Writer's letter emphasizes thriving after cancer

'Rollercoaster' author — in letter to editor — stresses life, not death, overcoming fear

Despite many substantial advances in treatments and meds, cancer still can be devastating for patients and caregivers — because of fear.

Sensationalized scare tactics from the media don't help one iota.

And that's why I, Woody Weingarten, author of "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," which is aimed at a patients as well as caregivers, recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Marin Independent Journal, the only daily newspaper in my home county.

The letter, which I hoped might help quash some cancer fears, was published this week.

Here it is, in its entirety:

TV special on cancer 

misses focus on living

Why does cancer, the subject of the recent three-part Ken Burns executive-produced PBS series, like so many other documentaries and media reports on the subject, focus on death and not life? Why are primary caregivers — especially males — forgotten or treated as if they're invisible?

My new book, "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," shows there can be light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

For both caregivers and patients.

Why am I sure? My wife had breast cancer 20 years ago, then a melanoma 11 years later. I had prostate cancer eight years ago.

Not only did we survive, we’re thriving in our mid-70s.

And I’ve been running Marin Man to Man, a men’s support group, for almost two decades. I believe every attendee would agree we all should live out a cliché: one day at a time.

How? As the old song suggests, by accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative.

Celebrity backs testing for breast cancer gene

Kelly Osbourne lauds Angelina Jolie for airing her surgeries, promoting tests for mutation 

Kelly (left) and mom Sharon Osbourne

Reality TV star Kelly Osbourne apparently has the same gene mutation that superstar Angelina Jolie has.

So did Kelly's mom, Sharon.

But, unlike her mother, who had a double mastectomy in 2012, and Jolie, who opted to have both breasts removed two years ago and her ovaries and fallopian tubes just recently, Kelly's putting off any prophylactic surgery.

She did, however, praise Jolie (while being a guest on "The Talk") for going public about it all, according to the Daily Dish column on the SFgate.com website.

"I applaud Angelina," the site quoted her as saying, "because she's bringing attention to this and now people are going out and getting tested for it."

The BRCA1 gene, which all three have, puts them at a higher risk for breast and ovarian cancers.

In my new VitalityPress book, "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," I, Woody Weingarten, deal with many of the pros and cons regarding the gene and its risks — as well as the ups and downs of being a male caregiver.

If you click here, you can read the entire Daily Dish piece.

'Rollercoaster' is a love letter to author's wife

Podcast backs 'Rollercoaster,' author Woody Weingarten, helps caregivers and patients

Janet Gallin

Yes, 30 minutes and 33 seconds can take a chunk out of your day. 

But I'm worth it. 

So's my new VitalityPress book, "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer."

Besides, you can always split the 30:33 into multiple listening sessions.

On the other hand, if you find it that enthralling, listen again. 

And again.

What in Heaven's name am I raving about?

The amount of time it'll take to hear a new podcast with and about me, Woody Weingarten, and my book. 

It lovingly promotes both — and, in the process, helps breast cancer caregivers and patients.

The interviewer is Janet Gallin. The venue is her creation, Love Letters Live, once a San Francisco radio talk show and now a vital branch of the examiner.com tree that, I've been informed, is "an entertainment, news and lifestyle network serving more than 20 million monthly readers around the world."

Click here to find the podcast button on the bottom of her page about me, Woody Weingarten and "Rollercoaster."

"Writing love letters filled with hope, passion, compassion, memories, gratitude and promises," she contends, "is  significant gift to writer, recipient and generations to come."

Check out my love letter to my wife, Nancy Fox. You may learn something interesting about her, me, my book or being a caregiver.

The 1971 Alka Seltzer commercial that became a catch-phrase may have said it better than I can: "Try it. You'll like it."

Superstar's surgeries blocking cancers

Angelina Jolie follows double mastectomy by removing her ovaries and fallopian tubes 

Angelina Jolie

Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie's 2013 decision to have a prophylactic double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery is cited in my VitalityPress book, "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer."

The reason, she'd explained at the time in an opinion piece in The New York Times, was that she'd inherited the BRCA1 gene.

That's a mutation that placed her at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Several paragraphs in my memoir/guide to research and meds detailed her choice — and the homage she paid to her then partner, now husband, Brad Pitt, whom she described as "so loving and supportive."

I also quoted her conclusion: "So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part."

Which, in effect, is why I, Woody Weingarten, wrote "Rollercoaster" in the first place — to make sure men realize the crucial role they play — and to help them cope with the ups and downs they're likely to experience.

But now — in another op-ed piece in The New York Times in which she underscored that she wrote the first article because she "wanted other women at risk to know about the options" — Jolie has revealed that she's also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

The point?

To block her from contracting ovarian cancer.

She acknowledges the new operation was "less complex surgery than the mastectomy" but put her "into forced menopause."

