Book Review: My Breast Cancer Adventure

Reviewed by Jadidsa Perez | Content warning: cancer

A beautiful bouquet of stories, education, and survival

 Emma Scattergood’s My Breast Cancer Adventure begins by inviting the reader to ponder the raw, horrifying reality of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Although blunt, it’s impossible to stop reading. 

This book makes readers privy to how breast cancer can be diagnosed at any time and what happens afterward. The author has personal experience with breast cancer of course, but she also includes voices of others who dealt with the same diagnosis in different ways. This book carefully dissects breast cancer in a way that is understandable to readers and offers tips to help others find comfort. 

The author’s journey with breast cancer drew me in immediately. Each encounter is written in great detail, despite the mental anguish it must’ve taken to recall such events. This helped me as a reader evolve beyond just sympathizing; I was able to really see the devastation of this illness. It also helped that there is such an exemplary balance between the author’s inner thoughts, dialogue, and medical terminology. The reader is able to fully grasp all aspects of why awareness and education is imperative, while also hitting the emotional side. 

One of the most emotional sections of the book is when Scattergood interviews others who were also diagnosed with breast cancer. Each person is given a dedicated chapter and platform to voice their thoughts. There is great diversity amongst the participants: some are expats, some very young, some didn’t follow a detox diet after getting a diagnosis. It ties in perfectly with the beginning, where Scattergood provides statistics of how often people are diagnosed with breast cancer. There are now names attached to those statistics with extremely varied prognoses. The text beautifully immortalizes them and their words. 

Another thing I found heartwarming were the boxes full of tips at the end of every chapter. It mentions things from documenting every office visit to ensure quality and efficiency to dealing with hair loss comfortably. These tips offer a community to readers who may be dealing with breast cancer or anything similar and are unsure of how to proceed. Those little moments encapsulate the significance of a text like this.

I would recommend My Breast Cancer Adventure to those readers involved in or around cancer who are seeking community and education. It’s a striking book, filled with invaluable words of survivors. It could be inspiring, empowering, educational, and a gem sparking brightly on your bookshelf.

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