After Cancer A Guide To Your New Life

Having this book on my nightstand is like having an empathetic and wise friend at my side as I chart a new course after cancer treatment. Dr. Harpham blends practical information with the intimate understanding of a veteran. Her book serves as a companion and inspiration on my voyage. —Ellen Hermanson, editor, Networker (National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship Newsletter) This is the first book written by a doctor for the layperson that addresses the medicine, the practical issues, and the psychosocial elements of recovery after cancer treatment. The author a cancer survivor herself, understands that surviving cancer is more than just killing cancer cells and getting through treatment. Patients must deal with the emotional, social, spiritual, and financial fallout of a cancer diagnosis. By helping survivors understand that they can’t go back to where they were before cancer, she liberates them to move forward to a different, “new normal.” Writing in a reader-friendly, question-and-answer format, Dr. Wendy Harpham addresses a wide range of issues realistically yet hopefully. Among them are understanding the medicine of reevaluation, follow-up, and prevention treatment; dealing with the most common physical aftereffects of treatment; learning how to make decisions about work and school; relating to friends and family; helping children deal with parent’s cancer; and coping with the practicalities of living wills and insurance. An important section on post cancer fatigue will be of special interest to patients who find that exhaustion is one of the most difficult problems with which they deal.

There are an estimated 10 million cancer survivors in America, and this number continues to grow every day as more effective treatments become available. Survivors and their families often call this phase of living after cancer the 'new normal.' This phase, however, is fraught with emotion, anxiety, fear, and joy, and many survivors and their families are not equipped to deal with these challenges. This book addresses in lively detail these issues, illustrating each with stories of survivors and current studies about survivorship.

A self-management program for cancer survivors offers counsel on how to take charge of one's physical, mental, and emotional challenges, in a step-by-step reference that makes recommendations for navigating the health-care system, obtaining affordable medication, and managing stress. Original.

You've survived cancer treatment - now what? The Cancer Misfit is here to support you when doctors, friends and family have gone 'back to normal' and assumed you can do the same. It's a life raft to help you navigate life after cancer treatment; to help you live better, think better and feel better and show you how to embrace your new future. After the treatment stops it can be difficult to know how to move on, and many survivors feel stuck in limbo between who they used to be before the diagnosis and who they are today. This is how Saskia felt when she was told the treatment was over: she felt like a Cancer Misfit, recovered physically, but mentally and emotionally still healing. Now, Saskia shares the tools that enabled her to become the happiest version of herself she has ever known. In these pages, you'll find the truth - that your best life and most beautiful self was not the person you were before your cancer diagnosis, but the person you are today; that you've become even more powerful because of the hell you went through, and that the greatest chapter of your life is here and now. The Cancer Misfit will introduce you to the person you've become as a consequence of the trauma you endured and help you to embrace your new life after treatment; a life full of confidence, happiness and peace.

According to the National Cancer Institute, there are an estimated 13.7 million living Americans who are cancer survivors. The institute expects that number to rise to almost 18 million over the next decade. The Institute of Medicine notes that patients diagnosed with cancer have an estimated 64% chance of surviving five years, up from 50% three decades ago. And most of them have lingering symptoms, both physical and emotional. The Cancer Survivor is a companion and guide for those millions of individuals who are finally done with treatments but are still on the journey to wholeness. Beth Leibson completed her chemotherapy and radiation in 2007. She had beat cancer, but was left with lingering memory issues, exhaustion, depression, pain, and the fear that at any point, the cancer could return. Here she tells the story of how she rebuilt her life, and shares advice from other experts, addressing the emotional, medical, and professional challenges of life after cancer. Here are the questions you’re afraid to ask (“When will my sex drive come back?”), the questions you hadn’t yet considered (“How do I reenter the work force after a ‘break’ of a year or more?”), and those you know you should be thinking about but haven’t had the energy for (“What supplements or alternative therapies should I be taking to regain my strength?”). Warm, honest, and full of sage advice, this is the book Leibson wishes she had had when the nightmare of cancer treatments drew to a close and the overwhelming reality of starting life over again began.

After the intense experience and range of emotion that comes with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy (or all three), cancer patients often find themselves with little or no guidance when it comes to their health post-treatment. After Cancer Care is the much-needed authoritative, approachable guide that fills this gap. It includes information on how to maintain physical health—with chapters on epigenetics, nutrition, and exercise—as well as emotional health through stress management techniques. The cutting-edge and growingly popular science of Epigenetics has shown that you are not stuck with your genetic history: your choices in diet, exercise, and even relationships can help determine whether or not your genes promote cancer, and therefore determine your propensity for relapse. Your lifestyle has an effect on the most common types of cancer including breast cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, bladder cancer, and lymphoma. The doctors present easy-to-incorporate lifestyle changes to help you “turn on” hundreds of genes that fight cancer, and “turn off” the ones that encourage cancer, while recommending lifestyle plans to address each type. In addition, they share 34 healthy recipes and tips on staying active and exercising, detoxifying your house and environment, and taking supplements to help prevent relapse. With more than three decades of post-cancer-care experience, Drs. Lemole, Mehta, and McKee break down the science into palatable, practical takeaways so that you can drastically improve your quality of life and enjoy many years of cancer-free serenity.

Providing views from both healthcare professionals and patients, "100 Questions & Answers about Life After Cancer" offers authoritative, practical answers and is an invaluable resource.

Patients at every stage will find Living with Cancer a comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible guide for navigating the illness and its treatment.