Uplift : Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors [Paperback]

Barbara Delinsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 20, 2003

5th Anniversary Edition! Featuring a new Foreword by the author, as well as an additional chapter that follows up on the lives of the original contributors.

With "Uplift," bestselling author Barbara Delinsky, whose life has been shaped by her mother's breast cancer as well as her own, created a resource she wished she'd had for herself during her own treatment: one that is filled with all the helpful advice that only the women who have already been there can tell us about -- from tips on even the smallest details of daily life to inspiring personal anecdotes that amuse, comfort, and instruct. Here, readers can find answers to all the questions they were afraid to -- or never even knew how to -- ask: What kind of deodorant can I use during radiation? Are there certain foods that really satisfy on treatment days? How do I address my surgery with my coworkers? Will I still feel feminine? And what about a sex life? Practical, warm, often funny, always reassuring, "Uplift" arms readers with the various means by which countless women diagnosed with breast cancer have faced their fears, survived their illness, and bravely gotten on with life and love, career and family.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A book as uplifting as the disease it discusses is tragic, Uplift is an inspiring collection of voices of breast cancer survivors. Barbara Delinsky, author of The Woman Next Door and other novels, and herself a survivor of breast cancer, presents inspirational snippets from more than 300 women sharing breast cancer tips and experiences. Reading this book is like listening to the friendly hubbub of a crowd of women all offering advice and comments. They share practical tips about comfortable clothing after mastectomy, treatments for radiation burns, nausea remedies, wigs, advice for friends, and more. They share stories of supportive husbands, boyfriends, and family members who continue to love them. "I will love you till the day I die, whether you have one breast or none," says one husband. "Breasts don't laugh, smile, share brilliance, or give kindness," says another man. Every experience is positive and supportive, but not gushy. The humor chapter will make you laugh aloud.

Delinsky envisioned this book as "the support group that I had never joined but could have used, the one that offered all the practical little secrets of survival that have nothing to do with doctors, machines, or drugs and everything to do with women helping women." She succeeds. (Delinsky is donating all her earnings on this book to breast cancer research.) --Joan Price --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Delinsky (A Woman's Place), a prolific popular novelist, lost her mother to breast cancer and is herself a survivor of the disease. This practical guide is a worthy addition to recent literature about how individual women deal with this illness, like Jennie Nash's The Victoria's Secret Catalog Never Stops Coming (reviewed above). Delinsky has collected a compendium of survival secrets "that have nothing to do with doctors, machines or drugs and everything to do with women helping women" that she wished had been available to her when she was diagnosed in 1994. She offers short personal anecdotes contributed by breast cancer survivors of every age and background. They recount the strategies that helped them through all aspects of cancer, including diagnosis, treatment, support groups and how to best conduct relationships with family, friends and in the workplace. Upbeat in tone, the women share such tips as the types of deodorants that may be used during radiation, how to handle hair loss ("I called my hair dresser and had the remainder of my hair buzzed off.... My buzzed head represented strength and control"), what foods will lessen nausea and, in general, how to take charge of one's life and remain positive. Almost everyone will find something in this varied advice that applies to her particular situation. Several women, for example, thought that hiring a professional to clean for them was extremely beneficial during draining treatments, while another found the mindless "therapy" involved in weeding the garden helpful. Delinsky also contributes several reminiscences, e.g., of her determination to remain physically strong and emotionally healthy after her diagnosis.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (May 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743431375
• ISBN-13: 978-0743431378
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara Delinsky, author of ESCAPE (2011), NOT MY DAUGHTER (2010), WHILE MY SISTER SLEEPS (2009), THE SECRET BETWEEN US (2008), and FAMILY TREE (2007), has written more than twenty bestselling novels with over thirty million copies in print. She has been published in twenty languages worldwide. Barbara's fiction centers upon everyday families facing not-so-everyday challenges. She is particularly drawn to exploring themes of motherhood, marriage, sibling rivalry, and friendship in her novels.

A lifelong New Englander, Barbara earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. As a breast cancer survivor who lost her mother to the disease when she was only eight, Barbara compiled the non-fiction book Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors, a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes. She donates her proceeds from the sale of this book to her charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Barbara enjoys knitting, photography, and cats. She also loves to interact with her readers through her website at www.barbaradelinsky.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bdelinsky, and on Twitter as @BarbaraDelinsky.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful book for those just diagnosed with breast cancer, March 7, 2002

By 

Diane S. (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uplift : Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors (Hardcover)

If you have just been diagnosed with breast cancer, get this book. It has hundreds of tips and suggestions from those who have been through it. These are the things that your doctors can't tell you about, because few of them have actually experienced it. Author Barbara Delinsky invited breast cancer survivors to share their best tips and stories. Some of them are quite funny, but you'd have to be "one of the sisterhood" to understand. I first checked it out from the library, but decided I had to have my own copy. I will refer to it frequently during this next year, when I am under treatment for early-stage BC.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Secrets" from your healthcare team!, August 4, 2004

By 

kris (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uplift : Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors (Paperback)

As an oncology nurse I am constantly looking for resources that will be helpful to my patients. I came across this book and read it in my spare time...WOW!
This book has it all. When my patients say that they have seen so much on this subject and aren't sure what to read we give them this book. It's chapters are short, sweet and to the point. Exactly what my patients ask for. The practical suggestions and advice has been tested by our patients and they swear by this book, both as a resource and as an encouraging lift. These are the things that only other survivors know about. I am so glad it's out there.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars triumphant uplifting inspirational, May 14, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uplift : Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors (Paperback)

Known for her strong dramas and her incredible publication rate, Barbara Delinsky has written her best work ever with this uplifting work of nonfiction. UPLIFT: SECRETS FROM THE SISTERHOOD OF BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS is a lot more than just a self-help guide though that is a major part of the book. Ms. Delinsky and friends provides "secrets that their respective doctors and others never told them about in their personal fight with breast cancer, a disease that played on the psyche of most of the participants. In the case of Ms. Delinsky she also had the haunting memory of her mom's death from this potential killer.

Part angst, part strategy, part belonging (an open invitation to join this courageous survivor's club) the book is loaded with anecdotal tales from survivors of the war. The optimistic tips will buoy the individual ready to do battle on how to take control of one's life instead of the physician, well meaning family members, or the illness running the show. Delinsky and the other veterans earn purple hearts as they furbish a triumphant uplifting inspirational tale that gives hope not just to breast cancer victims, but anyone facing the horrors of a devastating potentially deadly disease.

Harriet Klausner