Synopses & Reviews
2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
2009 Association of American University Presses Award for Jacket Design
Chemo brain. Fatigue. Chronic pain. Insomnia. Depression. These are just a few of the ongoing, debilitating symptoms that plague some breast-cancer survivors long after their treatments have officially ended. While there are hundreds of books about breast cancer, ranging from practical medical advice to inspirational stories of survivors, what has been missing until now is testimony from the thousands of women who continue to struggle with persistent health problems.
After the Cure is a compelling read filled with fascinating portraits of more than seventy women who are living with the aftermath of breast cancer. Emily K. Abel is one of these women. She and her colleague, Saskia K. Subramanian, whose mother died of cancer, interviewed more than seventy breast cancer survivors who have suffered from post-treatment symptoms. Having heard repeatedly that "the problems are all in your head," many don't know where to turn for help. The doctors who now refuse to validate their symptoms are often the very ones they depended on to provide life-saving treatments. Sometimes family members who provided essential support through months of chemotherapy and radiation don't believe them. Their work lives, already disrupted by both cancer and its treatment, are further undermined by the lingering symptoms. And every symptom serves as a constant reminder of the trauma of diagnosis, the ordeal of treatment, and the specter of recurrence.
Most narratives about surviving breast cancer end with the conclusion of chemotherapy and radiation, painting stereotypical portraits of triumphantly healthy survivors, women who not only survive but emerge better and stronger than before. Here, at last, survivors step out of the shadows and speak compellingly about their "real" stories, giving voice to the complicated, often painful realities of life after the cure.
This book received funding from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Review
“An in-depth exploration of the symptoms experienced by some women after breast cancer treatment, giving voice to a neglected aspect of the breast cancer experience. . . . This book calls important attention to the plight of these women.”
-Patricia A. Ganz,University of California, Los Angeles, Schools of Medicine and Public Health
Review
“With cogent, compassionate analysis, Subramanian and Abel (herself a survivor) remind us of the lasting effects of cancer diagnoses, and the tremendous work still ahead for patients who must learn to trust their gut, and doctors who must learn to listen more considerately.”
-Pubishers Weekly,
Review
“Reveal[s] the long-term posttreatment symptoms that physicians fail to address. . . . Women who have felt more isolated after treatment will welcome this validation that they are not alone.”
-Library Journal,
Review
“With cogent, compassionate analysis, Subramanian and Abel (herself a survivor) remind us of the lasting effects of cancer diagnoses, and the tremendous work still ahead for patients who must learn to trust their gut, and doctors who must learn to listen more considerately.”
“An in-depth exploration of the symptoms experienced by some women after breast cancer treatment, giving voice to a neglected aspect of the breast cancer experience. . . . This book calls important attention to the plight of these women.”
“Reveal[s] the long-term posttreatment symptoms that physicians fail to address. . . . Women who have felt more isolated after treatment will welcome this validation that they are not alone.”
“Reveals the long-term post-treatment symptoms that physicians fail to address.”
“After the Cure provides voice to breast cancer survivors thrust into a netherworld of chronic disability.”
Review
“Reveals the long-term post-treatment symptoms that physicians fail to address.”
-Library Journal,
Review
“After the Cure provides voice to breast cancer survivors thrust into a netherworld of chronic disability.”
-Macleans.ca,
Review
"This is a wonderfully written book that should be read comparatively with other migrant histories as a way to move still further in our imaginaries about what we dare to envision for transcending the unjust history we have inherited. Schmidt Camacho has made a valuable contribution in launching this call."-Journal of American Ethnic History,
Review
“A sophisticated, timely, and insightful book that Schmidt Camacho has situated in the middle of one of todays most important historiographical debates. How are we to understand border crossers whose experiences are more connected to the diasporic consequences of economic transnationalism than to the immigration metanarratives of national incorporation? Schmidt Camachos answer lies in her expansion of social theory to place non-rights-bearing people at the center of the conversation rather than on the periphery of the nation-state and its citizenry.”
-Journal of American History,
Synopsis
2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
2009 Association of American University Presses Award for Jacket Design
Chemo brain. Fatigue. Chronic pain. Insomnia. Depression. These are just a few of the ongoing, debilitating symptoms that plague some breast-cancer survivors long after their treatments have officially ended. While there are hundreds of books about breast cancer, ranging from practical medical advice to inspirational stories of survivors, what has been missing until now is testimony from the thousands of women who continue to struggle with persistent health problems.
