Not every face of breast cancer has laugh lines and graying hair.... Currently, in the United States alone, nearly 250,000 women under age 40 are living with breast cancer. This year, approximately 11,000 women under age 40 will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and close to 1,300 will die. For women in their 20s and 30s, being diagnosed with breast cancer is a vastly different experience than for their older counterparts. I'm Too Young considers how breast cancer affects young women's lives: their career goals, health insurance coverage, career changes, education, and shifting work/life priorities. It shows us women dating during treatment and after, coming to terms with their altered bodies and sexuality, and making decisions about breast reconstruction. It tells the stories of a young mother explaining her diagnosis and treatment to her young daughter, a woman deciding whether to risk becoming pregnant after fighting the disease, and one determining whether to have her daughter tested for the breast cancer gene. And it looks at women struggling to gain strength from their religions in the face of spiritual crisis. Through the gift of shared experiences, freelance writer Beth Leibson-Hawkins offers comfort and companionship, and brings hope to a younger generation of breast cancer survivors.
