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Anna Sullivan | Writer

@annasullivanwriter

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These Bones Are Real
@hci.books @simonandschuster
Available for pre-order. Link in bio✨
✍️Vogue, NYT, Women’s Health, Cosmo, HuffPo, Newsweek +more

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

THESE BONES ARE REAL, A Memoir of Menopause, Motherhood, and What Remains, is now available for pre-order✨
COVER ART: @ranieramiel 🐅✨

I’ve been writing this book for the past nine years, since I was diagnosed with breast cancer and pushed into medically induced menopause at 37. What began as a reckoning with my health became a much larger unraveling of the life I thought I knew.

This is the book I needed when I was desperately trying to understand what was happening to my body, my mind, my relationships, and my sense of self. When I was riddled with self-doubt, embarrassment, and shame about the sudden changes I experienced in menopause. It’s about what happens when the structures you’ve built your entire life around begin to fall away—marriage, motherhood, womanhood. Ultimately, it’s about finding your way back to yourself.

The cover is a rendering of a portrait I had done here in Santa Fe with the brilliant @ranieramiel whose work is rooted in reclamation, embodiment, and what it means to be witnessed. Through writing and sharing my story, I hope to offer others that same kind of recognition, the chance to feel seen and held without judgment—to feel a little bit less alone.

Knowing this story will soon exist outside of me, that people I know and people I don’t know will read it, is both terrifying and incredibly meaningful. More than anything, I hope it finds its way to anyone who might need it.

A pre-order is one of the most valuable ways you can show support. It signals early interest to booksellers and can make a real difference in how a book is stocked, marketed, etc. Thank you for being here, for reaching out, for following along. I am so, so grateful for your support 🤍✨

THESE BONES ARE REAL, March 2, 2027
Pre-order through Simon & Schuster. Link in bio✨

#writing #writersofinstagram #coverreveal #preorderannouncement #onlytookadecade by @annasullivanwriter

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a month ago

I decided to write about my experience with medically induced menopause following hormone therapy for early-stage breast cancer after I penned an essay for @huffpost and received an outpouring of support from others going through it. Over the past six months, I’ve connected with so many people many of whom have become my friends and mentors. Despite our unique diagnoses, treatment plans, etc. we all have one thing in common—we’ve all felt alone on this crazy menopause journey. It’s clear we need more research and clinical trials on estrogen therapy. And more open dialogue around symptoms and alternative treatment options. I’m grateful and feel honored to be part of this growing community of strong and vulnerable women 💪♥️ Please reach out and feel free to share. A silver lining has been connecting with others going through this 💓 #breastcancer #medicallyinducedmenopause @voguemagazine @voguebeauty by @annasullivanwriter

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3 years ago

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there counting down the minutes and wishing time would stop 🤍

#mothersday #nyt #modernlove #motherhood #writerscommunity by @annasullivanwriter

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5 months ago

Thank you @voguemagazine 🖤🩶🤍

If we don’t share our stories, demand accountability, nothing will change. One day, the boundaries I’ve set for my children will become fault lines. And when the ground shifts beneath them, I want them to know exactly where they stand.

Link in bio.
#iamjanedoe #wearealljanedoe #cornell by @annasullivanwriter

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Writing about induced menopause following breast cancer treatment forced me to hold two truths at once: profound gratitude for my life and honesty about what the treatment had done to my body.

Healing began with re-education. The practice of discernment. The deep understanding that I would have to advocate for myself in ways I never anticipated.

Survivorship, like grief, is not linear. Somewhere along the way, I found my way back to myself 💓

#inducedmenopause #gsm #perimenopausehealth #letrozole #breastcancersurvivor

Follow @annasullivanwriter for community and conversation ✨ Healing began with education. Then information. Then the slow, unsettling realization that I would have to advocate for myself in ways I never anticipated, learning that survivorship was not just about staying alive but about reclaiming agency, identity, and a future that still felt like my own.

As part of my breast cancer treatment, Lupron and letrozole induced menopause almost overnight. The physical changes were immediate, but the emotional and psychological impact unfolded more slowly. I searched for answers within the survivorship community, reading stories from other women and connecting with SEO writers and advocates who were willing to speak honestly about the realities of treatment-induced menopause.

For years, gratitude eclipsed everything else. I was alive. What right did I have to question the cost? But survivorship is not the same thing as silent endurance.

Writing about induced menopause forced me to hold two truths at once: profound gratitude for my life, and honesty about what treatment had done to my body. Somewhere between those truths, I found my way back to myself. by @annasullivanwriter

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5 months ago

Let me know if you want in on the group chat.

Thank you @laurenomics for shedding light on perimenopause and the lack of medical resources, care, and providers (if you are considering telehealth, check out @myalloy!)

Link in bio @nytstyle by @annasullivanwriter

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Survivorship came with its own complicated inheritance: grief, fear, guilt, vigilance. But above all else, it brought overwhelming gratitude. For a long time, that gratitude eclipsed everything else. It expanded my tolerance for discomfort, my capacity for resilience, and my willingness to endure. Sitting in the waiting room at Dana-Farber, surrounded by people desperate for more time, I felt almost incapable of questioning the breast cancer treatment that was lowering my risk of recurrence. I was alive. My own mother was not.

