Give Her The Royal Treatment - Treat Her Like a Princess

Denise Hazen was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, and made a decision to stay positive. Her book, "Treat Her Like a Princess" covers all the ways that patients and their supporters can get though breast cancer treatment and recovery. Instead of thinking of a patient as a victim, Hazen makes her into a Princess with a royal court. When you're trying to be supportive of someone with breast cancer, just "Treat Her Like a Princess."

Treat Her Like a Princess: How to Help Your Girlfriend with Breast Cancer is full of practical advice for patients and supporters. Life doesn't come to a stop while you go through treatment, so you may need her tips on meal planning, getting help around the house, and coping with breast surgery and side effects of chemo and radiation. Just as a princess has an entourage to keep her on track, Denise encourages you to draw your friends close and celebrate them, find local resources for support, and make sure you travel the cancer journey in style.

Treat Her Like a Princess could also be titled "It Takes a Village To Support a Breast Cancer Patient." Hazen leaves the medical info about breast cancer to the doctors and instead provides a blueprint of plans to keep any patient's girlfriends and family busy giving support. She covers the basic needs: food, errands, drivers, medication schedules, childcare, housekeeping, and entertainment (or distraction). The book has some pages of charts that aid in organization of tasks, and suggestions for ways to avoid giving The Princess "50 Versions of Chicken Casserole." There's a section for geeky supporters, where you can find links to helpful resources, a glossary of medical terms, and some easy recipes.

This book is very upbeat and aimed at young survivors - it's pink and white color scheme and charming illustrations keep your spirits up. A consistently positive book, Hazen does not dwell on the down side of treatment - but keeps her eye on the goals of breast cancer treatment and the coming celebration. Women who already have a wide circle of friends and family will find this book extremely useful - it is packed with supportive tasks and tips. But this book may be overwhelming to women without such a support network. In case you're not supplied with a large extended family within close reach, a gaggle of girlfriends, or any other ready-made support system, just pick and choose from the advice in Treat Her Like a Princess. I would recommend this book for any patient or supporter who likes to be organized and helpful, because the advice is so practical.

About The Author: Denise Hazen was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, and made a decision to stay positive. She even got in front a CNN camera for the documentary "Taming the Beast," made at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Denise got through seventeen chemo treatments, a double mastectomy and six weeks of external breast radiation. You get the idea - she's a true warrior and survivor. Denise plans to donate all proceeds from the first printing of this handbook to Pink Ribbons Project for patient education and support.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.