A realistic and moving account of one woman's battle with fatal breast cancer which includes many insights into how young families cope with progressive illness. Anna was 37 when first diagnosed. As she follows a difficult road through medical treatments which ultimately fail to stop the progress of her cancer we experience the full range of emotions which extended illness and dying can bring, including anger, hope, despair, love, and even laughter. Anna eventually achieves a peaceful death at home, supported by hospice care.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women in their thirties and forties.
A brief resource guide points readers to major sources of information for further study and support. This book will work best for readers who can identify with the characters and see themselves in the story. For The Dying's Handbook For Mortals . It's targeted at a mainstream demographic audience with intact families and middle-class economic situations, so readers who don't fit those parameters may not find their own stories here. With these provisos we can recommend it as a light general introduction to major issues in end of life care, with a specific focus on cancer.