SALON

Wednesday, Sep 5, 2012 9:54 PM UTC

Judy Blume has breast cancer

"Wait -- me?" The famed children's author announces her diagnosis in an emotional blog post

By

Topics: Women writers, Breast cancer, Blogs, ,

Judy Blume has breast cancer (Credit: @judyblume)

Beloved young-adult author Judy Blume went public today with her breast cancer diagnosis and blogged about her ensuing emotional journey in a poignant blog post called “!@#$% Happens.”

The author of “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” describes a situation that most post-menopausal women worry about — a routine visit that ends with a biopsy:

The biopsy report came back a few days later while I was with my GYN in her office (a long standing appointment). It was good that I wasn’t alone and that she, who has been my doctor for seventeen years, could explain it to me. Very early. Very small. Well differentiated. All good news.

But it was ductal carcinoma.

Wait – me? There’s no breast cancer in my family (recent extensive genetic testing shows no genetic connection). I haven’t eaten red meat in more than 30 years. I’ve never smoked, I exercise every day, forget alcohol — it’s bad for my reflux — I’ve been the same weight my whole adult life. How is this possible? Well, guess what – it’s possible.

Her main message, though, is that bad news tests us in ways we don’t expect; that we can never predict what our reactions will be. In a few breezy paragraphs, Blume describes the complex range of emotions she experienced after being diagnosed, “I’d read Betty Rollin’s book, First You Cry, long ago — but for whatever reason I didn’t cry. I choked up that first day, but the tears didn’t flow. This is neither good nor bad. It just surprised me.”  She leaves out few details — even explaining how getting a mastectomy wasn’t a tough decision to make for her, because, “Maybe because my breasts have never defined my sexuality. Who knows?”

Though the subject is a somber one, her message is inspiring. Blume’s surgery went well and she is “feeling stronger every day,” assuring women that “When it comes to breast cancer you’re not alone, and scary though it is, there’s a network of amazing women to help you through it.”

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com. More Prachi Gupta.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 5 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations