Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book – My Review

Updates: This giveaway opportunity has ended. The 7th edition of Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book is, or will soon be available.

Sadly, Dr. Susan Love died on July 2, 2023. You can read about her incredible legacy here.

A while back, I was asked to review Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, Fully Updated & Revised Sixth Edition, authored by Susan M. Love, MD with Karen Lindsey and Elizabeth Love. Illustrations by Marcia Williams. Published as a Merloyd Lawrence Book by Da Capo Press, 2015. 690 pages.

This review is not a paid review. I always like to be upfront about that, although of course, paid or not, you always get my honest opinions when I review stuff.

Where did you turn for information when you were first diagnosed?

Did you go online immediately?

Did you head to the bookstore or library?

Or, did you just stick to your doctor and his/her advice?

After my mother’s diagnosis and again after mine, the first place I went online was BreastCancer.org. Following my diagnosis, the first book, or one of them anyway, I purchased was Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book. It’s in its sixth (now 7th) edition, something I appreciate because, of course, things are always changing in Breast Cancer World, as far as information goes anyway. So keeping a book such as this up-to-date is very important.

Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book is often referred to as the breast cancer patient’s bible and by the way, I still have the Bible I was given as a preteen on my bookshelf and Dr. Love’s “bible” takes up way more space! It’s quite thick.

The thing I like best about Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book is that it’s set up so you can find things quickly and easily, something the newly, and not so newly diagnosed patient, definitely appreciates. I also love the appendices at the back of the book, which are loaded with more resource information.

The 6th edition is divided into seven parts: Part One – “The Healthy Breast and Common Problems,” Part Two – “What Causes Breast Cancer and How Do We Prevent It?,” Part Three – “Finding Breast Cancer,” Part Four – “Decisions,” Part Five – “Treatment In the Age of Personalized Medicine,” Part Six – “After Treatment” and Part Seven, “Recurrence of Breast Cancer.”

In particular, I appreciate the addition of chapter 18, “After Breast Cancer Treatment: Living with Collateral Damage.”

Kudos to Dr. Love for going directly to patients when gathering information for this chapter.

As most of us know all too well, this is an area of survivorship that definitely needs further attention.

This book is jam-packed, full of well laid out, easy-to-understand, comprehensive, sound information. As a patient, and as a blogger as well, I have turned to this book countless time to check on something I was wondering about.

Other topics included in the 6th edition are:

• How the long-term effects of chemo, radiation, and other treatments can be prevented or lessened
• How younger survivors can maintain their fertility post-treatment
• The various genetic tests available to pinpoint the exact type of breast cancer and tailor treatments to it
• Studies revealing new links to diet, exercise, and environmental exposures
• Research on whether there is a viral or bacterial connection to breast cancer       
• Questions patients can ask and results they might expect from new techniques like 3D mammography, whole breast ultrasound, and  MRI’s  
• Screening controversies
• What women need to know about dense breasts

For an accurate, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand resource that covers just about every aspect of the breast cancer experience, Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, remains the preeminent source to turn to for information delivered with Dr. Love’s reassuring and compassionate tone.

If you would like to win a copy of Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, simply leave a comment below stating your interest by 5 pm CDT on September 21st and you’re entered in the blog giveaway. Newsletter subscribers are eligible for a separate drawing, as explained in my last newsletter. I’ll be randomly picking two winners for each. Winners will be announced here on this post shortly after the drawings. 

Note: this giveaway opportunity has ended.

Thank you for participating!

The winners of my newsletter drawing were Beth and Patricia. The winners of my blog drawing were Kathy and Laura. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all who participated!

Where did you first turn for information following your diagnosis, or your loved one’s diagnosis?

Have you read this book?

Don’t miss out! Sign up for emails/newsletters here. 

Click here to learn more about the 7th edition – available October 2023. 

NOTE: The image and link below are for the 6th edition. As is this review.