Not Just One in Eight: Stories of Breast Cancer Survivors and Their Families Book

The words "you have breast cancer" have the power to terrify a woman and the people who love her, irrevocably changing their lives forever. In many people's minds, cancer carries with it a death sentence and thus, the emotional and physical journey to overcome it begins. Not Just One in Eight: Stories of Breast Cancer Survivors and Their Families, is the culmination of Barbara Stevens five-year odyssey to understand the physical and emotional ramifications of a breast cancer diagnosis from the moment of its pronouncement, and the irreparable impact it has on family and friends and the way each one experiences the disease.

Not Just One in Eight shares the stories of eighteen women and one man who have all experienced something different - whether is was their diagnosis, their treatment or the emotional issues of coping with the disease - no two are alike. As you read these stories, the true picture of this life-threatening illness is revealed. Each story takes an intimate look at the survivor and his or her family and answers questions like how each person handled the diagnosis; what medical decisions were made; what fears they confronted; were their relationships strengthened or weakened; how their children coped and did their fear of dying increase or decrease.

You will come away with some very heartfelt and powerful knowledge after reading Not Just One in Eight:

1. Breast cancer, like any life-threatening disease or injury is not a one-person disease. It is one that affects the entire family; 2. Knowledge is a tool. Learn about your disease. Empower yourself; 3. Early detection can and does save lives. Do not let a doctor tell you that you are too young to get breast cancer. Anyone who has a lump should get it checked out by a physician. No doctor can give a 100 percent guarantee that a lump is not cancer without doing some kind of test or procedure; 4. Take responsibility for yourself because ultimately it is your life and you have to live with the consequences of your decision; 5. Family and friends need to support whatever medical decision a patient makes regardless of whether or not they agree with that decision; 6. Lastly and perhaps most important - breast cancer is not a death sentence. We can and do survive!

Breast cancer is a devastating disease with many different consequences. And today, even though there are many choices, many women are still faced with surgery that leaves them breastless, drugs that destroy their immune systems while attempting to kill the cancer cells or treatments which sometime create secondary health problems. Not Just One in Eight provides a compassionate and often provocative look at these things and the impact this disease has on so many women and the people who love them.