I had originally planned on waiting until December 17 to release my book – that would be the 8th anniversary of the surgery to remove the last of the known cancer from my body. However, when I had the paperback ready, Amazon did not let me publish it on a future date. That meant that the paperback version was ready but the eBook was being held back. And so, I have now released the eBook, Kindle unlimited, and Paperback versions of “Never Knew I Wanted to be a Breast Cancer Survivor”. I’ve ordered some author copies for myself, but they have not arrived yet – however, I have heard from friends that their copies have arrived.

I hope you enjoy the book.

When I was working on it, I was working on a PhD. That involved analyzing the blog posts for key themes. The themes helped me choose which of the blog posts made their way into the book. The themes I identified are:

• Developing coping mechanisms
• Navigating the healthcare system
• Learning about the disease
• Understanding side effects
• Advocating
• Exploring body image
• Making decisions
• Negotiating identity

I came to the conclusion that these themes aligned with patient health literacies that I developed throughout my treatment experience.

If you are reading the book, can you see these themes? Do you see any other themes in the book?