Holding Tight, Letting Go: Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer is a book written by Musa Mayer, a breast cancer survivor. Few books discuss the realities of metastatic breast cancer. Women with breast cancer live in fear of recurrence. For at least a third of those diagnosed, the disease will eventually spread. When this happens, most people assume it means an immediate death sentence.

The voices in this book speak of a different reality: that women with metastatic disease generally go on to live with their disease, often for many years, and that the time they have can be full and meaningful.

This is a great book for anyone dealing with metastatic breast cancer or even those who have been diagnosed and have a fear of recurrence. I read this book and it helps because my imagination can be far worse than the reality of the situation.

Here are a list of the chapter titles:

• Voices of a Forgotten Population
• Dread, Uncertainty and White-Water Rafting
• Seventeen Stories of Metastatic Breast Cancer
• The Shock of Recurrence
• The Problem of Knowledge: Doctors, Information-Seeking and Statistics
• Medical Treatments and Choices
• Hope and Healing for the Rest of You: Complementary Therapies
• Living with the Side Effects and Symptoms
• Families and Friends Speak: "Its happening to us, too."
• Light and Shadow: Stories of Remission, Work and Identity
• Final Gifts: Disease Progression, Hard Choices, Last Days
• Still Here: The Anatomy of Courage