BCAC is always looking for books and other information that may be of help to women and their families experiencing breast cancer.

On this page we list books and resource materials that we have found useful and can recommend.
If you have found a book or other resource that is particularly helpful, we would like to hear from you. Please let us know by completing our email enquiry form.

Books on this page:
Laugh Your Tits Off by Anne Hayden
(Humour)
Welcome to the Amazon Club by Jane Bissell
(Personal account)
The Pink Party by Jane Bissell
(Living with advanced breast cancer; also features story of an inflammatory breast cancer survivor)
#1 Tools and Tips from the Trenches by Mary Olsen Kelly
(Advice for survivors, families and friends)

Laugh Your Tits Off!
By Anne Hayden
(FirstEdition 2007)
RRP $14.95

‘‘Laugh Your Tit’s Off!’ is a “little book” in which breast cancer is given humorous treatment. It has cartoons and practical advice for women who have had a mastectomy for breast cancer. Upon receiving a diagnosis of this kind, most women go straight to their libraries to learn more about what is in store for them and how they can improve the outcome.

‘This book was written to meet a gap in the marketplace, where most of the literature around this subject is earnest, well-meaning, and pretty sombre. In my research I found one paragraph about how humour can aid healing. Yet for my husband and I, our senses of humour pulled us through and made us strong enough to face the next hurdle. What we joked about became the cartoons in ‘Laugh Your Tits Off!’ Practical tips designed to add comfort and support in this unenviable situation are woven into its pages.’

Anne hopes those who read her little book will laugh too and reap the benefits a good dose of humour can bring.

Anne will donate $1 to the BCAC for every copy sold. The book can be ordered via the publisher, FirstEdition, at 0800 782 547 or selfpublish@gmail.com or through the website www.laughyourtitsoff.com.

Welcome to the Amazon Club
By Jane Bissell
(Longacre Press 2004)
RRP $10.00

‘Welcome to the Amazon Club’ describes Jane’s first year following her breast cancer diagnosis. The book is endorsed by The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation with a Foreword by Mrs. Belinda Scott (Breast Surgeon and Medical Chairperson of The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation).

Jane’s sense of humour parallels the seriousness of her experience and a reader may find themselves laughing and crying at the same time as they share the rollercoaster ride of thoughts and feelings. The book offers support, reassurance and practical advice for women experiencing breast cancer and for those who care for them.

This book is available through the BCAC website here » or through Jane Bissell’s website at www.janebissell.co.nz

What the reviewers say about ‘Welcome to the Amazon Club’
‘As a member of The Amazon Club myself, I could relate readily to this account and can assure readers – especially new members of the Club, their supporters and health professionals – that it could well help them cope with this all too common condition.’ Nelson Mail 

‘I recommend this book for anyone who is going through a traumatic experience. Bissell’s account of her experience is inspirational …’ Wairarapa News

‘The Amazon Club has a heart-breaking initiation, but membership does have some life-changing rewards  ...’ The Dominion Post

 ‘It’s a wonderful book, allowing the reader an insight in to the feelings a person has as she goes through what must be one of the worst experiences possible. Highly recommended.’
The Marlborough Express.

The Pink Party, A celebration of life
By Jane Bissell
(Klarer Lasserre Books 2007)
RRP $30.00
This book is available through Jane’s website, www.janebissell.co.nz
Endorsed by BCAC and Sweet Louise
A donation will be made from sales to BCAC and Sweet Louise

The Pink Party is Jane’s second book about the extraordinary journey that is a woman’s experience with breast cancer. Jane writes of the joys, fears and achievements in her own life and in the lives of Manon and Colleen, all united by the breast cancer journey they share.

Colleen faces the end of her journey and breast cancer returns for Manon. ‘Colleen helped me understand that the will to live is powerful and life can be very simple,’ Jane says. ‘Manon is an inspirational and courageous woman who has survived rare and aggressive inflammatory breast cancer. She taught me about ‘life in the moment’ – the knees-up, hands in the air, champagne-cork-blowing spontaneity of it - and to celebrate every day.’

