FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2009

SUSPENSE/THRILLER AUTHOR GGIVES BREAST CANCER ADVICE IN FORTHCOMING BOOK

Breast cancer survivor and Kauai author Cheryl Swanson has a new book coming out on breast cancer survival. Published by Zumaya Publications, the book is titled: Busting Loose: A Breast Cancer Survivor Tells You What Your Doctors Won’t.

“Surviving cancer is a not-so-gentle art,” Swanson said. “BUSTING LOOSE was designed to help women break free of fear, and find the best possible medical care from both conventional and alternative providers, which greatly improves their chances for a cure. The book is also designed to help individuals who are anxious about the possibility of breast cancer by giving them information on how to start taking steps to protect themselves.” 

  
Swanson met and befriended many cancer survivors during her own journey and their stories are included in the book, showcasing the ways different cultures and religions handle a terrible disease. “I met women who launched new careers, ran marathons, climb ice-covered peaks,” she said. “But the ones I admired most just stayed the course, their dreams and cancer experience to climb the mountains in their lives. It shows how to deal with the fear in a positive way. Most of all, it encourages women to never let their diagnosis limit them and to get back (quickly) to what ignites their passions and brings them inner peace.”

   
Swanson herself received her diagnosis on the eve of a third-world adoption. Through her own journey, the author discovered that every woman diagnosed with breast cancer is terrified—initially. But raw and messy emotions like fear can be transformed into a form of light, crackling and bursting with energy. If you know how to handle them, even the most traumatic feelings can be shifted into knowledge, insight, what some call enlightenment.

In the first section, diagnosis, the book provides excellent advice for making it through the medical maze and dealing with the immediate crisis. In the second section, treatment, it thoroughly explains all the options in breast cancer treatment. In the final section, recovery, it guides women into building a life beyond, after their bodies have irrevocably changed.

The author is uniquely qualified to write the book because she thoroughly understands modern health care from both sides—both as a patient and as a valued advisor to doctors. She spent twenty-one years as a speaker, writer, and consultant to the medical profession, both on high technology and patient management. Busting Loose is loaded with engrossing and provocative takes on sexuality, body image, feminism, and the politics of breast cancer. It examines the connection between sexual abuse and breast cancer mortality—a topic no breast cancer book has ever touched. Through recounting the story of a sexually abused aunt, the author reveals the unholy alliance between the shame that besets women with breast cancer and a history of unrevealed sexual abuse.

he goal of the book is to explode the stereotypes, Swanson said.

 

Cheryl Swanson is available for bookstore signings or motivational talks and interviews. She can be reached at cherylaswanson@gmail.com.