After the Cure is a compelling read filled with fascinating portraits of more than seventy women who are living with the aftermath of breast cancer. Emily K. Abel is one of these women. She and her colleague, Saskia K. Subramanian, whose mother died of cancer, interviewed more than seventy breast cancer survivors who have suffered from post-treatment symptoms. Having heard repeatedly that -the problems are all in your head, - many don't know where to turn for help. The doctors who now refuse to validate their symptoms are often the very ones they depended on to provide life-saving treatments. Sometimes family members who provided essential support through months of chemotherapy and radiation don't believe them. Their work lives, already disrupted by both cancer and its treatment, are further undermined by the lingering symptoms. And every symptom serves as a constant reminder of the trauma of diagnosis, the ordeal of treatment, and the specter of recurrence.
Most narratives about surviving breast cancer end with the conclusion of chemotherapy and radiation, painting stereotypical portraits of triumphantly healthy survivors, women who not only survive but emerge better and stronger than before. Here, at last, survivors step out of the shadows and speak compellingly about their -real- stories, giving voice to the complicated, often painful realities of life after the cure.
This book received funding from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Synopsis
2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
2009 Association of American University Presses Award for Jacket Design
The stories of 70 women living in the aftermath of breast cancer
Chemo brain. Fatigue. Chronic pain. Insomnia. Depression. These are just a few of the ongoing, debilitating symptoms that plague some breast-cancer survivors long after their treatments have officially ended. While there are hundreds of books about breast cancer, ranging from practical medical advice to inspirational stories of survivors, what has been missing until now is testimony from the thousands of women who continue to struggle with persistent health problems.
After the Cure is a compelling read filled with fascinating portraits of more than seventy women who are living with the aftermath of breast cancer. Emily K. Abel is one of these women. She and her colleague, Saskia K. Subramanian, whose mother died of cancer, interviewed more than seventy breast cancer survivors who have suffered from post-treatment symptoms. Having heard repeatedly that "the problems are all in your head," many don't know where to turn for help. The doctors who now refuse to validate their symptoms are often the very ones they depended on to provide life-saving treatments. Sometimes family members who provided essential support through months of chemotherapy and radiation don't believe them. Their work lives, already disrupted by both cancer and its treatment, are further undermined by the lingering symptoms. And every symptom serves as a constant reminder of the trauma of diagnosis, the ordeal of treatment, and the specter of recurrence.
Most narratives about surviving breast cancer end with the conclusion of chemotherapy and radiation, painting stereotypical portraits of triumphantly healthy survivors, women who not only survive but emerge better and stronger than before. Here, at last, survivors step out of the shadows and speak compellingly about their "real" stories, giving voice to the complicated, often painful realities of life after the cure.
This book received funding from the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Synopsis
This work is a compelling collection of portraits of more than 70 women who are living with the aftermath of breast cancer. These narratives give voice to the many who suffer from ongoing, debilitating symptoms that plague survivors long after their treatments have officially ended.
Synopsis
Winner of the 2009 Lora Romero First Book Prize from the American Studies Association2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title
Migrant Imaginaries explores the transnational movements of Mexican migrants in pursuit of labor and civil rights in the United States from the 1920s onward. Working through key historical moments such as the 1930s, the Chicano Movement, and contemporary globalization and neoliberalism, Alicia Schmidt Camacho examines the relationship between ethnic Mexican expressive culture and the practices sustaining migrant social movements. Combining sustained historical engagement with theoretical inquiries, she addresses how struggles for racial and gender equity, cross-border unity, and economic justice have defined the Mexican presence in the United States since 1910.
Schmidt Camacho covers a range of archives and sources, including migrant testimonials and songs, Amrico Paredes last published novel, The Shadow, the film Salt of the Earth, the foundational manifestos of El Movimiento, Richard Rodriguezs memoirs, narratives by Marisela Norte and Rosario Sanmiguel, and testimonios of Mexican women workers and human rights activists, as well as significant ethnographic research. Throughout, she demonstrates how Mexicans and Mexican Americans imagined their communal ties across the border, and used those bonds to contest their noncitizen status. Migrant Imaginaries places migrants at the center of the hemispheres most pressing concerns, contending that border crossers have long been vital to social change.
About the Author
Emily K. Abel is Professor in the School of Public Health and Women's Studies Department, University of California, Los Angeles. A breast cancer survivor, she is the author of many books, including
Hearts of Wisdom: American Women Caring for Kin, 1850–1940.
Saskia K. Subramanian is an Assistant Research Sociologist in the UCLA Center for Culture and Health as well as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the UCLA Women's Studies Department. She is the recipient of two major grants from the Susan G. Komen Foundation for psychosocial research on breast cancer survivors. She is also the producer of the feature length documentary film "Beyond Breast Cancer: Stories of Survivors," which will be screened at the 2008 Baltimore Women's Film Festival.