"Welcome to the Amazon Club"Those were the first words my friend Libby said to me after my diagnosis of breast cancer. I remember thinking to myself,
'What a great title for a book'. |
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Purchase the 'Welcome to the Amazon Club' and 'The Pink Party' combo for just $29.97 (includes postage to one New Zealand address) and you'll be supporting a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
Purchase a combo this October (each 'combo' at $29.97 is a copy of The Pink Party and a copy of Welcome to the Amazon Club, a saving of $10 if the books were purchased separately!) and I'll donate $2 from every combo sold to Breast Cancer Support, an organisation providing much-needed support to Kiwi women newly diagnosed with
breast cancer.
This offer only available within New Zealand.
breast cancer.
This offer only available within New Zealand.
I did indeed write that book Libby inspired with her words that day. Welcome to the Amazon Club (Longacre Press 2004) was published about three years after my diagnosis in October of 2001.
The picture here is of my Mom, Dad and me at the launch of Welcome to the Amazon Club at The Women's Bookshop in Auckland.
Welcome to the Amazon Club tells the story of my first year with breast cancer, from the day of diagnosis through to my first 'all clear' 12 months later. Based upon the journal I kept during that time, it is an honest story telling of the fears, pain, and anxieties that followed the day I received the news that changed my life, but also describes the joy, the love of family and friends that sustained me, and the gratitude I felt towards all of those people who cared for me.
I felt there was more to say after I'd made it through that first year so I wrote a sequel, The Pink Party, which brought to the pages stories of two other inspirational women, Manon and Colleen. This book deals with the issues that surface after treatment for early breast cancer is over: how life has changed, how your belief system is altered by cancer and your goals and aspirations change, and how you begin to navigate through a 'new normal.'
The sub title on the cover of Amazon Club was, 'A remarkable journal of hope, bravery and strength'. The publisher came up with that and I remember thinking, 'Oh, come on, really?' I recall thinking at the start of the journey, after I'd pulled myself together as best I could after hearing I had breast cancer, that I had to just roll up my sleeves and get on with it, get it done. I didn't have any thoughts about being brave or strong, although I did have hope.
My friend Libby Burgess is an inspirational woman who heads the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC). Under her leadership, this group continually advocates for women experiencing breast cancer, challenging the government and its pharmaceutical funding agency PHARMAC to provide world-class treatment and care for this cancer that enters the lives of over 2900 New Zealand women every year, and takes the lives of over 600 annually. When Libby said those words to me that day, she not only brought to mind the Amazonian warrior women who removed a breast so they could shoot their arrows more effectively in battle, but also that I was about to begin the warrior fight of my own life, and that would require strength and bravery.
Throughout my journey I was supported by some amazing women, my own Mom for one. She was there when I got home after receiving the news and she said to me, 'We'll get through this together', and by golly, we did. Libby was a tower of strength too, as were the women of Breast Cancer Support, an organisation of women who have had breast cancer and are trained to provide emotional and practical support for those newly diagnosed.
Breast Cancer Support's line is 'We've been there too' - and there is nothing better than sitting down with someone who 'gets it' and knows how you feel. I'm donating $2 from every combo sold during the month of October to Breast Cancer Support so they can continue to provide this vital service. Please support this organisation. They are truly making a difference in the lives of Kiwi women experiencing breast cancer.
Thank you.
The picture here is of my Mom, Dad and me at the launch of Welcome to the Amazon Club at The Women's Bookshop in Auckland.
Welcome to the Amazon Club tells the story of my first year with breast cancer, from the day of diagnosis through to my first 'all clear' 12 months later. Based upon the journal I kept during that time, it is an honest story telling of the fears, pain, and anxieties that followed the day I received the news that changed my life, but also describes the joy, the love of family and friends that sustained me, and the gratitude I felt towards all of those people who cared for me.
I felt there was more to say after I'd made it through that first year so I wrote a sequel, The Pink Party, which brought to the pages stories of two other inspirational women, Manon and Colleen. This book deals with the issues that surface after treatment for early breast cancer is over: how life has changed, how your belief system is altered by cancer and your goals and aspirations change, and how you begin to navigate through a 'new normal.'
The sub title on the cover of Amazon Club was, 'A remarkable journal of hope, bravery and strength'. The publisher came up with that and I remember thinking, 'Oh, come on, really?' I recall thinking at the start of the journey, after I'd pulled myself together as best I could after hearing I had breast cancer, that I had to just roll up my sleeves and get on with it, get it done. I didn't have any thoughts about being brave or strong, although I did have hope.
My friend Libby Burgess is an inspirational woman who heads the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC). Under her leadership, this group continually advocates for women experiencing breast cancer, challenging the government and its pharmaceutical funding agency PHARMAC to provide world-class treatment and care for this cancer that enters the lives of over 2900 New Zealand women every year, and takes the lives of over 600 annually. When Libby said those words to me that day, she not only brought to mind the Amazonian warrior women who removed a breast so they could shoot their arrows more effectively in battle, but also that I was about to begin the warrior fight of my own life, and that would require strength and bravery.
Throughout my journey I was supported by some amazing women, my own Mom for one. She was there when I got home after receiving the news and she said to me, 'We'll get through this together', and by golly, we did. Libby was a tower of strength too, as were the women of Breast Cancer Support, an organisation of women who have had breast cancer and are trained to provide emotional and practical support for those newly diagnosed.
Breast Cancer Support's line is 'We've been there too' - and there is nothing better than sitting down with someone who 'gets it' and knows how you feel. I'm donating $2 from every combo sold during the month of October to Breast Cancer Support so they can continue to provide this vital service. Please support this organisation. They are truly making a difference in the lives of Kiwi women experiencing breast cancer.
Thank you.