Customer Reviews

Thanks for the Mammogram!: Fighting Cancer with Faith, Hope, and a Healthy Dose of Laughter

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(Okay, I'm a bit older than eight, but the site wouldn't let me tell you my real age. National Security or something...) Thanks for the Mammogram is Bombeckian (as in Erma). Laura Jensen Walker not only tells us that laughter can heal, she shows us. Her ability to live on the bright side glimmers from each page and through her, we learn to face difficult facts: breast cancer strikes one in eight women, but 100% of their spouses. Yet we can choose our response to the disease; we can decide not to let it ruin our lives.

Alternately showing herself to be our big sister, best friend and cheerleader, Walker has, er, bared all in the higher interest of exposing the stigma associated with breast cancer for what it is: a killer.

But she doesn't stop there. Walker shares perhaps the most telling detail of all, that her own mother is a breast cancer survivor, and passed a steely will and hearty sense of humor on to her daughter. An inheritance that may have saved Laura's life. Discover that as one quote used in the book puts it, "Whoever is happy will make others happy too." (Anne Frank)

I'm decidedly not a crier, but I did cry through the chapter written by the author's husband. I recommend this read-it-all-in-one-sitting title for anyone with breasts.

"Thanks for the Mammogram" is a humerous yet heartwrenching book that exposes every woman's nightmare and offers proof that there is a way to confront this awful nemesis with humor. With 1 out of 7 women currently expected to someday face this enemy, it is most probable that we each know someone, be it a friend or cherished loved one who will enter the abyss of breast cancer. Laura Jensen Walker fell into this abyss and emerged victorious. This is her story... The reader will find themselves quickly drawn into her experience and will sometimes cry, sometimes laugh, and always feel relief that there is light at the end of the tunnel of such a devastating disease. I heartily recommend this book to anyone whose life has been affected by breast cancer. Read it, savor its humorous moments, and be touched by the love that the author poured into the pages.

Not since Erma Bombeck has this generation had a woman writer like Laura Jensen Walker, who speaks to you like your funny best girlfriend, sister, or mother. This book is wonderfully written, full of wit and useful information about breast cancer which is often not covered in more "clinical" journalistic articles found in typical media. The thing I liked best about this book is that by using anecdotal humor, she works in important facts and information about breast cancer in a way that makes them interesting and relevant instead of spewing a lot of statistics at you. It makes the information so much more real and memorable.

I definitely learned things about going through breast cancer that I never knew or never heard discussed before (eg.-did you know that to reconstruct a breast post-operatively, the nipple is "tattooed" on to look more realistic?) The book has a point besides merely entertaining and enlightening. It gives the reader practical advice on how to cope and how to help those around the patient cope with the problems, life threatening decisions, and fears from being diagnosed with cancer. The chapter written by her husband as caregiver is especially memorable because you rarely hear about the man's reactions and experiences though they are clearly very affected by the ordeal of the disease when it strikes a family.

This book would make a wonderful gift for anyone who has been touched by cancer in some way. It was carefully written to entertain, but not offend, while talking about a terrible disease. And in the end, I found it very uplifting as well. Love and laughter can go a long way when left with nothing else.

I have never been diagnosed with breast cancer, but I am certain anyone facing this disease would want a copy of Laura Walker's "Thanks for the Mammogram." Mrs. Walker remarks that this book was the hardest thing she ever had to write. Like any good memoir, it takes in the uncomfortable, even embarrassing moments as well as the lighter and uplifting ones.

Walker includes a lot of detail, from procedures like reconstruction, chemotherapy right down to the day-to-day patient care and how she felt emotionally. But this is not a gruesome story--instead it is intended to help anyone else along the road to recovery. The best chapter "Where do I go from here" gives eight important points (such as taking charge of your treatment, talking to your family, dropping the Wonder Woman cape for women who do it all) and also useful addresses and a list of books.

This book is interesting reading for any woman, but if you have a loved one facing this challenge or if you are a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you should get this book. Nothing I have read comes close to this book for frankness and assistance.

Thanks for the Mammogram is a great book, even my young teenage daughter read through it quickly. Laura's style of writing is very easy and fun to read even on the subject of breast cancer. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. It helps to face some of the fears of Breast cancer and really gives you hope and a lot of chuckling. The incident in the bathroom with her plumber and a prosthesis is a MUST READ!! Even if you are not facing breast cancer, this is a great book. The author is quite vulnerable without weighing the reader down with heaviness. I would also feel very comfortable purchasing this book for someone who has breast cancer, which could certainly be a lifeline of hope during a very rough time.

Reading 'Thanks for the Mammogram' helped me remember there will be life after cancer, and gave me the strength to laugh again. Anyone who has had cancer or knows someone going through this bump in life will appreciate her wonderful humor and her upbeat attitude on life. Laura took her personal experience and put it out there for everyone's benefit. Her zest for life and her love for God shine through, helping others going through a rough time in their lifes.

this book touches the soul of any woman facing this dreadful disease. It reaches within you, but does it with laughter. If this was required reading, it would lessen the fears of many breast cancer patients.

When I had my mastectomy 37 years ago I barely talked about it to anyone other than my husband. In those days, at least in my circle of friends and community, no one bared body and soul for the world to see as Laura has. By quoting my toddler's question in "Mammogram,"Laura has freed my supressed story, laughter and tears. Her book will be a life-long reminder to my three daughters and my friends, to have mammograms and to live by faith, hope and with freedom to laugh. God bless Laura, Michael, her mother, and all who read this courageous story! And bless Laura and the publisher for contributing a portion of the proceeds to the American Cancer Society. Beverly Pierce Stroebel

I've never read a funny book that was so touching-or a touching book that was so funny. Ms. Walker pours out her heart, her guts, and her trademark humor on the page for one to sift through and find the place of compassion where the author and reader become one.

Then, just when you think you've walked away with all you can glean from Walker, her husband steps in and steals the show with a masterful chapter.

I strongly recommend this wonderful, easy read.

I was fortunate enough to read a review copy of Thanks for the Mammogram! Jensen Walker's lyrical writing resonates throughout her book--a humorous yet poignant journey detailing her fight with breast cancer.

Jensen Walker's evocative words stirred memories of my friend's loss to breast cancer, yet tenderly soothed me with a healing panacea of laughter, courage, and hope.

Thanks for the Mammogram! is a must-read for those who are cancer survivors, their families, and for those who have lost loved ones to cancer.