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The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer: How to Feel Empowered and Take Control
The book you can trust to support you at every stage of your treatment - and beyond
Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, an academic GP, and Dr Liz O’Riordan, a Consultant Breast Cancer Surgeon, are not only outstanding doctors, but they have also experienced breast cancer first-hand.
The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer brings together all the knowledge they have gathered as patients and as doctors to give you and your family a trusted, thorough and up-to-date source of information. Designed to empower you during your breast cancer treatment, it covers:
-Simple explanations of every breast cancer treatment
-Coping with the emotional burden of breast cancer
-Frank advice about sex and relationships
-Staying healthy during and after treatment
-Dealing with the fear of recurrence
-Living with secondary breast cancer
Packed full of all the things the authors wished they’d known when they were diagnosed, and tips on how to cope with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and beyond, this is the only book you need to read to guide you through your breast cancer diagnosis.
'A much needed guide which is both humane and based on robust evidence.' – Macmillan Cancer Support
Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, an academic GP, and Dr Liz O’Riordan, a Consultant Breast Cancer Surgeon, are not only outstanding doctors, but they have also experienced breast cancer first-hand.
The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer brings together all the knowledge they have gathered as patients and as doctors to give you and your family a trusted, thorough and up-to-date source of information. Designed to empower you during your breast cancer treatment, it covers:
-Simple explanations of every breast cancer treatment
-Coping with the emotional burden of breast cancer
-Frank advice about sex and relationships
-Staying healthy during and after treatment
-Dealing with the fear of recurrence
-Living with secondary breast cancer
Packed full of all the things the authors wished they’d known when they were diagnosed, and tips on how to cope with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and beyond, this is the only book you need to read to guide you through your breast cancer diagnosis.
'A much needed guide which is both humane and based on robust evidence.' – Macmillan Cancer Support
- GenresNonfictionHealth
ebook
Published September 20, 2018
56 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 22, 2020
Going through breast cancer during lockdown and isolated was pretty tough. My friend sent me this book to support me through.
In some sections it talked about speaking to your partner but I’m single and live alone so there was no one to support so this book, along with Macmillan were so valuable in support.
The boxes with the real life examples in were so real and could identify knowing how someone else felt. And that we all deal in our own way and that is the right way for us.
Where I’d have loved popping out for a coffee and a chat with mates I couldn’t and so curled up with this book or having a support line plus social networking were my virtual support instead.
Have read this through the stages of treatment rather than straight through. It’s also good as a reference book to pick out what you need to know and when. Very grateful to have this book.
In some sections it talked about speaking to your partner but I’m single and live alone so there was no one to support so this book, along with Macmillan were so valuable in support.
The boxes with the real life examples in were so real and could identify knowing how someone else felt. And that we all deal in our own way and that is the right way for us.
Where I’d have loved popping out for a coffee and a chat with mates I couldn’t and so curled up with this book or having a support line plus social networking were my virtual support instead.
Have read this through the stages of treatment rather than straight through. It’s also good as a reference book to pick out what you need to know and when. Very grateful to have this book.
October 16, 2020
Very good resource
This is an excellent evidence based resourced that clearly communicates a lot of complex issues. However it is rather light on information about triple negative breast cancer - there is a lot more about the estrogen, progesterone and Her2 positive types. Given the amount of terrifying information about tnbc online I think it’s a missed opportunity to provide evidence based information about this type.
This is an excellent evidence based resourced that clearly communicates a lot of complex issues. However it is rather light on information about triple negative breast cancer - there is a lot more about the estrogen, progesterone and Her2 positive types. Given the amount of terrifying information about tnbc online I think it’s a missed opportunity to provide evidence based information about this type.
November 30, 2021
Written with understanding and intelligence.
December 26, 2018
Excellent, this needs to be recommended to every patient with a breast cancer diagnosis. My husband ordered it for me ( he actually got me 6 books on breast cancer) and this is the best. I told my GP about it too. Covers everything in a well written and accessible manner. The authors are not only medics in the field of breast cancer but have also gone through this illness themselves.
June 21, 2024
This will be my final book that I am going to read about breast cancer. That it was written by two doctors is not surprising. That both of them have had breast cancer themselves is reassuring, because nobody gets it, not even oncologists (who I'm pretty sure fondly imagine that they do, but they do not) unless they've experienced a diagnosis themselves.
A cancer diagnosis is a full body experience. I could never have imagined, until it happened to me, the effect those words, "Unfortunately, it is a malignancy," would have on me. "Rocked my world" doesn't even begin to describe it.
