Judy Blume, beloved author of "Blubber," "Forever" and "Just As Long As We're Together," and all-around amazing woman, underwent treatment for breast cancer this summer. Blume opened up about her diagnosis in blog posted on her website on Wednesday, September 5.
According to her post, Blume, 74, had planned to go abroad for the summer, but a June 12th routine ultrasound detected a mass and put a hold on her holiday plans. After getting the tissue biopsied, she received her diagnosis: invasive ductal carcinoma. Blume wrote about her reaction the cancer:
Wait -- me? There’s no breast cancer in my family (recent extensive genetic testing shows no genetic connection). I haven’t eaten red meat in more than 30 years. I’ve never smoked, I exercise every day, forget alcohol - it’s bad for my reflux -- I’ve been the same weight my whole adult life. How is this possible? Well, guess what – it’s possible.
On July 30th, Blume underwent a mastectomy, opting to have a plastic surgeon perform reconstructive surgery on her breasts at the same time. Blume wrote that "the idea of mastectomy wasn't a difficult emotional decision for me (again, these are very personal reactions and decisions). Maybe because my breasts have never defined my sexuality. Who knows?"
Blume is the author of 28 books, which have sold over 80 million copies and been translated into 31 languages. She is best known -- and loved -- for her young adult novels, including the iconic "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret," many of which tackle the awkward and occasionally revelatory transitions that come along with adolescence. Her novels also tackle issues like racism, bullying, divorce and teenage sexuality. In 2009 she told Slate XX that she wrote "Forever" because she noticed a gap in the reading material available for young women. "There was no such thing to read where a young woman could enjoy her sexuality. Only boys were allowed to have sexual desires and needs," she said. Lucky for us, Judy Blume was around to change that.
Because we adore Judy -- who else could create a character whose most memorable line is "We must, we must, we must increase our bust"? -- and because her books meant so much to us during our formative (read: hormonal) years, we wanted to dedicate some some space here on HuffPost Women to wish her a speedy recovery process -- and invite our readers to do the same.
Tweet a message for Judy @HuffPostWomen with the hashtag #StayWellJudy, and we'll publish it in a slideshow here.