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Friese’s memoir serves as a vehicle for her creative outlet to tell her story of fighting cancer while offering inspiration and advice to others facing similar ordeals. Friese regales how she confronts the Big C as a forty-year-old woman, wife, mother, and certified nurse practitioner. Her healthcare training and background uniquely position Friese to understand and approach this subject matter from a personal and pragmatic perspective. She is also fortunate to have tremendous support from family, friends, and co-workers.
Within its pages, Friese recalls the emotional and physical scars of her breast cancer and how the journey shaped her personal growth and perseverance while burdened by grief and depression. With no choice but to move forward, Friese finds humor in the midst of chaos and relies on her faith and the comfort of small things, like “food hugs.” Though Friese admits that cancer breaks you down and strips away many of your assurances, it also demonstrates your grit and willingness to survive. By sharing her own story, Friese aims to “defy the image of the sick cancer patient” and show how the proximity to death provides opportunities to reevaluate and break free from the mundane in life and to embrace love and spontaneity.
Proudly displaying the scars of the author's mastectomy and café au lait macule birthmark on the book cover, Friese’s slim memoir is pieced together with brief chapters, making for a fast but compelling read, with a few black and white photos added as a personal touch. The author doesn’t mince words, giving readers an honest and straightforward truth of how cancer changes one, altering the trajectory of one's life and future. Altogether, it is a call to action to be vigilant, to strive for health and recovery against significant odds, and to ultimately take control of one’s life.