The first paragraphs read, "We've been there. The moment you find out that you have breast cancer, your life changes forever.... However long you live for, you will never return to being a non-cancer patient. For the rest of your life you will be in one of two phases: 1. Having active treatment. This will include some or all of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and other targeted therapies. 2. Living after active treatment. This is sometimes known as 'survivorship.' Your life will be interrupted by periodic hospital appointments, mammograms or scans, adjusting to the side effects of breast cancer treatment and coping with the possibility that your cancer might come back."
And that's without metastasis. That's before it comes back. That's without a distant recurrence.
I hereby divorce cancer. I literally can never see my former radiation oncologist again because he lost his job (he has moved back to Michigan "to spend more time with his family," haha, according to the nurse navigator) and the radiation center, one month after I completed treatment there, closed.
I can't handle aromatase inhibitors so I fully intend to discontinue anastrozole (I'm on a two-week break now because of the incredible pain it causes me), so I won't need my medical oncologist. I have one more appointment with my surgical oncologist and after that, I intend to submit my breasts to periodic mammograms as advised, and that is it.
I WILL return to being a non-cancer patient. My brain requires this. I hope I will not come to regret this decision in a very big way, but for now I'm going to trust myself to my goddess, Epona. May she not fail me.
A cancer diagnosis is a full body experience. I could never have imagined, until it happened to me, the effect those words, "Unfortunately, it is a malignancy," would have on me. "Rocked my world" doesn't even begin to describe it.
The first paragraphs read, "We've been there. The moment you find out that you have breast cancer, your life changes forever.... However long you live for, you will never return to being a non-cancer patient. For the rest of your life you will be in one of two phases: 1. Having active treatment. This will include some or all of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and other targeted therapies. 2. Living after active treatment. This is sometimes known as 'survivorship.' Your life will be interrupted by periodic hospital appointments, mammograms or scans, adjusting to the side effects of breast cancer treatment and coping with the possibility that your cancer might come back."
And that's without metastasis. That's before it comes back. That's without a distant recurrence.
I hereby divorce cancer. I literally can never see my former radiation oncologist again because he lost his job (he has moved back to Michigan "to spend more time with his family," haha, according to the nurse navigator) and the radiation center, one month after I completed treatment there, closed.
I can't handle aromatase inhibitors so I fully intend to discontinue anastrozole (I'm on a two-week break now because of the incredible pain it causes me), so I won't need my medical oncologist. I have one more appointment with my surgical oncologist and after that, I intend to submit my breasts to periodic mammograms as advised, and that is it.
I WILL return to being a non-cancer patient. My brain requires this. I hope I will not come to regret this decision in a very big way, but for now I'm going to trust myself to my goddess, Epona. May she not fail me.
February 24, 2022
Personally I think every woman should have a copy of this book on their shelves. You may not get breast cancer but as one in seven women in the UK will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime (that's one every 10 minutes) the chances are that you will, at the very least, be close to somebody who does.
I bought the book after biopsy (so whilst I was pretty sure I had breast cancer, it was not yet formally diagnosed, nor did I know the grade/type). I was terrified and this book helped to calm me down, to think about the questions I had and what might be ahead of me. Once diagnosed it became a pick up and put down reference book. I can't remember who recommended it to me, but I so grateful they did.
No nonsense, but plenty of well explained medical information as well as answers the important but perhaps to some, irrelevant questions and a good reference section.
Written in the UK for a UK audience so some of the practical information may not be relevant outwith the UK but the rest is universal.
I bought the book after biopsy (so whilst I was pretty sure I had breast cancer, it was not yet formally diagnosed, nor did I know the grade/type). I was terrified and this book helped to calm me down, to think about the questions I had and what might be ahead of me. Once diagnosed it became a pick up and put down reference book. I can't remember who recommended it to me, but I so grateful they did.
No nonsense, but plenty of well explained medical information as well as answers the important but perhaps to some, irrelevant questions and a good reference section.
Written in the UK for a UK audience so some of the practical information may not be relevant outwith the UK but the rest is universal.
March 25, 2024
Wish I had known about this book before my operation. The NHS pamphlets are very well done but they are information based with a bit of emotional aside thoughts thrown in. This excellent book has been written by a breast surgeon and a professor who sadly developed breast cancer at ages 40 and 56 - a very scary age to get breast cancer. I am in my 70’s and bought the book for information regarding hormonal therapy as I was struggling to decide if this was for me. Chapter 4 - Coping Emotionally with Cancer made me cry especially after reading the letter by a cancer nurse who developed breast cancer. If like me you googled a lot after diagnosis reading results of research etc. which were difficult to understand and needing more than the straight talk from your surgeon I would recommend this book. Not all chapters will apply to your situation but most do. Good luck to anyone who is going through this journey. Hang in there.
