Dear Cancer

Triple negative is a deadly form of breast cancer. Because these tumors are aggressive and there are fewer treatment options, the woman with a triple negative diagnosis often receives the maximum chemotherapy and the most radiation. What she doesn't get is a lot of hope. The facts of triple negative are so frightening that she will wish she had regular every-day cancer. Ann Tracy Marr knows the feeling; she survived triple negative breast cancer. To keep track of what was going on and to hang on to her sanity, Marr wrote a diary through diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment. Dear Cancer is a mix of personal experience and medical fact translated into plain English. The reader walks in Marr's shoes through surgery, chemo rooms, and radiation labs. The reader will have an accurate description of a biopsy. A port will cease to be a mystery. She will be acquainted with the symptoms of side effects and have tips for dealing with them. Recognition of a developing radiation burn allows early implementation of the steps to heal it. Details of promising research will encourage her. Buried in the wealth of information are hints of the emotions she may have to contend with. Research proves that optimism counts when fighting cancer and knowledge is empowering. The reader won't be taken off-guard at what the doctor orders. She won't be bewildered by her body's response to treatment. She won't feel alone; she will be aware that someone else has gone through this prolonged ordeal and survived. She can retain control. Dear Cancer gives the person diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer hope and tools to fight a killer. Not to ignore the person with a simpler diagnosis: the book is equally valuable to the person with other forms of breast cancer. The reader can skip over the information that pertains to triple negative tumors secure in the knowledge that the medical treatment applies to those with plain old invasive breast cancer or DCIS.