I think that’s part of why it took me years to ask harder questions about what the adjuvant hormone therapy—Letrozole, Lupron– was doing to my body. Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM) is a common side effect of cancer treatment and menopause. Yet, so many women are left unprepared for it— and the silence around it breeds isolation and shame.

But GSM is treatable. Research around localized estrogen, particularly for breast cancer survivors, has evolved significantly in recent years, and it is now widely considered a first-line treatment for GSM—thanks to a newly published guideline.

There is a difference between tolerating lifesaving treatment and accepting unnecessary suffering as the price of survival. It took me a long time to face my fears and to understand that gratitude and self-advocacy can coexist; perhaps they are one and the same.

Follow @annasullivanwriter for more community + conversation 💓 by @annasullivanwriter

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5 months ago

Full disclosure, always.
🤍

#guhlsguhl #femalefriendship #midlife #menopause #perimenopausehealth by @annasullivanwriter

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a month ago

When adjuvant therapy for breast cancer pushed me into induced menopause at 37, I had no idea what to expect. No one warned me about GSM.

A lot has changed in the past five years: clinical studies, public discourse, and a newly published guideline. My story, told in essays for Women’s Health, Vogue, HuffPost, Cosmopolitan, is about navigating an uneven medical landscape, practicing discernment and patient autonomy, and, finally, the willingness to face small, stubborn truths— the ones that hold you back.

#inducedmenopause #gsm #breastcancersurvivor #memoir #writersofinsta by @annasullivanwriter

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6 months ago

To my survivor friends and anyone else who can’t take systemic HRT: it’s a total bummer and/also you’re allowed to feel good while feeling grateful ♥️♥️♥️

A few thoughts on the recent @nyt_well piece:

1. There are specific treatment options: @veozah for hot flashes, @addyi for desire, and localized estrogen for GSM symptoms.

2. We have a published guideline that states survivors can use localized estrogen. Bring it with you to your next appointment.

3. If herbal tea and a fan help your insomnia, I’m genuinely happy for you.

My takeaway: the provider knowledge gap continues to hinder care, which is why we need to train and educate more doctors on menopause care. Thanks to @melindafrenchgates and others helping move this work forward— we are on our way✨

#breastcancersurvivor #menopause #HRT #womenshealth #nyt GSM hormones

Follow @annasullivanwriter for more writing and community💓 by @annasullivanwriter

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4 months ago

In 2023, I wrote about my experience with induced menopause and Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM) for Cosmopolitan. Much has changed since then, most notably the publication of a new clinical guideline that offers clear recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of GSM.

Back then, I was frustrated—grateful to be alive, but navigating the long-term consequences of treatment felt isolating and confusing. My treatment decisions were shaped by fear, uncertainty, and the absence of consistent guidance—different clinicians offered different recommendations.

Over time, I learned to face those fears and step into autonomy, practice discernment, and learn to trust my own capacity to make informed decisions. Now my goal is to help others do the same. To share accurate, evidence-based information about GSM and localized estrogen therapy so that survivors can make informed decisions about their care. No one should have to suffer in silence because they lack information, support, or the language to describe what they are experiencing.

If you’re beginning this journey, here are some great accounts to follow:
@kellycaspersonmd
@estrogen_matters
@rachelrubinpa
@dr.somijavaid
@midihealth
@smalonemd
@drmennobgyn

And @annasullivanwriter for more conversation and community 💓

#menopause #estrogenmatters #gsm #perimenopausehealth #letrozole lupron In 2023, I wrote about my experience with induced menopause and Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM) for Cosmopolitan. Much has changed since then, most notably the publication of a new clinical guideline that offers clear recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of GSM.

Back then, I was frustrated—grateful to be alive, but navigating the long-term consequences of treatment felt isolating and confusing. My treatment decisions were shaped by fear, uncertainty, and the absence of consistent guidance—different clinicians offered different recommendations.

Over time, I learned to face those fears and step into autonomy, practice discernment, and learn to trust my own capacity to make informed decisions. Now my goal is to help others do the same. To share accurate, evidence-based information about GSM and localized estrogen therapy so that survivors can make informed decisions about their care. No one should have to suffer in silence because they lack information, support, or the language to describe what they are experiencing.

If you're beginning this journey, here are some great accounts to follow:
@kellycaspersonmd
@estrogen_matters
@rachelrubinpa
@dr.somijavaid
@midihealth
@smalonemd
@drmennobgyn

And @annasullivanwriter for more conversation and community 💓

#menopause #estrogenmatters #gsm #perimenopausehealth #letrozole lupron by @annasullivanwriter

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5 months ago

In my opinion, the greatest love story to come out of the past few years wasn’t a romance. It was the friendship between Molly Kochan and Nikki Boyer. Sara and I are back with an ode to these two extraordinary women, along with Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate, whose performances brought their story to life so beautifully.

Did you watch FX’s Dying for Sex? 💜💜💜

Link in bio to full post on Healing + Dealing
@saramagss
@healinganddealingpod

#dyingforsex #breastcancer #femalefriendship #writersofinstagram #michellewilliams In my opinion, the greatest love story to come out of the past few years wasn’t a romance. It was the friendship between Molly Kochan and Nikki Boyer.

Sara and I are back with an ode to these two extraordinary women—and to Michelle Williams. Did you watch FX’s Dying for Sex?

@saramagss
@healinganddealingpod by @annasullivanwriter

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4 months ago