Breast Cancer at 35: A Memoir

At 35, Burns, a high school literature teacher and mother of a one-year-old son, discovers a lump in her breast that turns out to be cancerous. Unsure of whether her story is “worth telling,” she decides to share her experiences, letting women know that there are many possible scenarios for a breast cancer diagnosis. Burns undergoes a lumpectomy and radiation, and she is spared chemotherapy due to a favorably low Oncotype score (the result of a test that helps determine treatment). Sandwiched between her introduction and afterword, both of which are prose, are a series of poems that describe her first visit with the oncologist, “The Nurse,” “Appointment” “Radiation Treatments,” and glimpses of everyday life, such as playing with her son while trying to put worry about her future on hold. Burns’s observation that time is “more inestimable, more ours” will ring true to those who have faced the life-changing nature of this disease; the challenges of learning to accept, to relinquish control, and to value and enjoy the everyday moments are also explored. And though fear is a constant companion, Burns writes in “Anthem of Hope” that “acceptance heals.” The work reflects the author’s sense of hope, and her realization that though she can’t control cancer, she can control her “response to the life I have and all it brings.” Readers who are facing (or who have survived) breast cancer and their families will find inspiration in this cancer journey via poetry. (BookLife)