Now What?: A Patient’s Guide to Recovery after Mastectomy by Amy Curran Baker

This is by far not a sexy topic to write about- but like all things CancerVictory, it’s an extremely practical book. My hat is off to Amy Curran Baker for tackling this issue. And it’s a good book- well researched, well thought-out and useful. Amy Curran Baker, the author, thought of everything- she even includes a lymph fluid chart in the back of the book so patients can use this instead of having to come up with something on their own. The author wrote this book after realizing there was not a lot of information out there for patients to read to prepare for a mastectomy. I hope somehow this book ends up in Surgeons hands and that they are passing it out. Or at least loaning some copies to patients! Usually patients are whisked into surgery a week or 2 after diagnosis and they have no time to do any research of their own. But they should be reading this book. Tons of practical useful tips, like what kind of pillows would be good for reclining post-op and what to expect with those pesky drains. Just bringing up things you should think about ahead of time, and tips to make the recovery go a little easier. There are also many personal autobiographical accounts of women with cancer or who just have the gene. They share pretty openly about why they made the decision to get a mastectomy and how their husbands feel about it. This is a great book, and I hope surgeons start to hand it out to their patients!