May 27, 2023
A really useful resource, particularly for those with little to no previous knowledge of breast cancer and having to get to grips with it quickly. I read this as a close family member of someone going through breast cancer, and found the chapters on how to support those going through it very helpful. The simple descriptions of the various types of cancer, as well as the outline of what to expect at each stage from diagnosis through treatment and beyond were easy to digest at a time that feels very confusing and overwhelming. I particularly appreciated having the 2 viewpoints of the co-authors, which added an extra dimension.
October 14, 2019
Someone close to me has just received a diagnosis of breast cancer so I wanted to learn more. This book delivers on its title. It is very comprehensive and has lots of practical information, that includes the types of questions to ask for every type of treatment and ideas for self care. This book is UK centric so some suggestions are less relevant if you reside outside the UK however it is incredibly informative and well worth the read.
September 29, 2023
My friend Yunah kindly leant me this book. I’m so grateful to her because it is essential reading for those affected by breast cancer. I would have given it five stars, and maybe I should have (I tend to score hard on Goodreads) but there was just a tendency to skew negatively in the language (most memorably, ‘slash, burn and poison’ as a description of breast cancer treatments of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) that burst my optimistic, cosy bubble of ignorance!
February 14, 2022
I read this book when my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm a big believer in knowledge is power. I found the book pitched at the right level by explaining medical jargon. It was hugely reassuring and made me realise how common breast cancer is. I now feel more prepared for dealing with cancer generally considering 1 in 2 of us will get it.
November 8, 2024
Comprehensive guide to those hit by breast cancer, or their care givers. Trish and Liz use simple words to explain complex concepts and medical terms. They both share their personal breast cancer stories. I read this book 2.5 years after I was diagnosed, but it brought more clarity to my experience and diagnosis.
October 21, 2018
Extremely informative and empathetic. Made me laugh and cry. So glad to have my own thoughts and feelings reflected back at me. Don't we all like that though?
However, more importantly this is an accurate text with great links to other helpful sources.
However, more importantly this is an accurate text with great links to other helpful sources.
August 29, 2021
Really informative and supportive book that was such a good go to guide when overwhelmed with diagnosis and treatment. Helped me to have knowledge and power over what was going to happen and allowed me to formulate questions to ask the surgeons and nurses. Highly recommended.
April 12, 2022
Informative and well structured
Really good book for the ones that want to understand what’s happening when you are diagnosed with breast cancer. The information is presented in a way that everyone can easily digest it. Highly recommend it!
Really good book for the ones that want to understand what’s happening when you are diagnosed with breast cancer. The information is presented in a way that everyone can easily digest it. Highly recommend it!
September 24, 2022
A bit clinical but a good resource.
Would recommend reading in short spurts only and not super close to your initial diagnosis as it can be quite emotional and upsetting to take in this information.
Would recommend reading in short spurts only and not super close to your initial diagnosis as it can be quite emotional and upsetting to take in this information.
September 30, 2019
Very informative, great reference guide and takes some of the uncertainty away from what is involved when dealing with breast cancer.
October 9, 2021
Very informative
July 23, 2023
This book has proven essential to me. Clear, concise and non-judgmental, this book helped me to understand my treatment options better, supporting me to make more informed choices.
August 21, 2023
I am going through breast cancer treatment and found this book really useful in supporting me with the effects and different normal I and my family are looking at.
December 17, 2023
A good book, but definitely needs an update for newer technology like mag seeds in tumors and tattoo-less radiation treatments.
January 21, 2024
Very informative and helpful
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February 22, 2024The authors have expertise in the medical field and personal experience with forms of breast cancer, so this book is honest as well as compassionate.
June 22, 2025
If you're unfortunate enough to find yourself with a diagnosis, this is an excellent resource. In the weeks between my diagnosis and treatment starting, this was an incredibly useful and grounding book that helped me find my feet in this new world that no one wants to enter. I didn't read it all cover-to-cover, but listened to most of it, and then bought it in paperback so I could refer to it as needed.
May 11, 2022
If you have breast cancer this is a very good book that takes you through the stages of treatment and gives advice on what to do when treatment finishes. The author is a breast cancer survivor as well as a doctor so she knows what she is talking about. Liz O'Riordan the co-author is a breast cancer surgeon. Nothing like getting it from the horse's mouth so to speak.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews