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In Cancerland: Living Well is the Best Revenge
By Libby Znaimer
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In Cancerland: Living Well is the Best Revenge
By Libby Znaimer
“Libby Znaimer has done a great service-not just to women who have breast cancer but to anyone with health problems-in facing up to her own illness with such courage, humour, and intelligence. She dispenses both sound advice and encouragement.”
– Margaret MacMillan, Distinguished academic and award-winning author of Paris 1919 and Nixon in China.
When acclaimed Canadian journalist, broadcaster and radio executive Libby Znaimer accidentally discovered a lump on her breast, gnawing dread turned into what she calls “grim realization.” One unseasonably hot May night, Libby pushed away the bed sheets and accidentally grazed a never-before detected lump on her bare breast. It was shock – she had just had a round of mammograms that were green-lighted as normal and healthy. In Cancerland: Living Well Is the Best Revenge is Libby’s first-person account of the often terrifying journey one in nine Canadian women make, and how Libby chose to do battle with what she considers a part of her life.
Libby’s is a no-punches-pulled, frank and insightful look into the sequence of events that shaped her experience, often written as they unfolded. Reactions and frustrations are shared, from having to wait for an appointment with a specialist after initially detecting the lump, to having to make serious health choices once tests were confirmed.
Although there isn’t much room for sentimentality in the telling of the events from Libby’s point of view, she does write about the lighter side of living with the disease; choosing a wig and even buying the “perfect” gold strappy sandals for an event she wouldn’t miss. She takes the reader along as she attends a social engagement hours after being diagnosed, plays tennis the morning after chemotherapy, and has to start a new job in the midst of her treatment. She also dedicates an entire chapter to her husband Doug, chronicling his reactions, concerns and constant support.
It’s Libby’s hope that her memoir about dealing with breast cancer resounds as strongly with readers as her column in the National Post did, drawing responses from over 1200 readers. One woman named Reena wrote that her sister found a lump that turned out to be cancer , and that she wanted to let Libby know “that my sister did her self-exam because of your column.”
Pragmatic, practical and smart, Libby’s approach is to get on with life and even live it to its fullest despite the disease. This is a story of how to embrace life and not run away from it while recovering from cancer.
ABOUT Libby Znaimer:
Libby Znaimer broke into print journalism with The Associated Press in Tel Aviv, then carved out an illustrious career in Canadian journalism, specializing in business, politics, and lifestyle issues. She contributes to numerous publications, including the National Post, where she first wrote about her experience with cancer.
She also worked for two decades in television broadcasting. After stints at Global Television, KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, and WNBC in New York, she covered Parliament Hill for three years then moved into reporting and anchoring daily news coverage for ground-breaking television stations Citytv and CablePulse24 in Toronto. She is currently Vice President of News and Information at radio station Classical 96.3FM, where she produces and hosts the daily The Zoomer Report.
