The Victorias Secret Catalog Never Stop Coming: And Other Lessons I Learned From Breast Cancer

By Jennie Nash

1. I felt fragile, as if moving too quickly or too suddenly would cause the cancer to spread through
my body like wildfire. I felt physically diminished, as if my body displaced less air than it had only
a few moments before. But I also felt immensely alert, as if Id stepped out from the darkness
into the clear light of day. I hadnt been able to see my cancer and I hadnt been able to feel it,
but I had heard it calling. There was pride in that, and there was power, and I knew exactly what
I had to do: get it out of my body (33).

This passage shows Nashs initial feeling and thoughts about discovering breast cancer forming in the
left breast. She had no family history of it, but still went to get a mammogram because of her instincts,
which is the first lesson she learned out of having breast cancer: to trust your instincts. I think this
passage gives me an insight on how the author felt like. She incorporates a simile so her readers could
fully understand her emotions. I think that shes a lucky woman to discover it early and shes wise
because she went to go get checked even though people under forty dont have to if they dont have a
history of the disease. Sometimes its hard to trust your instincts though because it slips outs quickly if
there are other choices given, like on a multiple choice test. I like how Nash formed this passage. She
successfully paints a picture in my head for me and makes me see the image clearly.

2. I didnt want to lie. Part of my job is to teach them the importance of honesty, but its also my
job to protect them, and by telling them that I had cancer, I would be admitting that the world is
a scary and dangerous place thats largely out of our control (40).

I think this passage focuses on an important part in the authors story. Nash says that she doesnt want
to lie to her kids because she wants them to know honesty, but also to protect them from the negative
things in the world that represents the world as a dangerous place. By saying that the world is largely
out of our control, she is referring to her cancer and how she unexpectedly found cancer in her,
without family histories, proving that cancer knows no age limit and can happen to anyone at any time,
any age, and any type of history. I also agree that she is supposed to teach her kids about honesty but
also protect them from the real things that actually go on in life that they have yet to discover. I think
it has a limit though. Using Nashs cancer as an example, I think she did the right thing in not
immediately telling them the truth when they first asked because she was still confused about whether
or not she should be honest about this issue. She wanted to protect them from knowing that there are
more to just birthday cakes and 101 Dalmatians. I think what Nash needed was some time to think
about what she should do, because later, she tells them the truth that she had breast cancer although
the older one was the only one who understood the issue. I also agree that we cant control our world at
all. There are natural disasters that occur without anyones control and diseases that pop up and infect a
lot of people.

3. You dont always get the reaction you want when you tell everyone you know, but at least you
can decide whom to ignore. At least you have the chance of hearing stories, getting advice, and
gaining support. What we know now that we didnt know in the days when cancer was
whispered about is that its a chronic disease. You dont necessarily have it, get rid of it, and
move on. You live with the idea of it, the reality of it, and the possibility of it for the rest of your
life, even if its not technically present. Having the support of your friends and family can be a
critical component to your healthlike elderly people who have a dog to keep them company,
to sit by their side, to let them know each day that theyre not in this world without a friend
(44).

I believe the sentence before this passage was talking about people who didnt accept that their loved
ones has an illness and became angry at them even though it wasnt their fault. I think this passage is
meaningful because it shows the positive side when people dont accept that you have an illness. She
suggests to the people with illnesses that they are able to gain advice and support from different types
of people even though it may not be from their family members. Nash makes a point that cancer is a
continuous disease that cannot be fully forgotten since its always going to be everywhere we are. She
ends with a comparison of elderly peoples support and friends and family being an important support.
She makes her readers expand on their thinking about cancer and illnesses and see the positive and
negative sides of diseases. I think this is pretty important to the book in general because it teaches us, as
well as those with an illness, something important that we may not have thought about before. Rather
than having people think badly about illnesses in general, she makes us think about the good things and
learn how to deal with it.

4. She believes that birthdays are, in many ways, more of a celebration for the mother who
labored than for the child who simply arrived (50).

This quote captured my attention because I never perceived birthdays to be this way other than just a
day you were born on. Birthdays were never special to me, at least not my birthday. I was never the one
to announce its my birthday or celebrate it. My parents never did anything special on my birthday or my
siblings other than the old-fashioned fruit cake and Happy Birthday song. This passage in the book
reminds me of a friend, with an allergy to peanuts, which recently told me her mom always cries on her
birthday because shes still living and hasnt had a critical allergic reaction. It makes me think about my
own mom and how she never did anything special on our birthdays. After all, my parents were always
the busy types when we were growing up. This also shows how much Nash loved her little girls because
of all the things she did for special events like these. She would make cupcakes, prepare ribbons, and
make their day exactly how they wanted it. It shows her love towards her children and how much they
mean to her.

5. But when youre emotions are at a heightened state, you learn to read minuscule signs, and as
sure as I was that theyd gotten all the cancer out, I was sure that if the news was good, I would
have already been told (75).

