Publisher's Synopsis
Breast Cancer as a Sacred Love Journey is a compilation of 74 uplifting stories that serve as an inspirational and informational guide - from diagnosis to surgery to chemo to radiation and what comes after treatment. Although the journey is not fun, it is also not necessarily an experience of severe suffering. The writings are spiritual but not overtly religious in nature - but also do not ignore the possibility of using ones' religious inspirations to help if that is part of the reader's life. By reading the stories, a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer can find her way through, with others as loving companions. Those who have been through cancer will see their cancer differently by reading these stories. The stories are attractively accompanied by the author's art and poetry created while traveling through breast cancer.
There were an estimated 297,000 new cases of breast can or carcinoma in situ in 2013 - the year of the author's breast cancer. For every woman, there are untold numbers of relatives and friends feeling great fear and anxiety. The fear and anxiety can be replaced with hope and strength. Medical professionals and breast cancer organizations will love this book for their patients!
The stories provide lessons in, for examples:
- The nitty gritty of doing the day-to-day and left-right-left-right of breast cancer while continuing to live our lives as fully as possible, inviting others to join in,
- The nitty gritty of the author's thinking and being states as she moved through cancer; the reader is invited to laugh, cry, and be present to doing the journey,
- Making life-enhancing/life-giving decisions as we move through treatment,
- Strategies for being in painful situations and not letting pain take over our lives,
- Giving ourselves permission to receive from others as well as to give,
- Effectively reaching out and living cancer out loud in ways that bless ourselves as well as others,
- Using creativity to keep close to the life-giving force within,
- Using spiritual stories from our past or present in inspirational ways, and
- Acknowledging and going through the fear, anxiety, and grief that are natural parts of this journey THEN coming out the other side to joy.
