For me, reading the new book, A Breast Cancer Alphabet by Madhulika Sikka, was like getting one gigantic writing prompt. If you missed my review on this book, click here. While reading A Breast Cancer Alphabet, I immediately started thinking about what my word choices would be that I’d match up to each letter of the alphabet. I realized right away that some of my choices would be the same as Madhulika Sikka’s and some would be quite different. And this is as it should be, right?

I decided it would be fun to write and share my version of a breast cancer alphabet with you, my readers, and I’m hoping some of you will share a letter/word combo or two as well in the comments section. Perhaps some of my blogging buddies will write their own breast cancer alphabet posts. If you do, feel share to come back and share your link.

I could easily write a post on each letter/word combo I chose, but for now I’ll spare you and just add a brief comment and gosh a link or two as well because in some case I have written a post about it! Who knew?

And I’m definitely not insinuating there is anything fun about breast cancer, but sharing sure is fun, so here goes…

“My Breast Cancer Alphabet A-M”

‘A’ – is for anger. Sometimes cancer makes a person darn angry and yes, it’s perfectly okay to feel your anger from time to time.

‘B’ – is for bilateral mastectomy. Was it just a bad dream? I wish…

‘C’ – is  for chemo. I was so terrified by chemo I wrote a book about it. (Print version coming very soon!)

‘D’ – is for my DOGS, Elsie and Sophie. I love those two and they have helped see me through some dark moments.

‘E’ – is for exercise which is not always that easy to just DO, but yet we must keep trying …

‘F’ – is for fatigue. I mean come on, could it be for anything else when you stop and think about it?

‘G’ – is for genes. As a brca2+ gal, I had to choose genes. Remember that old debate about heredity vs. environment and which has the greater impact on a child’s development? I think about that from time to time in a slightly different context now…

‘H’ – is for hair. Of course it’s for hair! Hair loss is a big deal! I don’t care if it sounds vain or not; I hated being bald. HATED IT!

‘I’ – is for inflammatory breast cancer, a type of breast cancer that admittedly, I had not even heard of not that long ago. How is this possible? How has IBC been left out of the awareness conversations time and time again? Not familiar with it either? Check out the terrific guest post about IBC by my friend, Terry Arnold.

‘J’ – is for joy. Sometimes it can be hard to find joy during the messiness of cancer, but it’s imperative to find at least a little bit each and every day, or at least try to.

‘K’ – is for the kids who we have to tell about our cancer and who are impacted so immensely by this news. And it’s for the kids that the women who wanted kids are unable to have due to cancer. And it’s for the kids (of any age) who lose a parent to the cancer beast. And it’s for the kids who do not even remember the parent they never had a chance to know long enough to remember them. Yes, cancer hurts kids. A lot. K is definitely for the kids.

‘L’ – is for loss. Breast cancer is a string of losses. It just is.

‘M’ – is for metastasis, the unspoken word (and not just in pink ad campaigns), but a word anyone who’s been diagnosed certainly thinks about.

There you have it; “A breast cancer alphabet, the Nancy’s Point version, A-M.”

Part 2, N-Z coming soon.

Stay tuned!

And for some extra motivation to comment, the publisher of A Breast Cancer Alphabet has agreed to send out another FREE copy, so if you’re interested in entering another drawing, leave a comment below. If you don’t wish to be included in the drawing, that’s okay. You’re still invited to share your letter/word combo here and also on the book’s Tumblr page. 

Why not pick a letter/word combo or two and share them with a comment below by 5 pm on Wednesday, March 19th? If you do, you’re in the drawing unless you opt out.

The winner will be announced on this post, so check back later!

The winner of this giveaway is Elizabeth!

Congratulations, Elizabeth!