Cancer Defeated

An Interview with Leonore Dvorkin, Author of 'Why I'm Glad I Had Breast Cancer'

Leonore Dvorkin Talks about Cancer
April 2006

Q: Leonore, what was your primary goal in writing your book Why I’m Glad I Had Breast Cancer?

Actually, I had several goals in mind. I wanted a detailed written record of all that I had gone through. I hoped that a written account of my experience and emotions might help my family and friends better understand why I had chosen my particular course of treatment. Most of all, I wanted to tell other women and their loved ones how it’s at least possible to consider the experience of breast cancer and a mastectomy a net gain.

Q: How did you view or feel about cancer before you yourself contracted it?

I was born in 1946, and thus grew up at a time when cancer of all sorts was shrouded in mystery, much feared, and seldom if ever discussed in public. Many people falsely assumed that cancer was contagious, and it was generally considered a death sentence. I too saw cancer as something mysterious and terribly frightening, at least until I was well into adulthood and better educated regarding ever-improving treatment options and survival rates. Also, it helped me a great deal to gradually become acquainted with numerous people who had survived cancers of various sorts and who had gone on to lead full, productive lives.

In recent years, the Web has greatly accelerated the spread of information about cancer and other diseases and physical conditions. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer (specifically, DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ), it was primarily the information I found in books and on the Web that convinced me that a mastectomy would be the wisest, safest course of treatment.


Q: How did you feel after your diagnosis with breast cancer?