Nancy Stordahl Knihy

Are you weary of stories portraying cancer as merely a bump in the road, an experience to be grateful for or a chance for personal enlightenment? Nancy Stordahl shares about her breast cancer experience while intertwining memories about what it was like to be a caregiver for her mother who died from metastatic breast cancer. Originating from personal, unrestrained journal entries, this strikingly frank memoir gives readers a glimpse into cancer's messy realities including the multitude of emotions that arise when a family is catapulted into the world of cancer chaos. This is truth-telling from a not-so-pretty-in-pink perspective, resulting in an honest, realistic portrait of family, cancer and loss that will encourage others facing similar trials to ditch the societal expectations and instead do things their own way. You don't have to smile your way through cancer.

Once again, refusing to jump onto the "everything happens for a reason" bandwagon, Nancy Stordahl tackles tough topics like cancer, loss, and the COVID-19 pandemic with unflinching honesty while dismantling the back to normal myth. As readers of "Nancy's Point" and her memoir, Cancer Was Not a Gift & It Didn't Make Me a Better Person, have come to expect, she crafts a poignant, personal narrative while weaving in validation, comfort, and encouragement to readers who are coping with their own challenges, whatever those might be. Never one to sugarcoat the breast cancer experience, Stordahl examines words such as mastectomy and lumpectomy, calling them out as inadequate and minimizing. She shares candidly about reconstruction decisions and why she opted for DIEP flap surgery at ten years post diagnosis, highlighting the on-going experience that breast cancer is. She sheds light on judging that still goes on regarding choices women make and why survivor guilt is so common in Cancer Land. Stordahl asks hard questions that many grapple with such as: Why do we avoid talking about death and grief, and why do we hesitate to even use the "D" words? What does it feel like to become parentless? Why does saying goodbye to our beloved pets hurt so much? And, why are we so often expected to just move on from hard things? Emerging also touches on the universal themes of aging, making tough decisions, resiliency, and self-acceptance. Advice offered is realistic, straight-forward, and helpful. Stordahl reminds us we needn't pressure ourselves to emerge from any life challenge as new and improved versions of our former selves. Instead, she shines light on a kinder, gentler path to recovery and self-acceptance. Emerging is a refreshing, encouraging read for anyone who has struggled, or is struggling, with one of life's challenges. It's full of honesty, humor, and humanity. Reading it is like having coffee with a friend while talking about the stuff of life. This is a book you'll want to keep handy to read again and again.