"Breast cancer didn't just make me look at death and dying, it made me look at life and living. Life was to be grabbed by the love handles and vigorously hoggled."

These are the words of Gaye Croft, one of four women who recount their experiences of breast cancer in Bosom Buddies.

Between 1994 and 1998 the number of cases of breast cancer diagnosed in Australia rose by 33%. The encouraging news is that at the same time the number of deaths from breast cancer fell.

In this inspirational book, Gaye, Sandy, Diane and Doris each tell of how they managed to live through and survive cancer, treating it as a life-embracing experience rather than a fearsome ordeal.

The individual stories reveal the human side of cancer as each woman recounts how she approached diagnosis, treatment and recovery with honesty and a sense of humour. The women talk openly about the physical and emotional hurdles they have had to overcome along the way and how this has helped them to become stronger and happier people.