This is an important part in the book as well because it was a few days after her first surgery. She was
sure that it was successful, but hasnt gotten a definite and solid result about whether or not the surgery
worked. Nash tried to make herself believe that all the cancer in her breast was taken out, but deep
down, she knew that there must be something wrong if she hadnt gotten a positive result yet. In the
first half of this sentence, she teaches a mini lesson that small signs should always be considered and
thought about if youre feeling anxious about something. It makes me feel like how I was feeling over
the weekend and on Monday of this week. I was anxious to find out my math test score, but havent had
a grade yet. I like this quote because I can relate to it. I know that if something or someone hasnt told
you something important yet, there must be something wrong. Theyre just stalling, trying to figure out
how to let the truth out, which was true in this case. The Dr. who performed the surgery on her told her
that in was unsuccessful and the mammogram didnt show all of the cancer that was in her.

6. The women they featured were not beautiful. They had cellulite on their tummies and fat on
their arms, thin little rib cages and fleshy middles with angry red scars snaking across the skin.
They had pendulous breasts and little pointy breasts, huge-nippled breasts and dimpled breasts,
breasts that were dented and cut and mashed and removed (84).

I found this passage to be a bit funny because of the different types of breast that could occur after
surgery. I also learned from it because I didnt know there were different results of the appearances of
breasts after surgery. When Nash bluntly said that the women were not beautiful, it seemed funny
because before that she was talking about Victorias Secret models and how beautiful they all were then
she immediately shifts the focus to breast cancer women. It forms different images of breasts in my
mind as well, trying to figure out if Im getting the images right. I think this ties to the main focus of the
book as well because she is afraid of getting surgery and getting a new breast. Nash debates with herself
whether or not she should go with the surgery and the new breast or not because she couldnt bear to
lose her own beautiful breasts. She wanted her breasts to be full, balanced and round, as she mentions
in the book. Nash uses descriptive words to help the reader formulate their own painting in their minds.

7. I let myself dream of being deadof being without a body that was so fragile. I thought about
being an angel, floating, clean and white and bloodless, and the thought was pleasing (127).

I like this passage because this is when Nash had her biggest breakdown since her surgery. She couldnt
handle things anymore and Rob, her husband who has been there for her through everything since the
beginning, was being mean to her and went to bed angry because she didnt want to go to the
hospital to get help. He was angry at her because she was being stubborn and acting like a child, which I
think she has a right to after all shes been through and she had to suffer not being able to do things she
wanted to. I thought this passage was sad because this is when she imagined herself dead and what itd
be like to become an angel. It kind of seems like Im going into her mind and reading her thoughts about
how she was feeling at the moment. You can clearly see that she wanted to be out of her body because
it was so weak and she didnt want to live like the way she was living yet, even though it was only for
awhile. Nash was unable to take the pain and headaches. She uses descriptive words to shows what she
was thinking and the lowest point she was in during her journey of breast cancer.

8. Quote of the Book: I vowed that, to keep her memory alive, I would do for other mastectomy
patients what she did for me. I would counsel them and encourage them and let them see my
breast and show them by my example that cancer can make you strong and courageous and
peaceful and pleased (153).

I chose this as the Quote of the Book because I think that it really fits into what Nash is trying to get
across. I think its the main idea of the book, which is that anyone should handle cancer with
courage and be fearless. They shouldnt be afraid just because its a chronic disease. Instead, they
should fight until they are healthy. Even if it doesnt work in the end because everybody is different,
at least you can say you tried and you fought for your health. You can say you were brave enough to
go against an illness that doesnt have a cure yet. Nash also believes that stories are important
because it heals, helps, and teaches people about what they can do about their illness. This quote
shows her courageousness and how shes helping to tell her story and make people feel as
courageous as shes feeling.
Reflective Letter

There were many quotes I liked in this book and I couldnt seem to choose just seven of them. It was
also difficult in finding the Quote of the Book as it always is because there may be several of them. I
think I did well in explaining how these quotes related to the book, what I liked about them, and the
reason for my choosing. I really enjoyed reading this novel because I never really knew about breast
cancer and this book taught me about it. I also enjoyed this book because Ive never met anyone
with breast cancer specifically, which made it more interesting to read. I like how Nash writes
because she incorporates her readers into her writing and makes them feel as if theyre walking
right behind her in the story. I can clearly picture everything that goes on in my head and feel the
ways the characters are feeling as well. I think this book is meant to persuade people to be
courageous when dealing with these types of issues and dont stop fighting even when things get
tough. I think Nash wants her audience to believe in themselves and for those who have a story to
share, they should consider sharing it because I can make a difference. It can make people feel
better and relieved. For the next novel, I think I need to focus on finding the Quote of the Book
because I always seem to have trouble with that. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and would
recommend everyone who is interested in cancer, a personal story about it, or if youre bored, this
can be a interesting book to read!