud her bravery for standing Naked in the Wind and to boldly go where no woman has gone before. I’m looking forward to reading the follow-up to this refreshingly different memoir.
Shirley’s true story of her battle with the big boys is interspersed with snapshots of her life in France and includes emails from other sufferers showing just how shocking and humiliating baldness is to most women. There are, surprisingly, laugh out loud moments as well as ones when I wanted to scream on Shirley's behalf.
The book would benefit from some careful editing, but I take my hat off to Shirley, and her grit and determination not to give in; to cancer, to the big boys, to baldness. I applaud her bravery for standing Naked in the Wind and to boldly go where no woman has gone before. I’m looking forward to reading the follow-up to this refreshingly different memoir.
May 6, 2024
It’s bad enough to have cancer, to have surgery, & then treatments & drugs. Yes you’re alive. But there’s quality of life. Permanent hair loss; feeling it stolen from you along with your identity. Depression & despair. Taking a drug that the manufacturer - Sanofi - doesn’t tell the truth about. And deceitful consultants…they are the worst! Shirley has so many gut-wrenching times. What a battle! Interlaced with her life in France. Such a brave lovely lady & a support to many others.
February 17, 2020
This is one gutsy lady.
After receiving treatment for breast cancer and suffering permanent hair loss, Shirley is determined to receive answers for this mistreatment of her, and others facing the same problem.
She has a long battle ahead, with the drug company and medical professionals, and none of them are willing to take responsibility.
A very moving and heart-wrenching memoir, which also contains the writer's fabulous sense of humour.
I cannot recommend it highly enough.
After receiving treatment for breast cancer and suffering permanent hair loss, Shirley is determined to receive answers for this mistreatment of her, and others facing the same problem.
She has a long battle ahead, with the drug company and medical professionals, and none of them are willing to take responsibility.
A very moving and heart-wrenching memoir, which also contains the writer's fabulous sense of humour.
I cannot recommend it highly enough.
June 1, 2022
To write about personal trauma, the callous lack of caring demonstrated by a pharmaceutical company, and the will to correct injustice so that others will not suffer is no easy task.
S. A. Ledlie pulls that challenge off with brilliance in “Naked in the Wind: Chemo, Hair Loss and Deceit.”
Her undoubted success lies the courage she shows over a long period of time and in part by interspersing personal suffering and determined activism with the delight and happiness of finding a new home and a new life in France, for herself and her family.
S. A. Ledlie pulls that challenge off with brilliance in “Naked in the Wind: Chemo, Hair Loss and Deceit.”
Her undoubted success lies the courage she shows over a long period of time and in part by interspersing personal suffering and determined activism with the delight and happiness of finding a new home and a new life in France, for herself and her family.
June 14, 2016
Naked in the Wind by Shirley Ledlie is the story of what happens after the cocktail of drugs she was given as treatment for breast cancer leaves her with permanent hair loss. I can’t even begin to imagine what that would be like but I can totally understand her quest to find a cure.
Finally she realises that it’s not going to happen and seeks to find out why she is one of the few this drug has affected in this way. She sets up a support group and discovers that her case is not rare as she has been told. Her tenacity in challenging the drug company and doctors that she trusted is incredible and a lesser person would have given up.
Interwoven with her pursuit of the truth is the story of her new life in France and she shares stories of the challenges she faces with her family in setting up her business. She writes from the heart and speaks honestly about her feelings of frustration and anger. In spite of everything she somehow never quite loses her sense of humour or her ability to enjoy simple pleasures and the companionship of family and friends. I found this memoir utterly compelling and I was so glad that although the fight for justice isn’t over Shirley has found an inner peace. Most highly recommended.
Finally she realises that it’s not going to happen and seeks to find out why she is one of the few this drug has affected in this way. She sets up a support group and discovers that her case is not rare as she has been told. Her tenacity in challenging the drug company and doctors that she trusted is incredible and a lesser person would have given up.
