New from NYU Press: After the Cure: The Untold Stories of Breast Cancer Survivors

By Emily K. Abel and Saskia K. Subramanian

Long after their treatments have officially ended, breast cancer survivors are plagued with a variety of ongoing, debilitating symptoms including fatigue, chronic pain, insomnia, and depression. 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, by Emily K. Abel, a breast cancer survivor and professor in the School of Public Health and Women’s Studies Department at UCLA, and Saskia K. Subramanian, an assistant research sociologist at UCLA whose mother died of cancer, is filled with portraits of more than 70 women living with the aftermath of breast cancer.  Having heard repeatedly that “the problems are all in your head,” many survivors 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 even family members, who provided essential support during chemotherapy and radiation, don’t believe them.
    While most narratives about survivors paint stereotypical portraits of triumphantly healthy women who not only survive but emerge better and stronger than before, this book allows the survivors to step out of the shadows and speak compellingly about the “real” stories, giving voice to the complicated, often painful realities of life after the cure.