Cancer is...expensive!

So after my ultrasound this morning, I decided to head over to Borders to find some books on breast cancer. I started to go to the library, but I kind of figured I might want to keep them longer than three weeks, since I'm pretty sure I'm going to have breast cancer longer than three weeks. So what kind of book do you buy when you have cancer? They had "Breast Cancer for Dummies" but geez, I'm a nurse, I oughta be slightly above the "dummy" level on anything healthcare related, right? I mean, "Motorcycle Maintenance for Dummies" or "Calculus for Dummies" might right up my alley, but I think I should stretch my mind a little more than that when it comes to a health related issue. There was a book about cleansing your body through diet to help with your cancer, but to get the full effects, you gotta commit to a month, become a vegan, drink beet juice and give yourself enemas. Since I have trouble committing to anything longer than today, I love meat, I'm not friends with Dwight K. Schrute and my butt is exit only, I decided it would be a waste of my $25. There were lots of books for breast cancer survivors, but I'm not sure I can call myself a survivor just yet. I've had cancer for a week. OK, I know I've had it longer than that, but I've known for a week. I haven't even scheduled the surgery yet! It's probably a little premature to start reading survivor stories. So I bought "What to eat if you have cancer," "Crazy sexy cancer tips," and "Dr. Susan Love's breast book." I've been looking at Dr. Love's book for years, but I felt a little weird buying a book about breasts. Looking back though, it might have been a good idea. Oh well, I didn't know I was going to get breast cancer, so I guess I didn't do a very good job of preparing. I have some catching up to do. The "Crazy sexy cancer tips" has really short articles, good for my People magazine attention span. And the food book has tips for gaining or losing weight, foods that boost your immune system, and what and how to eat when you're having chemo or radiation. There are recipes for things ranging from banana berry breakfast smoothies (mmm, sounds good) to red bean and beef stew (hopefully I can cook that in the crock pot) to power pudding (I think that's what they feed nursing home patients to keep them from getting constipated). Don't worry, if I decide to try the power pudding I won't blog about the results! Seriously, though, I think all three of these books will be really helpful, but my goodness they were expensive!! Each one was $20 and they were all softcovers! I mean, I guess they're cheaper than chemo and surgery but geez, you'd think they'd cut cancer patients a little slack!! I bet I could have found them on half.com or something but I'm impatient! I want to read them yesterday!