Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer Paperback – September 13, 2011

..."The only singular truth about breast cancer is this: there is no singular truth about breast cancer. Our best strategy is to respect and listen to one another, share what we learn, reach across the aisle, and make women's lives a higher priority than political agenda. Because I guess there actually is one absolute truth about breast cancer: There shouldn't be any." ...from Promise Me page 25.I moved to Peoria for my nursing education during the years Susan G. Komen was diagnosed with and later died from breast cancer. Our paths never crossed.Then in the early 1986 a buzz around town started about a Cancer race to be held to honor a young woman who lost her fight, but whose family would not let her memory vanish when other women of all ages were engaged in the same battle. It was the first annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in her hometown with 800 women. Now every Mother's Day Weekend thousands of women and men walk/run from the Metro Center to help fund and find a cure. May 7, 2011 will be the 26th year. A crowd of 25,000 (including men)are anticipated. Some will be young mothers pushing strollers, others link arms holding their heads up as proud survivors, a number will carry signs with printed pink names in memory of loved ones who are no longer beside them, and still more come in hope to funding and finding a cure.The Promise did not end with just a race. There are five SGK screening centers in Peoria alone, including the 15,000 square ft Susan G. Komen Breast Center that is a screening and diagnostic service center for all of central Illinois that is located on the second floor of the medical building where I am also employed on the 4th floor. Every morning women of all ages ride the elevator with me and stop at the 2nd floor. Their faces tell their stories, some expect good news, others bad. Most are strangers, but some have been my co-workers, my friends. I have my own annual screening performed there too, always with fingers crossed.Over the years I wondered about the personal story of the two sisters, their immediate family and their Peoria roots. This book tells the story of a close knit, loving family who were devoted to each other. We should all be so lucky to have Susan and Nancy's immediate and extended family as our own. The Goodmans never met a stranger. Beginning with Ellen Goodman's sense of community responsibility, she demonstrated her dedication to others in a hundred different ways. The impact of the individual. A lesson that was not lost on her daughters. The book details all the fundraising and business expertise needed, the forethought and implementation required in the day to day operations and plans for future of the SGK organization. The book related how Nancy faced and fought her own personal battle with the demon breast cancer. On a lighter note, there is a beautiful love story between Nancy and her husband Norman.Not only has the Peoria community vastly benefited from SGK but countless women thoughout the world have been educated, screened, diagnosed and treated thanks to the Promise given to Susan by her little sister, Nancy.Participate. Get a "breast buddy" to remind each other about a monthly self-check and annual screening. Walk/Run in your local SGK Race for the Cure and enlist 10 friends to join. Volunteer at your local chapter. Pick this book for your next Book Club read and discussion. Give a copy of the book to your best friend.Give a copy of the book to your sister.Two sisters, one promise.Remarkable.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to read a pre-publication copy of PROMISE ME, and I loved it so much that I immediately ordered a hardcover copy to keep, along with one for my own sister. It's hard to do this book justice in a brief review because it moved me on so many levels. First, I enjoyed it as a heartfelt, sometimes heartrending look at the relationship between Nancy Brinker and the vibrant force-of-nature that was her sister, Susan. (There was so much more to this incredible young woman than the breast cancer that took her life!) The book also paints an inspiring portrait of the determination, perseverance, and organizational know-how that have gone into Nancy Brinker's tireless efforts to keep her promise to her sister and change the lives of so many women around the world. A third strand - one I enjoyed immensely - looks at the history of the treatment of breast cancer (from unspeakable to outspoken) through the lives of so many courageous and inspiring women. (There was even a section dealing with the oft-ignored incidence of breast cancer among men and the progress made in that arena.) Without ever for a moment overwhelming me with data or making me feel preached at, the book managed to impart (through so many powerful stories) information that could save many lives.I can only imagine how much more meaningful PROMISE ME would have been had my life, or those of my closest friends or family members, been touched by breast cancer. But every woman has a vested interest in eradicating this disease.If you enjoyed it as much as I did, you, too, may end up buying a copy for your sister as well as yourself.

I always wondered who Susan G. Komen was. I knew the name. I have seen the pinks ribbons everywhere for years. Now I know. Now I want to do more. Now I want to become involved. While reading this book I was informed, shocked, torn, inspired, moved, terrified, motivated, angered and above all thankful. - thankful for the amazing and shocking history of breast cancer, thankful to know about the life of "Suzy and Nanny", thankful for the love story of Nancy and Norman Brinker, and just overall thankful for the understanding of how Susan G. Komen for the Cure became a global movement. Nancy Brinker has given so much of her life to keep a Promise to her sister. I believe much of that promise has been kept. We are all better informed, waiting rooms are not so cold and plastic, treatments have improved, and we can talk about Breast Cancer openly. I salute you Nancy Brinker and your brave sister Susan G. Komen. You are both American heroes! On August 12th, 2009 Brinker was awarded the Presidential Metal of Freedom. All of the above is discussed in this remarkable book.I honestly believe this book goes into the category of "must read"!!