Saving Jack: A Man’s Struggle with Breast Cancer - Softcover

Willis, Jack D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806138955 ISBN 13: 9780806138954

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008

Synopsis

A moving account of breast cancer from a surprising perspective

It isn’t just a woman’s disease: few men stop to consider it, but one in a thousand males contracts breast cancer.

Saving Jack is a moving first-person account of a man’s experience with breast cancer. In a tale of challenge and adversity, Jack Willis relates his personal experience, from first feeling a pea-sized nodule in his breast to being diagnosed, from mastectomy and chemotherapy treatments to positive prognosis. And in telling candidly of his struggles, he conveys his renewed appreciation of life.

While there is no shortage of books devoted to helping women with breast cancer, this is the first to address the apprehensions faced by men who contract the disease. As he describes the physical and emotional roller coaster on which he suddenly found himself, Willis shares with readers―especially other new cancer victims―some of the things he and his family didn’t know about cancer when he was diagnosed.

In a compelling story of faith, fear, and sometimes just getting through one long day of chemo, Willis shows that cancer is a family disease, affecting spouses and children as well as victims. For anyone whose family has been devastated by this frightening diagnosis, Saving Jack offers a ray of hope―and for men who face this unexpected disease, it offers a much needed source of strength.

About this title

About the Author:

Jack Willis is retired as Adjunct Professor of Journalism at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and was Editorial Adviser to the Oklahoma Daily.

Alan B. Hollingsworth, M.D., is Medical Director of Mercy Women's Center and Mercy Cancer Center in Oklahoma City. The founding Medical Director of the University of Oklahoma Breast Institute, he is the author of The Truth About Breast Cancer Risk Assessment.

From Publishers Weekly:

A former journalist and college professor, Willis delivers a moving memoir of his struggle with breast cancer, shining a light on a diagnosis that is given to approximately 2,000 men each year. Once diagnosed, he doesn't shy away from accepting that he needs an immediate mastectomy and painful chemotherapy treatment. His journalistic training allows Willis to clearly and concisely tell his story—from the initial discovery of a lump on his chest through to surgery and treatment and on to the mental changes that he still feels today as a result of the chemotherapy: The nightmarish aftereffects shocked my system like nothing I had ever experienced. Willis chronicles his physical deterioration in excruciating detail, but he also offers a unique perspective, while never forgetting that women have struggled with the physical and mental impact of the disease for years. His writing skill also keeps him from overplaying his story's importance: he lets Hollingsworth—the founding medical director of the University of Oklahoma Breast Institute—state in his foreword that until now, no male breast cancer patient has tackled the shock of being diagnosed with 'a woman's disease' through a book-length chronicle of the experience. (May)
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About this edition

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0806138955
• ISBN 13: 9780806138954
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208