A Baby Boomer’s Breast Cancer: Guide for Survival, would not have been written if not for my husband Richard’s dream of sailing off to the Caribbean. It is ironic the way that his life long sabbatical cruise ambition and my fight against breast cancer culminated into one of the most enjoyable and romantic periods of my life. This ‘time out’, allowed me to look back over the cancer battleground and put my fears, hopes and experiences into words that I strongly desired to share with others. The contrast between the two events allowed me to carry out the writing, one page at a time, one anchorage at a time, one sunset at a time. Richard’s support, as I occasionally cried through the writing efforts, gave me the courage to continue. The raw adventure of living aboard the 36 foot sailboat, Phoenix, for nine months, gave me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Richard’s constant love gave me the inner peace I needed to retrieve and face fearful memories of the cancer experience.

The tremendous support and assistance extended to us by Richard’s parents allowed us the peace of mind to travel out of the country. We are both eternally grateful.

My daughter, Elizabeth, gave me unfailing support toward my treatments, and took time out of her busy life to critique and correct my manuscript.

Professional medical, and support staff, unselfishly allowed me to refer to their treatments and care in the writing of this book. I took the liberty, when describing a few disappointing episodes, of disguising the persons involved.

Friend and neighbor reflections are all based on real people, who allowed me to include them in my book.

My beloved Mother encouraged and contributed review and advice to this entire writing effort to insure the readability I hope our combined efforts adds interest for the reader.