Getting Things Off My Chest Third Edition: A Survivor’s Guide to Staying Fearless and Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer by Melanie Young #Review

Getting Things Off My Chest Third Edition:
A Survivor’s Guide to Staying Fearless and Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer
General Women’s Health
Publisher: Plain Sight; 3rd edition (August 11, 2020)
Paperback: 264 pages
ISBN-10: 1462138578
ISBN-13: 978-1462138579
Kindle ASIN: B08JZ6PDC7

Charge head-on into the battle with breast cancer, armed with these outstanding survivors’ tips on how to stay sane, focused, and in charge. Written by a breast cancer survivor with expert insights, handy checklists, and helpful questions to ask your doctors, all geared toward streamlining your new life. This detailed, upbeat book helps you make informed decisions, eat and exercise to stay strong, look, and feel your best, eliminate stress and boost your spirits with positive thinking and a dose of humor. Don’t let your cancer control you; empower yourself and ease the transition with this all-inclusive guide. This book is WINNER of the 2014 International Book Award for Cancer Health topics.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Everyone’s breast cancer journey is unique but most of us go numb or are stopped in our tracks when we hear the words, “yes, it’s cancer” When you finally start to wrap your head around your diagnosis you have questions that need to be answered. For many of us, that means getting a book or books on the subject. A survivor’s perspective is always appreciated. It’s funny, I am a book person but that isn’t the route I took at first. Instead, I was Googling everything. Then in September, I was given the opportunity to review this book that was being released to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I was recovering from my surgery and set to start my radiation treatments in October and still suffering from “chemo brain” making it hard for me to write coherent reviews. So while late, I still wanted to share with you my thoughts about this book.

Melanie Young is a breast cancer survivor after being diagnosed in August 2009. This is the third edition of her book. She covers everything from “Digesting Your Diagnosis” to “Your Options on Reconstruction” to “Positive Side Effects” and “Making Cancer A Positive Life Sentence”. She shares her story while including insights from many experts.

I found the book to be very well-written and set up in a way that easy to follow even though the author’s path was in a different order than mine. She also did not go through her treatments during a pandemic as I did, but I hope she will address that in her fourth edition. So her account told me how things would have been if 2020 had been a normal year. I found myself getting emotional over the number of times she encouraged leaning on family members and having someone go with you to doctor’s appointments and chemo treatments. After my very first appointment where care was explained, I was on my own. I was so glad to have my daughter with me at that appointment because it was information overload and she knew I was overwhelmed she wrote everything down and asked a ton of questions. Questions the author of this book recommends. Lord, only knows how many important things I missed along the way without back up by my side although the doctors, nurses, and everyone involved in my care was superb and took great care of me.

I really wish I would have had this book at the start of my journey. It is packed full of information. Questions I had were answered in a clear and easy to understand way. I read and reread several chapters over the past couple of months. Ms. Young focuses on the positive way to look at everything in an upbeat way. A way I needed to read when cancer was getting the best of me. Some of the side effects were brutal but I found comfort in her words.

I am so appreciative that this book was presented to me for review. If you or a loved one receive a breast cancer diagnosis get them this book as soon as you can. The positive messages are uplifting and the information is useful and clear. It is an excellent resource that you can read and then refer back to certain sections as needed.

Melanie Young is an 11-year breast cancer survivor, published author, radio host, and certified health coach. She wrote “Getting Things Off My Chest: A Survivor’s Guide To Staying Fearless & Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer” from a survivor’s standpoint- with lists of questions and tips on what you need to know and ask every step of the journey. Each chapter also features tips from experts in their fields. This book has been carefully vetted to make sure you have the best and more informed information possible.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”