BOOBS!

That's right - it says BOOBS!  Got your attention didn't it?  Breast cancer is all about the boobs and it is very much about awareness.  That awareness is a big part of why there has been so many advancements in the treatment of breast cancer.  Awareness is what will get us to a cure. And if we can cure  one cancer we can cure others.

But I digress.  Today's post has to do with an incident at the library today.  As I'm sort of in limbo while I wait for my body to finish healing from the surgery so I can start radiation, I've been wondering what to do with myself.  I'm not very good at just waiting.  I generally fill my wait time with reading. And as I've decided I want to be an advocate for breast cancer awareness, I decided I'd better start reading up on the topic.

So a trip to the library was in order.  I requested several books from both Pikes Peak Library and Douglas County Libraries.  Several were available at DCL so I made weekly trip up to Castle Rock to pick them up.   Technology decided to make things interesting.  The self check out stations decided to quit working. In fact even the librarian's circ computers went down. So they were checking out books the old fashion way - writing down the patron's name/barcode and the barcode of all the books they were checking out. I used to work for Douglas County Libraries, but I don't think the young man recognized me. After having lost so much weight, many of the staff don't recognize me right away.  I handed him my books and was looking out the window when I heard him chuckle. I looked back to see what he had found humorous. You guessed it. B.O.O.B.S - A Bunch Of Outrageous Breast Cancer Survivors compiled and edited by Ann Kempner Fisher was the book on top of the pile.  As you can see it has a somewhat suggestive photo on the cover.

I could tell by the look he gave me that he had not seen the subtitle and even though he was old enough to know better, he was having a rather juvenile reaction to the cover of the book.  When he moved onto the next book, which was either A Cup of Comfort for Breast Cancer Survivors or Living Well Beyond Breast Cancer, his face turned as pink as the cover of the above book.  I thought about saying something to smooth it over, but what was I going to say? It was just one of those times when keeping my mouth shut was the best course of action - not that I always do that when I should.

I do have to admit that I found it rather humorous, not because he was embarrassed at the prospect of being perceived as having made light of something so serious, but because it reminded me of the time back in North Carolina when a group of fourth grade boys found an old book in the library about fairies. They all wanted to check it out because the little fairies in the illustrations wore gossamer clothes and if you looked very close you could tell they were girls because you could see their tiny little breasts.

What is the point of all this rambling? Cancer of any kind makes people nervous. It's not as though Miss Manners has written an etiquette book dealing with the topic. Peoples reactions whether they know your or not are sometimes just going to be awkward.  Sometimes, you just have to smile and move on.

So what other breast cancer books did I check out:  The Breast Cancer Survivor's Fitness Plan by Carolyn M. Kaelin, M. D., Promise Me: How A Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer by Nancy G. Brinker (Susan G. Koman's sister - I'm tempted to recommend this one as the next selection for my book club),  and After The Cure: The Untold Stories of Breast Cancer Survivors by Emily K. Abel and Saskia K. Subramanian.

Which one will I read first: BOOBS!  When I glanced through the book I found that the first entry in the book is a story of another woman named Beverly. That seemed like a sign that I should read this one first. But since I tend to multi-read - who knows, maybe I'll read them all at the same time.