Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Jensen Walker Laura

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60 pages

English

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Description

Breast cancer survivor and bestselling author uses her faith and sense of humor to offer hope and help to cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 octobre 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441240163
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0173€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

© 2000 by Laura Jensen Walker
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
Spire edition published 2012
Previously published under the title Thanks for the Mammogram!
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4016-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided only as a resource; Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Praise for Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter
“ Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter will give anyone going through breast cancer what they need most: courage, hope, and some much-needed laughs! By sharing her story, Laura Jensen Walker reminds all of us that while cancer is not funny, life often is, and sometimes laughter really is the best medicine!”
Olympic skater Peggy Fleming Jenkins, breast cancer survivor
“Very informative, but also most definitely positive and uplifting for all women who have to face the terrible trials and tribulations of breast cancer. [The author’s] genuine sense of humor shows how keeping a positive attitude is so important. I also really enjoyed the chapter penned by her husband. Certainly we husbands go through our own trauma with breast cancer when it affects our wives and those close to us.”
Greg Jenkins, MD, husband of Peggy Fleming
“I couldn’t put this book down. A powerful demonstration of a patient’s ability to defeat a disease we all hate. The author’s approach needs to be deeply incorporated in treatment plans offered by conventional therapies. A must-read for patients, physicians, and all those involved in the care of breast cancer this book will bring peace to those so desperately in need of it.”
Ernie Bodai, MD, creator of the Breast Cancer Awareness postage stamp
“One of the most powerful and effective tools in the cancer war chest is humor. And Laura Jensen Walker is masterful at wielding this painless and indispensable weapon in her wonderfully written book, Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter . She doesn’t gloss over the weightier issues of the cancer battle, she simply brings balance to them through her use of humor and truths in God’s Word.”
Jan Dravecky, vice president, Dave Dravecky’s Outreach of Hope, National Cancer Ministry
“The best medicine for what ails us is often a hopeful, hilarious, compassionate survivor/companion to hold our hand through the dark valley. No one need walk through breast cancer alone. Laura is the perfect ‘bosom buddy’ for the journey via the laughter, tears, and helpful information in Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter .”
Becky Freeman, national speaker and author of Worms in My Tea
“ Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter isn’t for every woman. It’s only for those who’ve experienced cancer, loved someone with cancer, met someone with cancer, worried about getting cancer, saw a made-for-TV movie about cancer once, read about cancer on a bus poster . . . in other words, honey, this book is for you. What an uplifting, uproarious approach to an otherwise serious, scary subject. Buy a copy for every woman you know!”
Liz Curtis Higgs, author of Help! I’m Laughing and I Can’t Get Up and Bad Girls of the Bible
“We don’t always understand the twists and turns in our journey through this life, but in this book Laura Jensen Walker reminds us that faith in God and a good sense of humor help to keep us on the road and out of the ditch. If you or anyone you know is facing a challenge, this book is an epistle of encouragement . . . and a lot of laughs, too.”
Martha Bolton, comedy writer and author of I Love You . . . Still
“Laura has pulled off an almost impossible feat assaulting cancer with a massive dose of humor. And she won! This is an incredibly real, sensitive, gritty, hopeful book, woven through and through with Laura’s signature brand of humor. It is far more than good entertainment it is good medicine.”
Dave Meurer, author, The Daze of Our Wives: A Semi-Helpful Guide to Marital Bliss
“I never thought of the word ‘thanks’ before in regard to my mammogram until Laura Jensen Walker readjusted my thinking. Now, I’m saying ‘thanks’ to Laura for reminding us how very funny life can be even in the midst of its most devastating interferences.”
