Patient No More: The Politics of Breast Cancer

Jane Heath teaches psychology at Ryerson University.

In clear and absorbing detail, the author recounts her evolution from an
average woman, bewildered and terrified by a diagnosis of breast cancer,
to a committed activist, knowledgeable and influential in the politics
of the disease. Medical, sociopolitical, and personal viewpoints on the
diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of breast cancer are presented and
evaluated in a comprehensive, unbiased, and sensitive manner.

Questions as complex and controversial as lumpectomy versus mastectomy,
timing of surgery in the menstrual cycle, benefits and drawbacks of
radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and their effects on quantity and quality
of life are thoroughly discussed. Repeatedly, the author demonstrates an
impressive ability to report and summarize, in critical but unbiased
fashion, complex medical data bearing on such questions, as well as a
satisfying willingness to offer her own well-reasoned conclusions.

This exceptionally informative and involving book is strongly
recommended, even to those whose lives have not been touched by breast
cancer.