Belly Dancing and Beating the Odds: How one woman’s passion helped her overcome breast cancer

Belly Dancing and Beating the Odds: How one woman’s passion helped her overcome breast cancer
Yvette Cowles

When 32-year-old Yvette Cowles contracted breast cancer she was determined it would not get in the way of her belly dancing dreams. Spirited and light-hearted, “Belly Dancing and Beating the Odds” is the true story of one woman’s quest to be the best breastless belly dancer in the business…Whilst most people see little to smile about when they hear the word “cancer”, for Yvette it was just another opportunity to find the silver lining. From realising the positives in a breast-free existence (think Audrey Hepburn physique and the uses of aero-dynamism when sales shopping), transforming her hospital cubicle into a sequinned boudoir and entertaining the nurses with her inflatable male companion, Yvette is determined not to let it get her down.Told with warmth and lively good humour, Yvette’s short story will move and inspire you – and might even persuade you to dig out your dancing shoes.www.harpertrue.co.uk

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Copyright (#u51021f21-c363-5bf2-8d30-7831fb7c10a4)

HarperTrueLife

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First published by HarperTrueLife 2014

FIRST EDITION

Text © Yvette Cowles 2014

Cover photo © Shutterstock

Cover layout © HarperCollinsPublishers 2014

Yvette Cowles asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Ebook Edition © October 2014 ISBN: 9780007585649

Version: 2014-09-17

Dedication (#u51021f21-c363-5bf2-8d30-7831fb7c10a4)

I would like to dedicate this book:

To anyone whose life has been touched by cancer;

To all my belly dancing buddies for their laughter, friendship and inspiration;

And, of course, to my mother, Mrs Doreen Cowles, ‘my rock’, without whom none of this would have been possible.

Epigraph (#u51021f21-c363-5bf2-8d30-7831fb7c10a4)

‘When it rains it pours. Maybe the art of life is to convert tough times to great experiences; we can choose to hate the rain or dance in it.’

Joan Marques

Contents

Cover (#ube22f12c-ca5e-5323-b202-8ee3e713bc98)

Title Page (#u39e7f267-825e-5b69-b708-b4d35fd083a0)

Copyright (#ulink_ff160a7a-d473-5426-b522-2b3af7657240)

Dedication (#ulink_ed75ef4a-873a-5b93-b0bf-11a4b1dfacf9)

Epigraph (#ulink_335383bc-a87c-5763-8aa6-c0f2d458d9fb)

Chapter 1: The Seeds of an Obsession (#ulink_18b7f939-2c5c-52d8-9cae-d40a8ea718eb)

Chapter 2: Cancer – Round One! (#ulink_1aea2f84-a6ec-5e95-91fb-7a7e8b5fe8ee)

Chapter 3: Escape to France (#ulink_69eb2687-e5cb-5ffd-bbab-3c8542d38689)

Chapter 4: Cancer – Round Two! (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 5: Cancer – Round Three! (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6: Sequins on My Balcony (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7: Mobility Issues (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8: Ten Lessons I’ve Learned (The Hard Way!) (#litres_trial_promo)

Further Information (#litres_trial_promo)

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About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 1