Interwoven with her pursuit of the truth is the story of her new life in France and she shares stories of the challenges she faces with her family in setting up her business. She writes from the heart and speaks honestly about her feelings of frustration and anger. In spite of everything she somehow never quite loses her sense of humour or her ability to enjoy simple pleasures and the companionship of family and friends. I found this memoir utterly compelling and I was so glad that although the fight for justice isn’t over Shirley has found an inner peace. Most highly recommended.
December 7, 2017
I’ve just finished this book and need to post a review while the emotion aroused in me is still raw. Shirley is one of an elite company of women who have lost their hair as a result of treatment for breast cancer. Temporary hair loss is a given but for a percentage of women, who were given this particular drug, the hair loss was permanent and nobody thought to inform them that this was a possible outcome. I found myself reading this book out loud to feel the emotion that Shirley imparts so eloquently. A distressing account but because it is so well written and Shirley’s humour and strength of character is very evident throughout, I got swept along with her whether she was fighting rats (both kinds), conspiracy or sheer frustration. A thought provoking read on many levels. Highly recommended.
December 1, 2022
Well, where do I begin? If you want to read a memoir that will give you laugh-out-loud moments, this is it - so don't be deceived by the title, because while there is a very serious message in the memoir addressing some very serious issues, it is also peppered with many amusing observations and details. I immediately warmed to Shirley from the first few pages: I loved her feistiness, her fighting spirit, her get-up-and-go-zest for life packing so much into her days (is she Superwoman I wondered?), yet her vulnerability, insecurities and doubts make her very human indeed, and you can't help but love her and admire her. The book is cleverly crafted so that the nitty-gritty of the issue taking on the criminal pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis is broken up by fascinating insights into the family's life in France and the challenges, difficulties, and also many joys that brought. Can't wait to read the sequel now "A Hair's Whisper".
April 27, 2015
In this amazing story, not only does the author tell her readers of her very personal fight against breast cancer, but also the effects of the cocktail of chemotherapy drugs she was prescribed to cure it.
When ill, we are vulnerable, we trust those who are treating us, and Shirley was no different. However, when these people let us down not many people a brave enough to stand up against them like Shirley Ledlie. Her treatment left her with permanent hair loss, something which may have been avoided if the powers that be had done their research more thoroughly.
This story is hear rending at times, inspiring and honest, as she bravely chronicles her battle with French bureaucracy and a French drug company.
This is an amazing story, which I read in one sitting.
When ill, we are vulnerable, we trust those who are treating us, and Shirley was no different. However, when these people let us down not many people a brave enough to stand up against them like Shirley Ledlie. Her treatment left her with permanent hair loss, something which may have been avoided if the powers that be had done their research more thoroughly.
This story is hear rending at times, inspiring and honest, as she bravely chronicles her battle with French bureaucracy and a French drug company.
This is an amazing story, which I read in one sitting.
August 3, 2017
The author of this memoir is one brave lady who as a vulnerable cancer patient took on the big drug companies. This entailed doing battle in French at high powered meetings in Paris. I admire her spirit, humour and courage. Ledlie has a pleasing writing style, which makes easy reading. Having endured the same drugs myself during cancer treatment, I realize I had a narrow escape!
September 8, 2024
After going through treatment for Breast Cancer, Shirley begins another journey to uncover the truth about the drug she was given and why she was not informed of the possibility of permanent hair loss. Weaved in between the serious is some humour making this an excellent read, I really enjoyed this book.
April 21, 2017
Shirley Ledlie's memoir was an eye opener into the drug company's power and deceit. After realizing her hair isn't growing back after breast cancer treatment, Ms. Ledlie's determination to uncover the truth about the drug she was given leads her on a seven year journey. The cover-up and lies has left hundreds of women with permanent hair loss. It only goes to say that all of us should do our own research into the drugs drs. try to push on us. Bravo Mrs. Ledlie for your courage and for never giving up to find the truth.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews