Topic of Cancer: Riding the Waves of the Big C

by Meg Stafford

Meg Stafford adds her voice to the beautiful chorus of people who have been treated for breast cancer. Topic of Cancer: Riding the Waves of the Big C is not about merely surviving, but about the living that happens during treatment. What sets this work apart is the joie de vivre that infuses and informs the prose. Difficult topics are treated with openness and honesty and offer a direct line into the emotions that wash through this time, as individuals navigate cancer. The reader learns to ride the perilous waves when not dancing on them or diving through. Stafford rides the riptides, including the reader on the daily choices that arise, giving each day, emotion, and quirky occurrence the attention it requires. What results is a connection to her, to ourselves, and to life itself.

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2011

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you give five stars to a book written by a woman who endures the horrible news of breast cancer, and the need to undergo surgery, chemo, and radiation? Well, I give FIVE big THUMBS up to this author and her book, written at first to journal and share e-mails to her close friends about her experience with the breast cancer devil. But the author is angelic (to me) in the way she shares her journey with all by publishing this book so if readers receive similar news, they know what to expect, and how to fight the demon with dignity, jokes, and with the help of family, friends, and a cadre of doctors who care. I highly recommend this book to ALL readers, because we all at some point need to contend with illness (personally or through friends/family) and Stafford shows us how to do so with verve and wit and a ton of love.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish everyone faced with breast cancer could share this author's attitude. It is so important to have humor in our lives especially when we are struggling with something scary life has thrown our way. I love a good pun, and this author included many in her book. She kept her friends up to date on her journey through breast cancer by e-mailing them often.

The author had been a very active woman before her cancer diagnosis and continued to be as active as she could throughout her treatments. She was a wife, a mother to two teenage girls, had a job, and still found time for lots of walking and bike riding.

I'm sure many readers will benefit from the author's sharing of her thoughts and feelings, both physical and emotional. No doubt, putting these things down on paper also helped the author to deal with the challenges she faced. By the way, she had a serious break of some bones in her hand before she had completed her cancer journey; but that did not stop this inspiring lady.

The writing is worth five stars, but I reduced it to four because of some errors not caught by the editor such as sentences repeated and a few other errors. I am not talking about the author's creative spelling which she often did on purpose and which I found entertaining.

[Heather Birt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always had a lurking fear of cancer, maybe this is a universal feeling. I wouldn't know. People who haven't had cancer don't often chat about their fears about developing cancer.

Topic of Cancer: Riding the Waves of the Big C helped alleviate some of these fears with its detailed and humorous descriptions of diagnosis, treatment, side effects, and remission.

Did I say "humorous?" Yes! Meg infuses every stage of her experience with her authentically optimistic and hilarious personality. Never before have I seen an account like this, in a revealing journal format, that showed cancer taking Meg's energy, appetite, and her body as she knew it, but never her core self. With support and laughter, she found a way through.

I found myself relating, laughing, and scheduling a preventative doctor's appointment while reading this book. While not all accounts of cancer are like this author's account, her story dissipated some of my fear of the unknown and made me more present and aware of how precious my body and its abilities are.

[Kelly L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written in a diary-like format. It would be a great book for someone going through breast cancer treatment, but for someone that isn't in that category, it didn't hold my attention.