It’s October. National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Are you wearing or carrying pink this month? More importantly, have you scheduled your mammogram?
At left is the Miche bag I carry in October. This is my large size. A dear friend gave me the same purse in the smaller size, so I’m set, no matter where I’m going.
Regular readers of my blog know that I’m a breast cancer survivor. Three years, come December. Strange. It feels like eons ago and like just yesterday that I got the call from the physician and began my cancer journey.
Early this year, I was asked to read and possibly endorse a cancer-survivor book. Although I was (and still am) on an hiatus from all endorsement reading, this was one request I couldn’t refuse. I’m so glad I didn’t because I found this book to be the best of those I’ve read. It was the one I wish I’d had to read when I first got my diagnosis. I’m sure there are many other wonderful books out there that I haven’t read. But this is the one I am happy to endorse and recommend. The release is still months away, but the book is finally showing up on-line for preorder. Make a note of it or order it now. When you or a loved one faces breast cancer, you’re going to want this book.
Warrior in Pink: A Story of Cancer, Community, and the God Who Comforts
by Vivian Mabuni“I managed to make my way to the car through blurry, tear-filled vision. Inside the car I tried to calm down by looking out the window as cars drove by. Everyone was going somewhere. And I sat and watched. My life had suddenly come to a standstill.”
When young mother Vivian Mabuni was diagnosed with breast cancer three days before Christmas, she struggled to know how to respond. How do you tell your children you have cancer? How do you allow yourself to be vulnerable and ask for your family’s support? And how do you continue to trust God?
Through her battle, cancer patients, family, and friends will find perspective, hope, and an honest look at what it is like to be diagnosed with and treated for cancer as well as encouragement to know that God is present in our pain. Warrior in Pink provides an honest look at what it is like to be diagnosed with and treated for cancer, includes ways to encourage yourself and others, and shows you how to invite God into your pain.
I was surprised, as I read this book, how many times I identified feelings I was currently having as related to my cancer journey. And I was comforted by that discovery. So I would tell you that this book is relevant to those who are past the arduous parts of treatment. Even two or three years past it.
And let me ask one more time: Have you had your mammogram this year? Will you have it soon? My cancer was caught incredibly early because of regular mammograms. And I thank God for it.
~robin