Sue Buchanan, speaker, author of I’m Alive and the Doctor’s Dead . . . Surviving Cancer with Your Sense of Humor and Your Sexuality Intact , and breast cancer survivor
For Mom, with love and gratitude
and in memory of Erma Bombeck
and of these who have gone on ahead . . .
Whatever is true,
Marita Brys
whatever is noble,
Lil Hooper
whatever is right,
Laura Kehoe
whatever is pure,
Stephanie Suzanne Sheely
whatever is lovely,
Kia Margaret Stirk
whatever is admirable
Carla Anne Valles
if anything is excellent
Jane Valenzuela
or praiseworthy
Pat Walter
think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Dedication
Foreword Written by Dr. Vincent Caggiano, Medical Director of Sutter Cancer Center in Sacramento, California 13
Acknowledgments 15
Introduction 19
1. For Better or Worse Bad news on our first wedding anniversary that was not part of our happily-ever-after plan. 23
2. Beauty and the Breast Also known as reconstruction or the “build-a-breast” route. Kind of like L EGO s, except the pieces don’t snap together. 31
3. To Baldly Go Where I’d Never Gone Before Bald is beautiful. If Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Michael Jordan, and Yul Brynner can look good bald, why can’t I? 39
4. How to Lose Thirty Pounds in Thirty Days: The Chemo Diet Way The original slim-fast liquid diet. (But not one I’d recommend.) 49
5. Of Ice Chips, Suppositories, and Hospital “Hats” The insurmountable joys of hospital life. 57
6. What’s Love Got to Do with It? Everything. How the support of faith, family, and friends can make all the difference. 65
7. Country Bear Jamboree Is Not a Rest Stop Celebrating the end of chemotherapy with a trip to Disneyland. I was looking for a rest stop, he was looking for the rides. 75
8. Single Women, Single Breasts The unique challenges single women face after “losing” one (or both) breasts. 83
9. Humorous Tales from the Front Or what happens when your bra “stuffing” travels to the center of your chest during an important business meeting. 93
10. Her Body, His Pain His fear and pain that are often overlooked in the midst of her disease a revealing look at how husbands cope. 99
11. I’ll Show You Mine If You’ll Show Me Yours Sharing with other women helps diffuse the fear of The Big C. 109
12. I Will Never Leave You or Forsake You Confronting the not-so-funny fear of dying, at 3 A . M ., alone in my hospital bed. 117
13. Laughter Is the Best Medicine I’m living proof. Scientific studies show that laughter helps the healing process. 125
14. Where Do I Go from Here? Helpful hints for women with breast cancer. 133
15. Moms, Mammograms, and Other Things for Which I’m Thankful A list of gratitude. 139
About the Author
More Endorsements
Back Ads
Back Cover
Foreword
W hen Laura Jensen Walker asked me to write an introduction to this book, I felt honored. After all, I was Laura’s medical oncologist. I wrote the orders for the high dose of chemotherapy Laura received as part of a National Cancer Institute sponsored clinical trial. I saw Laura in the best and in the worst of times. I put her to the ultimate test, and she still managed to crack a joke to cheer me up and help others.
Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter is the poignant, personal account of Laura’s encounter with breast cancer, and by necessity, the medical establishment. Laura, the consummate journalist, questioned and probed, seeking answers to the unknown. She never once wavered in her determination to live and enjoy life to its fullest.
My first reading of the manuscript touched me deeply as I relived some of the terrifying and even humorous moments of Laura’s battle against breast cancer. As Laura states, “Cancer isn’t funny,” but she finds humor and hope in everyday situations, touching the hearts of all around her friends, family, nurses, and yes, even doctors. During her darkest and scariest moments Laura always managed a good word, a smile, a bit of hope. She never lost her faith.
To me, Living through Breast Cancer with Faith, Hope, and Laughter is not just a chronicle of cancer-related events it is much more. It is about how Laura’s family, friends, faith, and humor kept her together, whole, and sane during that awful period of “temporary insanity” we call adjuvant chemotherapy.
I know you will chuckle and cry, and cry and chuckle, when you read this book. And I can think of nothing more beautiful, for this is true life.
Vincent Caggiano, MD
Acknowledgments
T his book was the hardest one I’ve written (of the legion of three I’ve penned so far) and the one closest to my heart. It could never have happened without the love and support of the following people.
First, to my husband and soulmate, Michael, you are the best gift God’s ever given me. Thanks, honey, for reliving what was such a difficult time for you and then s