Talking to My Tatas

With humor and empathy, Dana Brantley-Sieders explores the science and realities of breast cancer for the love of your boobs and your life.Dana Brantley-Sieders spent twenty years working as a biomedical breast cancer researcher. Then, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She thought she knew breast cancer before it whacked her upside her left boob and left her bleeding on the curb of uncertainty. Turns out, she had a lot to learn. This book shares Brantley-Sieders' personal journey with breast cancer, from the laboratory bench to her own bedside, and provides accessible information about breast cancer biology for non-scientists. Talking to My Tatas: All You Need to Know from a Breast Cancer Researcher and Survivor, offers accurate, evidence-based science that is accessible to all readers, including the more than three hundred thousand individuals diagnosed with breast cancer every year, their caregivers, and their loved ones. Knowledge is power, and lack of it can lead to overtreatment, unnecessary pain and suffering, and even death. By demystifying the process from mammograms, biopsies, pathology, and diagnostics, to surgical options, tumor genomic testing, and new treatment options, Brantley-Sieders aims to arm breast cancer patients with the tools they need to battle this disease with a healthy dose of humor, grace, and hope.

Dana Brantley-Sieders, PhD, has been a biomedical breast cancer researcher for over twenty years, investigating molecular mechanisms that regulate breast cancer growth and metastasis. She is also an author, advocate, and breast cancer survivor. She lives in Nashville, TN.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: Breast Biology, Breast Cancer, and What to Expect When Diagnosed with Breast Cancer
Chapter One: Can I talk to you about my personal relationship with my breasts?
Chapter Two: Cancer 101: What (breast) cancer is and how it makes your body betray you
Chapter Three: Diagnostics: Imaging, poking, and prodding to find breast cancer
Chapter Four: Tumor gene expression profiling and surgical options - excise and examine
Chapter Five: Radiation, chemotherapy, and molecularly targeted therapies - weapons of cancer destruction
Chapter Six: Cancer doesn't discriminate, but we do: Disparities and cancer
Part II: My Breast Cancer Story
Chapter Seven: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, or a cancer diagnosis
Chapter Eight: New boobs, new you? The toll breast cancer takes on your mental health and how to deal with it
Chapter Nine: I laugh in the face of cancer-a few funny stories
Part III: Science Savvy: Why You Should Listen to Your Doctor and Not Dave "Avocado Wolf," Gwyneth Paltrow, or Darla Shine
Chapter Ten: Avoid the woo! How to spot scams and distinguish pseudoscience from what's legit when it comes to breast cancer
Chapter Eleven: How to look past the sensational headlines and get the real scoop from science reporting
Chapter Twelve: The post-cancer feminist manifesto: Academic researcher edition
Chapter Thirteen: "Boring Science" and Why Chasing New and Shiny Isn't Always the Best Goal
Part IV: Survivorship and Finding a New Normal
Chapter Fourteen: My condition is chronic, but my tits are iconic
Chapter Fifteen: Top ten things you can say/do when a friend/loved one is going through cancer, and what you should never say/do
Chapter Sixteen: Life goes on: Moving forward with humor and hope
Appendix
Bibliography
Notes
Index
About the Author