In the new column, titled "Diary of a Surgery," she also noted that Pitt flew from France "within hours" to be by her side. "The beautiful things about such moments in life," she wrote, "is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful."

Her op-ed ended with this notion, which I wholeheartedly endorse: "It is not easy to make these decisions. But it is possible to take control and tackle head-on any health issue. You can seek advice, learn about the options and make choices that are right for you. Knowledge is power."

Bookstores anywhere can get 'Rollercoaster'

'Rollercoaster' is selling here, there, everywhere — from Thailand to Mass. to Marin 

Woody, stocking bookstore.

I just filled an order for five copies of "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer" that will be placed in libraries in Bangkok, Thailand.

Another copy has been on display in a bookstore's front window in Northampton, Massachusetts, as part of a monthlong exhibit by The Cancer Connection, a nonprofit that offers free services for patients, caregivers and families — to help them "learn how to cope with their changed lives and bodies and emotional turmoil."

I know, too, that several folks who still live in Detroit, Michigan, the hometown of my wife, Nancy Fox, heroine of my book, have ordered it.

Copies likewise are being sold at the Paris Green boutique shop in Ashland, Oregon, famed home of the Shakespeare festival and what's become the country's largest repertory company.

And, in my adopted home county of Marin in California, "Rollercoaster" is available in lots of places: Book Passage in Corte Madera, Copperfield's in San Rafael, Whyte's Booksmith in San Anselmo, Diesel in Larkspur Landing.

Obviously the book, to borrow once again from the Beatles, is "here, there and everywhere."

And I, Woody Weingarten, am thrilled to report that "Rollercoaster" can be ordered from just about any bookstore in your area, wherever that might be (just tell 'em to get it through IngramSpark or Baker & Taylor).

Can't afford to buy it?

Reading copies are available at cancer care units at Marin General Hospital's or Kaiser Permanente in Terra Linda — or the San Anselmo Library.

You can help get my message out by suggesting that your local hospital — or oncologist, radiologist or surgeon — keep a copy in sight for caregivers or patients to peruse. They, too, can order through IngramSpark or Baker & Taylor.

Or Amazon.

My plea and my motto seem to be merging into one phrase: Help me help others. 

Please. 

CBS feature highlights male caregiver's book

Radio spots help to promote 'Rollercoaster,' its caregiving author, men's support group 

KCBS afternoon news co-anchor Jeff Bell certainly is able to cram a lot into 90 seconds.

That's what I found out Sunday when I listened to his Adversity 2 Advocacy spots on the radio station.

The feature, which was repeated three times on both AM and FM, effectively digested a 15-minute interview Jeff did with me, Woody Weingarten, about my being a longtime caregiver for my wife, about my running a support group for two decades (Marin Man to Man), and about my writing a new VitalityPress book ("Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer").

If you missed the KCBS broadcasts, you need only click on ow.ly/K6l9k to hear what Jeff created.

Then,

Radio broadcasts feature 'Rollercoaster' author

CBS station in San Francisco features 'Rollercoaster' author  — 'from adversity to advocacy'

Jeff Bell

I'm planning to claim my first minute and a half of radio fame this Sunday.

I'll be the solo guest of Jeff Bell’s regular spot, which focuses on people who've moved “from adversity to advocacy” — in other words, according to the A2A Alliance website, “individuals who have successfully turned a personal challenge into service to others with similar challenges.”

The 90-second segment, boiled down from a 15-minute interview,

Bookstore officials hail 'Rollercoaster' success

Copperfield's book-signing by 'Rollercoaster' author called 'one of best since store opened'

Woody Weingarten signs "Rollercoaster."

The title of a classic movie from 57 years ago may best sum up what I experienced last weekend:

"The Sweet Smell of Success." 

That's what I, Woody Weingarten, gleefully felt after my first book signing — at Copperfield's bookstore in San Rafael.

Jake James, assistant manager, and Alex Steinmetz, community events coordinator, agreed that my "meet-and-greet" was "one of the best since we opened this store" at the end of 2013.

It was my first-ever signing for "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer."

Happily, it drew friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends, relatives, neighbors, former co-workers, members of my Marin Man to Man support and film groups, members of my wife's cancer support and book groups — plus a sprinkling of strangers.

Happily, too, many of them bought books — three to four times as many as average meet-and-greet purchases, according to store officials.

"Rollercoaster" is aimed at caregivers. It’s a hybrid book, a memoir-chronicle, a love story, and a guide to research, meds and where to find help.

It tracks a caregiver’s bumpy yet uplifting journey from the depths of a wife’s diagnosis to the heights of their climbing the Great Wall of China. And it illustrates that most couples can successfully deal with the disease itself, “slash, poison and burn” treatments, fear, and the repercussions of it all — and that there truly can be light at the end of the tunnel.