Life in the Balance: My Journey with Breast Cancer

Admired for her intelligence and her many accomplishments, "Dr. Marla," or "Canada's Doctor," as she is known, seemed to have it all. But on Friday, August 13, 2004, Shapiro found out she had an invasive form of breast cancer. Life in the Balance is Dr. Shapiro's intimate, inspiring and often surprising account of her illness, from the shock of the initial diagnosis to multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and her agonizing decision to have both breasts removed, followed by reconstructive surgery and recovery. She candidly recounts her struggle going from the woman who routinely delivered all the seemingly right answers to her patients and her family, to the woman who quickly discovered that there were no right answers when it came to her own life-altering decisions.