She maintains a private practice in Tucson, Arizona, and is an adjunct professor at Chapman University and adjunct research scientist in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Karen Spruill, M.A., is a writer and psychotherapist with degrees in community counseling and communication. She lives in Orlando, Florida.
Breast cancer strikes one out of every nine American women.
The author's unique perspective combines her expertise as a clinical psychologist with her personal experience as a breast cancer survivor. With unflinching honesty and graphic, detailed photos, clinical psychologist Alice Chang chronologically details her own struggle with breast cancer, taking readers from the initial discovery of a lump all the way through treatment to positive survival. With writer and counselor Karen Spruill, Dr. Chang explains how she underwent testing and diagnosis, assembled a medical team, and decided about treatment. She and Karen also include suggestions that will help readers understand side effects, find support, and cope with the fear, rage and sadness that accompanies this diagnosis. They go on to offer specific recipes for positive survival and information on the implications of a breast cancer diagnosis for women from various cultural backgrounds, as well as single women and lesbians.