Talk To The Headscarf

by Emma Hannigan

[Leah]

"Imagine you’re thirty-two, married, with two little children and you find out you’re carrying a deadly cancer gene? That was me in August 2005. I discovered I had the gene Brca1, which means a 50% chance of developing ovarian and an 85% chance of developing breast cancer. I had two options – wait for the big bad cancer wolf or have radical surgery. I chose the latter. Over the following year, I had a double mastectomy and both ovaries removed, which reduced my cancer risk to 5%. I was just dressing in my victory dance outfit, when my worst fears were realised. Cancer had struck anyway. Between 2007 and 2010, I battled and slayed cancer six times. This book takes you on my journey during that turbulent time in my life. If you’ve just been diagnosed with cancer, I know you are scared. I was too. But I want you to know you are not alone. More than that, I want you to know that I am still here. The score so far is – Cancer 0 : Emma 6. Even if my cancer returns, I will keep on crusading. I can show you how being positive and a big dollop of black humour can go a very long way towards getting better. So chin up, wig on and don’t forget, your skin can absorb an astonishing amount of make-up on those bad hair days! Love Emma Hannigan”

Before I received Talk to the Headscarf, I was well aware Emma Hannigan had beaten cancer, I didn’t know it was six times, but I knew she was a cancer survivor. When I saw she was bringing out a memoir, I was instantly intrigued. I’m a fan of memoirs/autobiographies but don’t usually have much time to read them but I knew Emma’s was one I wanted to read desperately. Emma very kindly sent me a copy a few weeks back and at first I wasn’t sure if I was going to get the chance to read it and I wasn’t sure it would be in any way happy – after all, how can a book about somebody battling cancer be in any way cheery? But on Sunday night I picked it up because nothing else appealed to me and I was astounded by how open and honest and frank it was and I was hooked. I didn’t want to put it down to go to bed and the next morning I picked it up eagerly so I could finish it up and I wasn’t disappointed at all.

I don’t know how many memoirs there are about cancer that have been released, I assume there are probably a few but the only other one I’ve heard of is The C Word by Lisa Lynch which I haven’t read. But of all the ones undoubtedly published, you won’t find another cancer memoir that is so gloriously upbeat. Despite having to face cancer six times Emma never lets it get her down. Yes, she has her moments but on the whole she knows she needs to keep fighting, not just for herself but for her husband, kids and family, too. What’s even more astounding is that before having cancer, Emma found out she carried the cancer gene BRCA1 and had a double mastectomy along with having her ovaries removed. So to find out you have cancer after taking all those preventive measures would surely kill some people, but not Emma Hannigan. Emma has spirit and determination in absolute abundance and after reading Talk to the Headscarf she has become someone I greatly admire.

Talk To The Headscarf is not a pity party about cancer, instead it goes to show that with the right will and determination cancer is beatable. It’s possible to beat it six times in fact. The one thing that shows throughout the book is Emma’s sense of humour, the book literally made me laugh out loud at times, and I wasn’t expecting it. Emma is very self-deprecating, but her inability to give up, when a lot of people (me included) in the same situation would just not know how to function, is immense. It must have taken a hell of a lot to not break down and cry over it all, and there’s no doubt in my mind that the people around Emma were all she needed to keep going. I was truly blown away with Talk to the Headscarf and it’s really opened my eyes about cancer and what it takes to beat such a monstrous disease.

I would recommend that this book should be read by everybody, cancer patients included, because it offers an insight into a world we rarely see unless suffering from it ourselves. The book offers hope to all, and shows that there is a light at the end of the cancer tunnel, and that having cancer is not the be all and end all. This is a book like no other, and I applaud Emma for writing it. Everybody should be reading this book, I cannot say that enough because Emma has a way with words that will have you reading the chapters at speed, determined to follow Emma’s journey with her. It’s a journey I was thrilled to go on, and I only wish I had an ounce of Emma’s spirit and determinedness. If everybody in the world was as spirited as Emma, the world would be a much better place, I tell you.