It was they year of Desert Storm that Harvey Pekar and his wife, Joyce Brabner, discovered Harvey had cancer. Pekar, a man who has made a profession of chronicling the Kafkaesque absurdities of an ordinary life (if any life is ordinary) suddenly found himself incapacitated. But he had a better-than-average chance to beat cancer and he took it — kicking, screaming, and complaining all the way. Pekar and Brabner draw on this and other trials to paint a portrait of a man beset with fears real and imagined — who survives.

In MY CANCER YEAR, Curtis Pesmen, a veteran health journalist and book author, chronicles his successful fight with advanced colon cancer in a brutally honest and illuminating memoir. Through this moving account--which takes the reader through his initial shock of diagnosis, through treatment, experimental surgery and finally recovery--Pesmen's insights and experiences cast light on how to manage the challenges of cancer people don't like to talk about. This intimate memoir of a successful fight helps the fast-growing group of survivors--as well as family and friends--put cancer in its place while moving forward with the power of new knowledge.

This collection is the intersection of the author's experiences living with a chronic form of leukemia, his triathlon and multisport lifestyle, and his overall passion for living life to the fullest. Brown walks his readers through his initial diagnosis and subsequent chemotherapy treatments through the years. Also included are chapters as told by Brown's wife and two daughters. In the words of Steve Brown, "I made a very early decision and commitment to live this story quite publicly. I wanted to be a voice and I wanted to lead by example. As a result I have been able to connect with so many fellow cancer warriors and their families. I feel safety in our numbers. And I feel strength in our resolve. I want patients and their families to take comfort in reading these pages and I hope they resonate hope and possibility". Foreword written by 6-time Ironman World Champion and long time Leukemia & Lymphoma Society supporter Dave Scott.

Denise's running shoes never got dusty. After her diagnosis, she kept racing - winning medals in everything from 5Ks to marathons - while cherishing every moment with family and friends, and inspiring everyone along the way. "We vow to run our best, to splash in the stream, to raise our hands in the air and run recklessly down the hills, to lift those we see who have fallen on the path, to tickle our little runners, to teach them all we know, and to hold hands all the way home."

The Unplanned Journey relates the adventures of my walk on the Cancer road. It stresses the lessons that Cancer taught me. It tells the reader about my fears and my struggles in dealing with Cancer - the acceptance of having the disease, the surgeries, and its treatments. This book is written in an effort to assure any woman or man with Cancer that there is an end to the long journey. My readers should be assured that they are not alone. Today most Cancers are curable if they can be found early. Happiness and normal life will return again at the end of the journey. Book Review: Breast Cancer The Unplanned Journey Lessons Learned By Beverly Stacy Dittmer Reviewed by Mary Ann Noonan Breast Cancer The Unplanned Journey Lessons Learned, is the very personal journal of Beverly Stacy Dittmer's passage from finding a lump in her breast, through her anxious wait for the confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer that every woman dreads to hear, through her one step at a time trek from surgery through treatment and complications, and, finally, to a realization that life goes on and can become normal again. Beverly as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, and a professional woman shares critical, yet sensitive, information about her diagnosis of breast cancer and its treatment. She makes it quite clear in the copyright page that "the medical statements in this book are only what I understood and are not to be taken as true medical facts," continuing that her knowledge about breast cancer was obtained in years 2003 and 2004. In addition, she includes a personal touch to her 222 page manuscript describing many relationships and human interest stories about life with her husband, her family, her friends, her personal activities, and travels. The reader follows Beverly as she relates her cancer journey one step at a time-the good times and the bad. In a detailed, remarkably sensitive, casual, almost speaking to the audience style, Dittmer writes about everyday life while facing a life threatening condition. She shares words of advice and reminders about living each day with confidence and courage that there is light at the end of the tunnel while including "lessons learned" in the last four pages. Encouragement is granted to the reader by the author's constructive council that "there is an end to this long journey." Through her direct and candid accounts it was obvious that she was not alone in this walk. As a professional nurse practitioner and retired professor of nursing, reading Beverly Stacy Dittmer's personal story reinforces the importance for health care providers to listen and to be present to all individuals for whom they care. For the person with a life-threatening illness, this read will provide a source of strength and encouragement. For the student of nursing and medicine it is a must read.

This book is broken down into sections chapters, if you will from the beginning of a breast cancer experience to the end, based on my own personal experience. I tried to ensure that one could easily open the index and say What does a cancer lump feel like? and go to that chapter, or my biggest thing was I wanted to see pictures. There is a chapter for that. I would recommend the care-giving chapter to everyone. It was important for me to include as much detail in all my work. I believe knowledge is power!