Fighting for Our Future : How Young Women Find Strength, Hope, and Courage While Taking Control of Breast Cancer [Paperback]

Beth Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0071427813 | ISBN-13: 978-0071427814 | Edition: 1

"This is an outstanding book. Murphy has done the cancer community a vital service."--Library Journal

"Provides a valuable resource for young women. Combining anecdotes from breast cancer patients who have undergone treatment with emerging scientific research, Murphy has compiled a clear and nonjudgmental guide to negotiating treatment and living with the illness."--Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although there are currently more than 250,000 women in the U.S. under 40 who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, they have been proportionally underrepresented in medical studies. Since breast cancer does not afflict younger women as often as it does the middle-aged and elderly, physicians have also misdiagnosed them. Murphy spent two years studying this age group and, in consultation with medical professionals, provides a valuable resource for young women. Combining anecdotes from breast cancer patients who have undergone treatment with emerging scientific research, Murphy has compiled a clear and non-judgmental guide to negotiating treatment and living with the illness. Included are suggestions for the newly diagnosed on the questions to ask health care professionals, information on how to establish a support network, the pros and cons of reconstructive surgery, and details on handling breast cancer while pregnant. Young women who have gone through radiation, surgery and chemotherapy describe these procedures. Murphy also has an excellent chapter on complementary and alternative treatments (CAM) that have proved their value to many patients.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

An Essential Guide to Breast Cancer For a New Generation of Women

"This is an outstanding book. Murphy has done the cancer community a vital service."--Library Journal

"A valuable resource for young women. Murphy has compiled a clear and nonjudgmental guide to negotiating treatment and living with the illness."--Publishers Weekly

"A unique opportunity to make a difference with what is unfortunately an increasing number of young women who fall into this group."--Bert M. Petersen Jr., M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Center

If you or someone you love is a young woman coping with breast cancer, this much-needed book was created for you. Here, for the first time, is all the vital information about breast cancer as it relates to the unique medical--and emotional--issues and challenges faced by women in their twenties, thirties, and early forties. Fighting for Our Future provides the latest medical knowledge about young women with breast cancer, based on interviews and guidance from a medical advisory board of doctors and scientists involved in cutting-edge in the field, along with inspiring and instructive stories of young women's experiences. The result is a practical and personal book covering a range of concerns, from how to find a breast surgeon, to the effects of this illness on relationships, to surgical options, and much, much more.

The companion to the Lifetime-TV documentary film, winner of the Gracie Allen Award given by the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 366 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071427813
• ISBN-13: 978-0071427814
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,918,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE reference source for young women, October 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fighting for Our Future : How Young Women Find Strength, Hope, and Courage While Taking Control of Breast Cancer (Hardcover)

Not only is this book the most comprehensive, unbiased book on breast cancer in young women I have ever read, I applaud Beth Murphy for taking the time to focus on YOUNG WOMEN with breast cancer, a sorely under-served group. This book takes the reader inside the lives of young survivors. While touching, it is never over-the-top dramatic, and it certainly isn't sappy. Murphy defines the risks of diagnosis in young women in realistic terms - the good with the bad - and does the same for treatment issues with regards to young women. Furthermore, the author doesn't beat around the bush getting to the point that while we've made great advances in breast cancer treatment, research for young women is terribly lacking. She goes on to explain the implications a woman under 40 faces when diagnosed.
Astoundingly, Murphy even manages to discuss the controversial political issues of breast cancer without ever stepping up on a soapbox. She sticks to the facts about who says what, and what questions still go unanswered.

This book is a must have for any woman who wishes to get a real understanding of her health risks where breast cancer is concerned.
Every doctor (particularly those still preaching "you're too young to have breast cancer"!!), nurse, mammography technician, breast health specialist, and breast cancer researcher should read this book and take its message to their jobs.
Every woman under 40 diagnosed with breast cancer, every mother, sister, father, brother, friend, and boyfriend of a young survivor should buy this book immediately.

There is nothing else on the market that even comes close.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read for women of all ages!, September 30, 2002

By 

Dara Friedrich (las vegas,nv usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fighting for Our Future : How Young Women Find Strength, Hope, and Courage While Taking Control of Breast Cancer (Hardcover)

This book,yes is very touching and quite moving but I think it is the educational aspect of the subject of breast cancer that I found to be the most beneficial from having read the book. The author takes you in a different direction on breast cancer, one that we haven't really seen in most other books on the subject. We are taken on a journey through the lives of these very brave women who were diagnosed with the disease at such a YOUNG age-as we usually see it in older women. I have,like most young women, thought breast cancer is not a real concern for me at my age. I have,until now, relied on my doctor to let me know what health issues he should pursue as given my current medical history ... I am glad I read this book-I am certainly more informed as will my doctor also be during my next visit.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book helped me tremendously, April 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Fighting for Our Future : How Young Women Find Strength, Hope, and Courage While Taking Control of Breast Cancer (Paperback)

I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 33. The day after my diagnosis my husband and I went to the bookstore to find books on the topic. This book jumped out at me and, out of a variety of books and other research, this one provided the most useful, best written information on breast cancer and breast cancer considerations, particularly for a young woman. The survivor stories/vignettes let me know I was not alone and gave me hope that I could survive.