| Home | Local Support | Events Calendar | Contact Us | Related Links |
Dear Isobel
I work with Ivan Israel and he has given me your email address, as one of my sister's has written a book on breast cancer and I would like to give you a copy for the Centre, please let me know where I can deliver this to for you. The book is available on-line, or I have a few for sale at £10.99 if that is easier.
Attached is latest news release and brief biog. Below are just six of the reasons why Sharon put pen to paper:-
"1. If you're going to have chemotherapy, diarrhoea is likely to be a side effect. Pregnant mums get Bounty Baby Bags, so my sister created a bespoke 'shit kit' for me. Sadly that was closing the gate after the horse had bolted, as my bowels had already let me down when in London for a meeting.
2. Many women will experience extreme pain in their arms/underarms when trying to lift or move things post operation No, it's not the operation causing the discomfort, it's cording, and you have to 'ping it off' to stop the pain. What's cording? Dead lymphatic vessel. What's pinging off? A peculiar physical activity that looks ridiculous but delivers instant pain relief!
3. The thought of losing your hair is almost as bad as knowing you've got cancer, but no one actually describes how it really happens. I was in a three hour meeting with a client when I started to moult, so I had to keep very still to avoid further embarrassment. When I went back to the car, I had to get the vacuum cleaner out. The hair went, but so too did the finger and toe nails. Never knew that was going to happen.
4. Apart from losing your dignity, hair and things, you lose your taste buds too. I love crisp, dry white wine, but I could only manage Piat D'Or or anything semi-sweet. I chain drink tea, but it tasted of metal until weeks after chemo had stopped. Then there was the accompanying and painful mouth and throat ulcers which made me sound like Don Corleone with a lisp.
5. Reflexology is fantastic - well anything involving having your toes fiddled with for an hour has got to be good. But it's excellent in helping you and your body handle chemotherapy, yet when I wanted to book sessions I met with opposition from reflexologists who said it would counteract the effects of the drugs. Complete rubbish of course, but some women would have been discouraged from getting this totally relevant treatment.
6. I had chemotherapy at home. This was brilliant for me and the children; they could see me 'plumbed in' and that the process wasn't scary. Of course I had private medical insurance, however this service is increasingly available on the NHS too, but not every hospital is aware of this, or wants to offer it. Patients may not be routinely offered this option - they need to ask! (Not sure where Spain/Gibraltar stand on chemo at home.)"
Kindest regards
Lesley Nuttall
|
Even the eyebrows? by Sharon Morrison |
Not another book on coping with breast cancer surely? Well, yes and no. Yes, it’s about breast cancer, but no this isn’t a regurgitation of the same old stuff. This is new stuff, and it would have been really helpful if I had had this information at my fingertips when I was first diagnosed. For example:
I’m a single mum, with three children and a huge mortgage, so not working wasn’t an option. In fact working was a help; it kept me from dwelling on the negatives, and forced me to be positive. Of course, my children also had to contend with this burden, and they write honestly and openly about their feelings in the book too. Even the eyebrows? is jargon-free. It’s not a long read either, you could get though it in one session, but it’s a practical guide book for everyone who’s been diagnosed with cancer. It takes you all the way from the first heartbeat-pumping-in-ears realisation that you might just possibly have a lump in your breast, to the first fantastic cup of tea when your taste buds finally return. For more information, contact:Sharon Morrisons.morrison@dsl.pipex.com |
|
Sharon Morrison was born in London surrounded by a huge extended family - her mum was one of seven children and her dad one of 14. When her dad was promoted, she, her three sisters and mum moved to Bolton to join him. She attended Mount St Joseph’s Grammar School where her English teacher, Catherine Cassidy, helped her discover the beauty of the written word.
When Sharon was 18 her mum died, and she left Bolton forever, spending a year working in Paris as an au pair, before returning to London. There she embarked on a career in advertising and public relations, where she was able to indulge her passion for writing and get paid for it.
Sharon also met her husband John in London and describes him as ‘the most eccentric and brightest man in the world’. They took the decision to move to a beautiful old house, in a peaceful village in Essex, to bring up their family. Sadly John died when Sharon was halfway through her course of chemotherapy.
Sharon still lives in that beautiful old house, with their three children, Merlyn, Jenny and Richard