NOT JUST ONE IN EIGHT
Barbara F. Stevens
Health Communications, Inc.
Health, Mind & Body
ISBN: 1558748326

There are so many ways to look at breast cancer, from the perspectives of patients, doctors, and now, from the families and loved ones of those suffering from the disease. NOT JUST ONE IN EIGHT tells the stories of 20 different breast cancer survivors ---19 women and one man --- and the long, difficult journeys on which they all walked together.

Each story chronicles the physical relationship of the patients and their families to the disease, as well as the emotional ramifications of these non-death sentences. They start at the beginning, with the awful acknowledgment of illness and continue through the way a family is changed and strengthened by their participation in the patient's illness and recovery. The constant medical decisions, the fear of death, the reliance on others, the way it changes every moment of every waking day for every person involved is looked at in surprisingly different ways in each story. At the end, the survivor's current situation is discussed.

If you or someone you know is ill with breast cancer, NOT JUST ONE IN EIGHT is a particularly relevant and helpful book, a guide to others who are just starting down the difficult road to hopeful recovery, a chance for someone new to the situation to gain knowledge and some power from the poignant stories told in this book. Author Stevens writes from a heartfelt place, since she lost a mother who had suffered both breast and ovarian cancer. At 43, Stevens, herself, was diagnosed with the disease. Obviously, she needed to write this book for herself as well as for the many others who will benefit from her putting it together. NOT JUST ONE IN EIGHT is a helpful reminder that you are not in this alone, whether you are a patient or a loved one, and that the abilities to help each other on the way to remission are multifaceted emotional and physical endeavors, needing strength, love, and energy. Stevens has done a great service for the families of cancer patients in general, but breast cancer specifically.

   --- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano

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