Colleen wished to share her experience with other women living with advanced breast cancer. Unable to communicate with these women while she was alive, The Pink Party is Colleen's way of sharing her story with the hopes that her words may help and comfort women on a similar journey. The book would therefore be of value to women living with metastatic or terminal breast cancer. Sweet Louise (The Louise Perkins Foundation www.sweetlouise.co.nz offers services for women with advanced breast cancer) has endorsed the book because of the support it may offer for these women and their families and caregivers. The Pink Party also tells the rare story of a woman living with a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer. The book is helpful for those who support and care for people with cancer. It is insightful, highly readable and full of information.

Here is what readers are saying about The Pink Party:

‘Perhaps the most valuable and unique contribution The Pink Party makes is to give a voice to women whose cancer has advanced. By telling Colleen’s story, Jane takes us into a territory not often explored and helps us to see how one woman found joy and hope right to the end of her life.  There are valuable messages here for all of us.’ Libby Burgess, Chair BCAC

"The women in Jane's book are so gutsy, bold and wonderful. Yes, I was moved to tears several times, but I kept reading. I admire how Jane has captured just the right mix of sentiment, reality and the "champagne popping" joy of celebrating lives well lived." Jocelyn Watkin

"What more can I say about TPP than I really rate and recommend it? Plenty actually. I cried sometimes and laughed many times as I read it, simply unable to put it down. It’s warm, funny, poignant and resonant with a friendship and faithfulness that I found both bracing and embracing. You may not have walked the breast cancer gangplank, wondering what’s beyond the end, or watched your loved ones walk it, in order to grasp the book’s richness - but it helps! What I love about the book is the way that Colleen can now live on in more hearts, that I as reader can share in the privilege of walking with “Manon” and most of all, that I can rejoice in the modestly understated but very vibrantly present courage and celebration of life of the fabulous Jane Bissell!" Claire Ryan

“Jane writes a poignant story with openness and sensitivity about what it is like to be diagnosed with and to live with cancer. She writes of the vulnerabilities associated with loss of health, of coping with side effects of treatments and of the fears of cancer returning. Jane outlines the importance of hope, humour, living life in the moment and counting our blessings. Colleen faces her progressing cancer with courage and dignity. She has difficult choices to make as hope is fading. It is hard to imagine how each of us would cope if we knew of our impending death. Would we have such courage? The Pink Party is about the power of "sisterhood" and the empathy that breast cancer survivors have for each other. This is a moving story and a beneficial read for women diagnosed with breast cancer or in fact any person diagnosed with cancer. It is an insightful book for caregivers and for those health professionals that are enlisted with the care of cancer patients. I would also recommend The Pink Party to "healthy" people, as it reminds us not to take our health or our lives for granted and to live each day as fully as we can. Perhaps we should all think about organising a Pink Party!" Jenni Scarlett 

#1 Best Tools & Tips from the Trenches
By Mary Olsen Kelly
(Books Beyond Borders LLC, 2006)
RRP $18.00 + $3.50 postage in NZ
This book is available by emailing huna@xtra.co.nz or phone (07) 552 5012

#1 Best Tools & Tips from the Trenches - Breast Cancer is the best friend you wish you had; a friend who will take you by the hand and lead you through the confusing maze of your (personal) journey following diagnosis. Heartfelt and immediate, this book delivers personal and practical advice for Breast Cancer survivors, family and friends.
Author - Mary Olsen Kelly

Reviews:
I have found "Tools & Tips from the Trenches" by far, the most comprehensive and informative book that I have read. We give a copy to each of our newly diagnosed patients and many have commented that it was their "Bible" through their journey.
Practice Manager - Tiffany Breast Care Centre, Ohio

Reading this book is like a friendly visit from a fellow breast cancer survivor - someone who's been there, knows exactly how to deal with it and is eager to share. This handy guide is full of useful advice (like which numbing cream works best before a chemotherapy injection), resources (like personal recipes for fighting nausea) and encouraging anecdotes from Kelly as well as other breast cancer patients.
Mamm Magazine January/February 2007

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