Hug Everyone You Know: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer

(Paperback)

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Description

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.

It is estimated that over 246,660 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die each year.

Over 2.8 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today.

30 percent of women with early stage breast cancer go on to develop metastatic (stage 4) breast cancer.

Reviews

2017 USA Best Book Awards Finalist in Non-Fiction: Narrative 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Women's Issues (Non-Fiction) Hug Everyone You Know is a compelling memoir about the importance of community while navigating a life crisis such as cancer. As an oncology nurse and a cancer survivor myself, I found Martin's writing to be a refreshingly real depiction of life as a cancer patient. Her writing is a testimony to the endurance of the human spirit, the importance of love and community, and the need for hope every day of the journey. Story Circle Reviews "This book will show readers the power of human connectivity and how sharing our experience can become an inspiring journey, not only for those who listen to us, but for us who live it. Hug Everyone You Know: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer is a painful and empowering journey, a book that will speak to those undergoing any hopeless situation; its a gift to receive, use and pass on. This book will give readers the strength and the inspiration to name their suffering and to triumph over it. Its exciting, informative and, above all, entertaining." Reader's Favorite "This is a great story: inventive, informative, and irresistibly readable. Quite an accomplishment when the subject is cancer. Brava." Odette Heideman, Editor, Epiphany Magazine "Hug Everyone You Know captures beautifully the terror and anxietyas well as the awkwardness and occasional humorthat follow a diagnosis of breast cancer, and the salvation to be found in the love and support of family and friends. Peering deeply into the experience through a detailed assessment of her fears, the bonds she shares with others, and hitherto unknown reserves of courage, Martin shares revelatory insights about her willingness to go to any lengths to fight the disease because of what she has learned about the preciousness of life." Andrew Botsford, Editor and Visiting Professor, Stony Brook Southampton University "This is a beautifully and honestly written account of the challenges that face women and families confronting a breast cancer diagnosis. It passionately illustrates the ability of women and their 'Everyone's' to find their strength and demonstrate their love." Karen Schmitt, MA, BSN Director, Cancer Services Program of Manhattan New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Executive Director, CARE Shared Resource Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center "I am inspired by Antoinette's courage and spirit. She is blessedblessed with her husband and children, blessed with her family and friends, and blessed with her doctors and nurses. Being in the medical field, it's a shot of reality seeing it from the patient's point of view, with the day in and day out struggles of life compounded with the diagnosis. This book brought a face to breast cancer and I feel privileged and honored that she shared it with me. I will hug everyone I know, now and forever." Barbara M. OBrien RN, Director of Cancer Services Program of Staten Island Staten Island University Hospital "Filled with fresh air, light, and life, Hug Everyone You Know is an intimate conversation with an intelligent, funny survivor. The voice rings true, and the insights resonate well beyond the cancer moment." Joni Rodgers, NYT best-selling author of Bald in the Land of Big Hair "Martin has a way of writing that really captured my attention and brought me into her story. I felt like her best friend." Kathryn Gates-Ferris, MS, MPA, CHT, Avon Project Director CAI Global "I picked up this book on a early Sunday afternoon and did not set it down until I was finished. The writing is like being with a long-time friend. It is honest and you can feel the love that the author exudes and surrounds her. Being an escapist, I was reluctant to read a journey on cancer because it hits too close to home. However, quite the opposite is the effect the book had on me. It is not clinical and if you are going through treatments I would imagine you would find it comforting. I would recommend this book to anyone. It is a very enjoyable read." Monique Abel, GHT Book Club "Hug Everyone You Know is more than a memoir of combating cancer head onit is a personal account of the love of family and friends; Antoinette's 'Everyone' who supported her and witnessed her bravery over an arduous year. As Antoinette retells her story, she tries not to give a voice to cancer. Yet, she reveals her innermost thoughts, sharing experiences and fears through the journal she kept during her year of treatment. The author's narrative is carefully woven together with the e-mail exchanges she has with her loved ones. Long after the book is finished, its message continues to linger: life is bigger than itself when fueled by determination and love." Janice Gatta, MS/CCC-SLP, Babes Against Cancer Fundraising Committee-Southward Ho Country Club

Author Bio

Antoinette Truglio Martin is a speech therapist and special education teacher by training but is a writer at heart. She is the author of Famous Seaweed Soup, and was a visiting author in schools for several years. She was formerly a regular columnist for Parent Connection (In A Family Way) and Fire Island Tide (Beach Bumming). Personal experience essays and excerpts of her memoir have been published in Bridges (2014), Visible Ink (2015), and The Southampton Review (2016). Martin proudly received her MFA in creative writing and literature from Stony Brook Southampton University (2016). As a stage four breast cancer patient, she does not allow cancer to dictate her life. She lives in her hometown of Sayville with her husband, Matt, and is never far from My Everyone and the beaches she loves.