It's A Sistah Thing: A Guide to Understanding and Dealing With Fibroids for Black Women [Paperback]

Monique Brown (Author), M.D., Ifeanyi C.O. Obiakor (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Even though this book deals with a common ailment (fibroids), it is unique because it specifically addresses African American women, who suffer from this condition three to nine times more often than women of other races. Written by an African American sufferer, this well-researched work pulls together an enormous amount of information on conventional and alternative therapies that will be useful to its readers. There are also checklists, questions to ask medical professionals, and exercises that solidify the information provided. The writing style intends to be friendly and welcoming, but at times it becomes too familiar and distracts the reader from the content of the book. Nonetheless, Brown's guide is informative, as it includes both a glossary and additional resources. While there are other titles on this topic (e.g., Johanna Skilling's Fibroids), this book will be especially suitable to patient education libraries or consumer health collections in public libraries that serve a large African American clientele.
Nicole A. Cooke, Univ. of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Lib., Newark
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075820065X
• ISBN-13: 978-0758200655
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Genitourinary & STDs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource Before any Surgery, August 1, 2003

By 

"afrospeak" (Roselle, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's A Sistah Thing: A Guide to Understanding and Dealing With Fibroids for Black Women (Paperback)

I found Monique Brown's book more informative than any I read of its kind. So much so, I recommended it to a number of women and even purchased it as a gift for some of my friends.
Many of them wished they would have known about the book prior to undergoing a hysterectomy or a myomectomy.

I found the case studies inspiring and the resources quite helpful for my research. The diagrams were awesome as they helped me to picture what fibroids actually look like in and on the uterus. Furthermore, the natural healing information has been extremely helpful in providing alternatives to surgery. Overall, I especially liked that it was an easy warm read and not cold and clinical.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let her share what she has learned with you!, July 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: It's A Sistah Thing: A Guide to Understanding and Dealing With Fibroids for Black Women (Paperback)

First, let me say that, "It's A Sistah Thing," by Monique R. Brown, is one well written and well researched book on fibroids. Ms. Brown's credits include: senior editor of Black Enterprise Magazine, an adjunct professor at Long Island University, and President and Founder of Professional Women of Color.

The author, Monique Brown, had fibroids and has herself faced the horrible specter of hysterectomy. She was one of the lucky ones and got a myomectomy. She reports that her myomectomy improved her sex life.

The main thrust of the book is to advance alternative approaches to fibroids; however, she does take the op to sound many important alarms. She is delicately raising the hysterectomy/race connection. She notes UAE is new with few studies done and then adds Dr. Scott Goodwin's remark, pg. 203, "If you embolize and block the blood supply to the nerves going into the uterus, those nerves may very well be damaged. And if you were feeling something in your uterus that was pleasurable, you may no longer feel that after embolization."

And Monique is pretty straightforward about hysterectomy and sex. On page 204 she quotes Herbert A. Goldfarb as saying that 40% of women indicate a reduced sexual response after a hysterectomy and then goes on to briefly explain why. But what made me buy the book?

One short sentence found on pg. 201, "There's also a theory that the vagus nerve, a nerve that shoots from the cervix to the brain stem, is a pathway for orgasmic sensations." Readers, that is not common knowledge. Ms. Brown has done her homework.
Let her share what she has learned with you!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitive, Informative and Heartwarming, August 25, 2002

By 

Tammi S. Long (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's A Sistah Thing: A Guide to Understanding and Dealing With Fibroids for Black Women (Paperback)

Ms. Brown does a wonderful job of using her struggle with fibroids to teach and reasure others who are dealing with this health issue. She has really done her research and provided a wealth of data regarding traditional medical and natural wholistic approaches to coping with fibroids. Ms. Brown's book is upbeat, not merely clinical and it is extremely easy to read. The personal examples from other fibroid suffers helps the reader to understand that this problem is all too common and that there are others out there dealing with the same issue. I highly recommend this guide.