Oct 16, 2006 3 min read

If you are a person of the male persuasion, you can stop reading now. This book review isn’t for you. Oh, wait. I’ve changed my mind.

This book does affect you. Read on, then hand this newspaper to your wife, girlfriend, sister, or mom. And give her a hug, because we’re going to talk about some pretty scary stuff.

Think breast cancer is a “grandma’s disease”? Think you’re “too young” to get it? Read “Nordie’s at Noon” by Patti Balwanz, Kim Carlos, Jennifer Johnson and Jana Peters.

And then think again.

We women know that, as a support system, nothing can beat girlfriends. So when Patti met Jana during chemo and Jana saw Jen at a breast cancer survivor’s luncheon and Patti’s old college chum, Kim, was diagnosed, the four of them knew they had to get together to nosh and natter at Nordie’s cafe.

At age 24, Patti was the youngest of the four at diagnosis. She was single, striving to get ahead at work, and she had lots of support during her diagnosis and treatment. Doctors nicknamed Patti, “Tigger” because she had so much energy that she bounced instead of walked.

Five-months-pregnant Jennifer found a lump as she was performing BSE (breast self-examination) in the shower. Jen was 27 years old and elated about the impending birth of her first child. But could chemotherapy and radiation affect the baby?

Jana, also just 27, was planning a different sort of life-changing event. She was about to be married when her diagnosis was made. Instead of postponing the wedding, Jana said her vows in a beautiful dress, a wig, and prosthesis.

Being the mother of a two-year-old can be challenging, but it’s especially hard when you’re tired from chemo, as Kim learned. Thirty-year-old Kim’s diagnosis came just as she was planning her son’s birthday party. Would it be the last one she ever planned for him?

“Nordie’s at Noon” is the story of four young breast cancer survivors who decided to keep a journal for the benefit of other survivors who are “too young” for the disease. They write about D-Day (diagnosis) and the decisions they made for treatment; what it’s like to deal with chemotherapy and how relationships are changed; and they talk about fear of recurrences and what it’s like to lose someone to breast cancer.

Do you practice BSE? You should – and you will after you read this book. “Nordie’s at Noon” is hard to digest if you’re a survivor of any kind of cancer because it’s real and truthful and deals with things that survivors would just-as-soon not have to remember. And gentlemen, you should borrow this book from your wife, sister, mom or girlfriend because breast cancer isn’t only a “woman’s disease”.

Just ask the estimated 1650 men who were diagnosed last year.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and there may not be a better book to read at this time. Pick up a copy of “Nordie’s at Noon” on your way to your mammogram.

It may literally be a lifesaver.