After my diagnosis and during treatments for breast cancer, lots of people (including good friends who should have known better) said to me, "Oh! You've got such a good attitude!" To which my invariable reply was, "Honey, this ain't 'good' attitude, it's just attitude." As you read these brief chapters, you will come to understand why. Many well-meaning guides already exist for journeys like mine: doctors, nurses, physicians' assistants, lab techs, web sites, national, regional and local non-profit organizations, friends who've been there before, support groups, counselors. But few of them think to share the real nitty gritty of daily life on this road, some because they do not know, others because they think the information is too trivial, or too weird, or both. If you are on, or have been on, this road yourself, you know what I mean. And you also know why I wrote this little guidebook for my fellow road warriors everywhere. Leslie Wildesen
