After Carolyn Sklar’s grandmother (and namesake) died of breast cancer in her 50s, the family learned that its women carry the BRCA 2 gene. Rather than risk cancer, Carolyn opted for a prophylactic double mastectomy not long after her kids were born.
When she wanted to answer their questions about why her body and mood were a little more fragile, she didn’t find any helpful resources. So, in her “spare” time, after parenting young children and maintaining a full-time (and thankfully work-at-home) job, she stayed up into the wee hours and wrote M is for Mastectomy.
Mastectomies exact a profound physical and emotional toll, and Carolyn’s book is meant to help lift the mental load of explaining it all to younger, inquisitive minds. And because every woman’s experience is individual, she took care to consult other women in order to make the book’s message as universally applicable as possible.
American culture is still entirely too weird about 1) working from home, and 2) boobs, and the existence of this book will hopefully help shift the thinking around both. We also talk about missed opportunities to market Ichabod Crane, why you can turn almost anything into pepperoni, and why Carolyn is grateful she doesn’t need a mouse jiggler.
Other links:
Follow Carolyn on Instagram
Joey Chestnut dropped from the Nathans hot-dog eating contest
Molly Baz’s lactation cookie ad that was removed (and restored) to Times Square
Valley of the Dolls, by Jacqueline Susann
Tig Notaro talks about filming her standup special topless
Axios CEO Jim VandeHei’s Happy Matrix
BBC Dad’s viral video and its amazing ripple effect
The open-plan office is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea
Carolyn’s maiden name (Pilkington) gets her confused with the odd wisdom of Karl Pilkington
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