Nats Fan,

"Bathsheba's Breast" is the best book about breast cancer that I've read over the years, and I've read over 1000 books!

It was fascinating to read the history of this disease and I learned tons of info that I did not read anyplace else.  Kudos to Mr. Olsen.

A friend dx with bc 6 months before I was gave The Emperor to me - saying I was the only person she knew who would enjoy it. But now my dd and sil are reading it too.

And Bathsheba's Breast is next on my to-read list. Thanks for the recommendation.

Susan's, when I saw your post I downloaded Bathsheba's Breast.  My goodness, it's amazing.  I am half way done in one day - cannot stop.  Seems like we go in circles on breast cancer and the answers are never clear.  The history gives perfect perspective.  So interesting!

I'm reading this now and about halfway through. What a great book! Very well written. Makes me understand everything a lot better as well. Highly recommend.

I'm only about half-way through this book.  I've found it to be a slow read, and am thankful that I also have the audio-book to help me get through it.  However, it is interesting to know the history of cancer and watch the development of cancer treatments and therapies.  I am so glad that I did not belong to the groups that got treatment for breast cancer in the 60's.  Wow, what these women endured!

One thing I was surprised to read was that women over 50 were most likely to relapse with aggressive, metastatic breast cancer. Perhaps this was meant to apply to only the women in a particular study group - those with early-stage breast cancer, but still, it is surprising.  I was under the impression that younger women were more at risk for that than those over 50.   

I thought this book was great and actually inspired hope.  The Herceptin story was really moving. You realize that cancer treatments were often discovered by doctors who had an original idea and then had to buck the medical establishment and fight to get funding for the research.  Many doctors seem to "stumble" upon effective treatments due to happenstance and their own curious natures.

Bump...;)



Violet

I am almost finished with Emperor of All Maladies, and recently finished How We Do Harm - both of which I highly recommend. I'm interested in connecting with other women who have read books like these - specifically as they relate to the breast cancer journey. I will look into reading Bathsheba's Breast.

I have not yet read the Dr. Susan Love book as I am concerned it may be out-of-date, and breast cancer treatment recommendations are rapidly evolving. I am interested in the book Breast Cancer Journey: The Essential Guide to Treatment and Recovery, but am concerned that it only has 3 reviews on Amazon. 

I was thinking about starting a new thread if there is enough interest. I know there is a Book Lovers thread, but this one would be specific to Cancer.

I had put off reading The Emperor Of All Maladies  because I thought it might be too disturbing; and it was disturbing, but WOW, it so interesting, and it really made me aware of the many, many advancements which have been made, some in the very recent past; advancements that have directly benefited me and many other people I know. A very good book on many levels.

Ruth - I felt the same way. So many of our recommended treatments are so recent! It really gives me hope for the future. 

I am interested in other books that BCO members have read. Do you think the Susan Love book is still relevant, given the recent advancements? I have not read it and am looking for recommendations.

Thank you Pip! I'll check that out.

i read it before i was dx'ed, and once again after. Ken burns is working on a documentary of it with sidhartha mukerjee. Can't wait! please do start a thread, i was wondering, fascinating medical book besides cancer, too? Gabor mate is also an excellent writer about stuff like that, as is atul gawande. i am gonna read "emporor" at least once a year! got it on my kindle, am thinking about getting a hard copy to mark up and annotate. gotta go check,  not sure if ive read bathsheba's breast yet. Dr. susan love's breast book is updated frequently, its quite good, and i would strongly urge each woman to join her "army of women" study.

Yes, it is a keeper!

I read the book twice after my diagnosis and like many others here felt so grateful to live in the time that we do - although I also hope that within my lifetime, my BMX will seem as barbaric as the radical mastectomies of the mid 20th century.

I'm eagerly awaiting the Ken Burns documentary - CANCER: THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES, a three-part, six-hour documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Barak Goodman and executive produced by Ken Burns, airing on PBS March 30-April 1, 2015.

Wow! Just wow. I watched the first hour of this last night and I was glued. It was fascinating. How all the treatments evolved….But it is HARD to watch at the same time. Heartbreaking.

I looked up the narrator because I thought I recognized his voice. I was right about who it was. Ironically, the guy just died in Jan of brain cancer at 71. Sad. His name is Ed Herriman. You might not recognize the name but you would recognize his face. I guess he was in Gilmore Girls. He was a wonderful narrator.

On another related note, did anyone see the 60 Minutes segment the other night about Duke U's results injecting the polio virus into cancer tumors?