01/06/2014
In her pragmatic and empathetic first book—a hybrid memoir and professional guide—Jacobs, a palliative care/hospice nurse and social worker, offers an unabashedly candid account of her experience with breast cancer. Speaking as both patient and experienced healthcare professional, Jacobs, at the time of her diagnosis a “vegan-eating, marathon-running 39-year-old with no family history” of the disease, covers every aspect of diagnosis, treatment, and care, with a spiritually and emotionally uplifting viewpoint that allows her to see the “Silver Linings” in even the most difficult situations. Each chapter—beautifully illustrated with images by Messina—focuses on a particular point in the breast cancer journey and discusses how to handle challenges with a clear head, including: diagnosis; relaying the news to children (toddlers to teens to adults), family members, and other loved ones; surgery; chemotherapy; the isolating nature of the disease; radiation; nutritional and other therapies to ease treatment; discovering the new normal; and redefining your life post-treatment. Every section provides invaluable tips, such as questions to ask your treatment team, what to expect during diagnosis and treatment, and red flags to watch for. If you or someone you know has battled breast cancer, this book will serve as a lifeline for navigating this potentially devastating disease. Full-color photos. (Mar.)
The Silver Lining reflects the experience of a remarkable woman, undergoing what is sadly an all too common journey. The challenges faced are honestly, yet compassionately shared, often with humor and always with grace. The lifelines and wisdom remind readers that at the end of this expedition there is growth and hope. The breathtaking photos reinforce the beauty that can come from pain. This book is an extraordinary gift for all who have been touched by breast cancer.
It is a rare thing to find a resource that captures both the very real, lived experience of having breast cancer while also serving as an incredibly practical guide to understanding cancer and its treatment. The Silver Lining should be read by every professional who cares for those who face breast cancer as a reminder of the person and family surrounding the tumor. Hollye Jacobs' expertise as a nurse, social worker, and child development specialist is evident, as the book is richly infused with the wisdom of each of those professions. Even more important is that this book is clearly coming from a woman who has been there, heard the words, 'you have cancer,' and found the silver linings known only to a survivor.
This book is a little miracle, both for the body and the soul. If ever there was light in the face of the storm, this book is it. Read it and heal.
Hollye Jacobs has provided us with an informative, supportive and uplifting account of her unusually arduous breast cancer treatment. From mouth sores to mood swings she extends us 'life lines,' her practical hints for adaptation. Through the dark clouds and dense fog of cancer treatment she both recalls and discovers beauty and hope and her "silver linings" are pithy expressions of wisdom and truth - maxims that help make the difficult doable.
This book provides true insight into the challenges involved in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. It is a lesson in survival. It is a testament to the courage, grace and dignity of one woman who truly defines the word 'survivor.'
"This bold and resourceful woman's powerful account of her breast cancer experience offers important guidance, strong encouragement and real inspiration to any person challenged by this disease."
Like a good friend, this book will be by your side as you travel through the world of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
Hollye probes the varied and granular issues surrounding breast cancer with thoughtfulness and sound advice while leavening the experience with humor. Elizabeth Messina’s collector-quality photographs… aid in capturing the essence of the journey…. [and] result in a remarkable tension: the allure of life simultaneously overlaid with the threat of disease, which is starkly, and beautifully, portrayed.
Hollye Jacobs combines inspiration with practical suggestions for women and men working through a breast cancer diagnosis. She gives breast cancer survivors the ability to put things in perspective, with spot-on advice about what to expect.
Like a good friend, this book will be by your side as you travel through the world of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
★ 12/01/2013
Palliative care nurse and social worker Jacobs often related bad news to patients and their families, but the shock of her own breast cancer diagnosis was still difficult to assimilate. In this offshoot of a blog she wrote with her husband, her path from lump discovery and diagnosis to double mastectomy and reconstruction to chemotherapy and radiation is accessibly detailed and cleverly communicated. Jacobs reveals the worst (constipation, diarrhea, and vomiting during chemo) while allowing for the best (a silver lining) at every turn. Boxed "Lifelines" simplify basic actions to take, while "Practical Matters" sections list terminology, therapies, questions to ask, and strategies to follow. The photos by Messina include a few expected bald heads and bare chests, but most are lovely evocations of life and all that we hold dear. Where this book distinguishes itself from other similar titles (e.g., Joyce Wadler's My Breast, Geralyn Lucas's Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy, Teresa J. Rhyne's The Dog Lived (and So Will I), and Melanie Young's Getting Things Off My Chest) is the author's emphasis on pain management throughout the process and the excellent early chapter on how to talk to children (of all ages) about a parent's illness. VERDICT With her humorous and approachable style, Jacobs has written an essential title for patients facing a cancer diagnosis. Highly recommended for all consumer health collections. [See Prepub Alert, 9/30/13.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
2013-11-26
A two-year ordeal with breast cancer conveyed with frank prose and stunning photography. A Southern California–based palliative care nurse, Jacobs' blog, The Silver Pen, evolved into an online diary immortalizing her thoughts and feelings after a grim diagnosis in 2010. Originally begun as a way to avoid personal interaction yet still update concerned friends, the blog went viral. It also reiterated the hard truth that cancer is an equal-opportunity affliction, since the author considered herself a "healthy, happy, vegan-eating, marathon-running thirty-nine-year-old with no family history of breast cancer." As a caregiver and social worker, Jacobs unexpectedly found herself "on the opposite side of the bed," and her candid chronicle doesn't spare or sugarcoat the details about how blindsiding cancer proved to be, with numerous biopsies, surgeries, grueling chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and their attendant side effects. Jacobs' narrative voice is firm, gently authoritative, yet comfortably good-natured as she addresses the challenges of delivering the news to children, post-treatment reintroduction to everyday life, vital nutrition advice, and the unlimited virtues of having levelheaded, supportive friends and family throughout the process. Her compassionate guidebook--something Jacobs admits she longed for during her own treatment--provides perhaps the most important advice in sections called "Practical Matters," which address key clinical details about managing the entire patient experience. Award-winning photographer Messina beautifully captures the essence of Jacobs' journey, delivering mood and emotion through gorgeous imagery. Throughout it all, Jacobs remained resilient, buoyed by a holistic approach to wellness. This is a wise investment for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer or simply interested in how the process works. Unfailingly optimistic, Jacobs compassionately offers proof positive that even a terrifying, arduous disease like cancer can have a silver lining. A dignified, intensely personal journey of survival.