Almost immediately after the operation, I became aware that there were unexpected benefits to be reaped from this experience, benefits which ended up changing my life and many of my attitudes.
Eventually I decided to write a book detailing those many benefits and my thoughts on a variety of topics related to health, health care, self-image, and the value of courage and optimism in the face of adversity.
Surviving breast cancer left me a happier, calmer, more focused, and more appreciative person. Now my principal message to other women is that breast cancer does not have to be an entirely negative, terror-inducing experience. On the contrary, it can leave them better off than they were before, both physically and emotionally. I know, because it happened to me. My book is primarily the story of that physical and emotional journey.
The five appendices offer a wealth of practical information on risk factors for breast cancer, ways to help prevent it, and much more.
Leonore H. Dvorkin was born in 1946 in Chicago, Illinois. She and her author husband, David Dvorkin, have lived in Denver, Colorado, since 1971. Their son, Daniel Dvorkin, has written two science fiction novels with his father. Leonore works as a tutor of German and Spanish, a German to English translator, a proofreader/editor, and a weight training instructor. The print version of APART FROM YOU was first published by Wildside Press in 2000, and the revised version was published in 2010 by CreateSpace (now on Amazon). Leonore's nonfiction memoir is ANOTHER CHANCE AT LIFE: A BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR'S JOURNEY, published by Norilana Books in 2010. A Spanish edition will appear sometime in 2010 or 2011.Apart from You cover photo copyright 2009 by Leonore H. Dvorkin.