Excerpt: "Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor"

Sept. 24, 2008 — -- Following her original book, "Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips," Kris Carr is back with another inspiring guide in "Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor."

She splits the book into four parts -- diagnosis, mind, body and spirit -- and talks about her difficult journey.

According to Publishers Weekly, "her hip, chatty style may particularly appeal to a youthful audience, her authenticity and sound advice will resonate with survivors of all stages and ages."

Read a passage from her book below, or click here to see other book excerpts from the GMA Library.

After such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down thestairs! How brave they'll all think of me at home!

—ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND BY LEWIS CARROLL

If you haven't already, now is the time to give yourself authorization to define your own journey. Put yourself in a can-do space. In my mind, you are a survivor the day you are diagnosed. As women and men with cancer we live every day with a suffocating weight on our throats. What if? Will I see my next birthday? Can I get married? If so, can I have children? Perhaps you've already fashionedyour nest, yet in less grounded moments you find yourself paralyzed with angst, imagining yourself gone and your kids being raised by a stripper. CanSer (or any adversity) puts us on the rim and while we are on the rim we have an opportunity to appreciate and express fear simultaneously. We multitask dying with living while managing our chores in order to keep it together and stay out of prison. So why not celebrate all that we've managed to accomplish already? Sometimes just keeping it together is surviving. Don't be timid or feel like you are jinxing yourself. Stand up straight and yodel the S word! Survivors come in many shapes and sizes. The best part about being a survivor is the appreciation we feel for the little things (even when they're painful): the sheer joy of peeing in the ocean; of crying so hard that you burst into giggle madness; the agony of suffering over a lost love or a perished dream. Survivors squeeze every drop of delicious juice from this extraordinary life.