Customer Reviews

Hitting The Wall : Memoir of a Cancer Journey

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If you have breast cancer or know someone who does, let this book lead the way. It's a "good read" that will help and comfort you. Glacel tells us her real story and shares how she coped with feelings, fears and conflicting medical advice.

Dr. Barbara Pate Glacel has made her mark in human relations, political science, academia, business and government. She set high goals for herself and achieved them in both her professional and personal life.

Dr. Glacel has been just "Barbara" to me for nearly half a century. We shared schools, sleepovers, secrets and silliness. We learned to jitterbug, cheered the home team, double-dated, talked on the telephone and agonized over SAT scores. We found satisfaction in high school leadership. The "Old Barbara", as she refers to her pre-cancer self, was seemingly invincible and indestructable.

Colleges, marriages, families and careers took us literally half a world apart through the years, but the "Old Barbara" seemed to remain confident and capable. Her achievements were unsurprisingly outstanding.

How could breast cancer strike one so strong?

Barbara shares her strengths and vulnerabilities frankly in HITTING THE WALL. She doesn't gloss over the realities, but puts them in perspective. Her physical and mental anguish are exposed and evaluated for comprehensive healing. "Suggestions for Survivors" provides the logistical trail for this uphill journey. Her resolve to fight for HER cure and THE CURE give us courage to face our own walls and find ways to climb them.

She says that "the new Barbara does not always cope as well under stress as the old Barbara". Her journal assures me that the "New Barbara" copes with stress and climbs her walls just as confidently and capably as did the "Old Barbara". There is hope for THE CURE with Barbara Glacel climbing the wall.

This story of Barbara Glacel's fight with breast cancer should be read by every woman, although those who have had the disease or who have friends who did will find it particularly moving. I cried, I laughed, and I learned a great deal about the disease and how to cope. Ms. Glacel not only tells her own story but weaves in the experiences of other survivors as well, providing a rich experience for the reader.

This book was a joy to read. It helped me better understand cancer treatment from a personal standpoint, as opposed to a pure clinical point of view. I know several people that have had the diagnosis of cancer and I know how their treatment was conducted. As a healthcare provider, I think many times we tend to see a disease attached to a patient and not a person that is frightened and unsure of where to turn or what to do. Medical students and other healthcare providers should read this book as part of their training. It may help future doctors, therapists and clinicians provide a more personal level of care for their patients.

Barbara Glacel is not only the consummate professional, she is the wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend we would all wish to have. Her journey through the quagmire of the Belgian health care system while trying to make sense of a diagnosis of breast cancer is one that all women will understand, whether or not they have lived overseas. For many women who are diagnosed with a serious illness, it may be the first time in their lives that they reach out and ask for, or perhaps even demand--help. Though this book touches on every aspect of the experience of living with a diagnosis of breast cancer, and finally becoming a survivor, what I most appreciated was that it somehow "gave permission" for women, even very strong women, to ask others to help care for them, rather than try to "tough it out" alone. It is a great gift of writing for friends and loved ones of anyone battling a serious illness, and points out how very important it is to support and love and pray for the person who is ill. Bravo, Barbara, for showing that being vulnerable is not a weakness, but in fact can bring us even closer to those we cherish and love.

Hitting the Wall by Dr. Glacel is not just about surviving breast cancer. It is about a journey that is applicable to any trauma in life. It is a survival guide for any major "wall hitting" experience.

Barbara Pate Glacel is to be commended not only for her courage and inspiration in facing breast cancer, but she is to be commended for her openness and honesty in communicating her fears, concerns, hopes, thoughts and ideas. By doing this she is able to reach out to millions of people that need her inspiration to get through personal traumas. Her ability to put all of her vulnerablities in writing is powerful. She is a tremendously successful woman who "had it all." This story is a testament that she even has more than pre 1996. She has the inner strength and spirit to hit the wall.... and keep going... Then she immediately starts helping others to get thru the wall.

A poignant lesson for me was revealed in the comment that she made about finally realizing that she was important for being Barbara, not for being a successful executive.

As an Oncology RN, I have read many books, articles, and papers on cancer in general and on breast cancer in particular. Nowhere have I read a book that covers the entire journey of the cancer survivor so sensitively, so empathetically, or so holistically.

Dr. Glacel covers enough of the medical and technical aspects to be relevant. More to the point, however, she tells us of a journey that involves both the whole person and her reactions to the increasingly complex ramifications in a serious diagnosis.

Dr. Glacel was kind enough to give us the benefit of her ability and insight while describing the cancer experience from her personal viewpoint, as well as those of her family and support groups. This is a true gift to others who are presently travelling that road, or who have already done so and survived.

I have given this book to several breast cancer patients and my assessment of Dr. Glacel's work has been endorsed unanimously. Thank you, Dr. Glacel for sharing with us.

This book was given to me shortly after my diagnosis of breast cancer. I was overwhelmed with all the new information I was trying to process and decisions I had to make. I had Susan Love's book for facts and medical explanations, but "Hitting the Wall" calmed my heart and was proof positive I could get through this. I'm in awe that someone could share so completely such a personal experience. The book helped me set my mark on recovery and stay focused on what was important---especially the importance of humor! I know if you start reading this book, you won't be able to put it down until you get to the end. Besides documenting an incredible experience, it is well written and a great resource. Thank you, Barbara Glacel, for writing this book.

Hitting the Wall is a helpful book for cancer patients, caregivers, family and friends, and medical care providers. It provides insights on how each of us, regardless of our role or relationship, can help ease the pain for those
who suffer from this horrific disease.
Opening up your soul for others to view is a brave action. She shares her fears, her hopes, her dreams, her process for finding help. Her sense of will and humor carries her through many a rough patch. I am sure Barbara's story will provide others with inspiration and hope...how to have a positive outlook and how to live to the fullest.

This is a book for everybody --those who have experienced themselves the pain of the breast cancer journey or have shared someone else's, and those who have not been exposed to it but want to know more. Dr. Glacel's detailed and honest account of her own experience is not only inspiring, it is also very engaging and informative. It is a story of a courageous fight against breast cancer, but also a story of friendship, and most of all, a story of love and hope. I could not put it down when I read it the first time, and I keep going back to read her story again and again.