Rosemary Griggs

Mammary Lane: a Sketchbook of Breast Cancer Survival Rosemary Griggs

When the dark nasty showed up on her annual mammogram, Rosemary Griggs put her long career as a ceramic sculptor on hold as she faced a myriad of life-affirming and life-altering treatments. Though her vibrant spirit felt sapped, she managed to find the juice to sketch almost every day. Mammary Lane is a collection of sketches, prose and poems that illustrate Rosemary's journey through the diagnosis, treatment and cure of breast cancer. Often humorous, sometimes wrenching and ultimately uplifting, Mammary Lane is both a memoir and a journal of survival. It is a love story featuring drawings of the many caregivers, both two- and four-legged, that helped her through the emotional and physical upheavals of breast cancer treatment. It illustrates her evolving decisions on breast reconstruction and eventual deconstruction. Finally, it is a tale of seeking and finding comfort in a changed body.