Main description:

The prospect of entering treatment is overwhelming for anyone facing a diagnosis of cancer. While patients have access to a vast amount of medical information online, this advice is often unreliable or confusing. In Living with Cancer, Drs. Vicki A. Jackson and David P. Ryan have crafted the first step-by-step guide aimed at helping people with this life-defining disease grasp what's happening to them while coping physically and emotionally with cancer treatment. An empathetic resource full of relatable patient stories, this book teaches patients and caregivers how to ask the right questions to get the best possible care-beginning at the moment of diagnosis. Drs. Jackson and Ryan explain how to work with a team of doctors and nurse practitioners to minimize symptoms and side effects while living as fully as possible in the face of cancer. They relay important information about understanding prognosis, and they translate what doctors mean when they describe tests, treatments, and medical procedures. Finally, they discuss hospice care and answer questions about continuing treatment and managing the final phase of life.
Based on new research and a groundbreaking program in which patients are treated with palliative care-along with the best cancer care-during the course of their illness, this honest and caring book provides the right advice to use at the right time throughout a journey with cancer. It allows a person with cancer to concentrate on living the best life possible, despite an uncertain future. Patients at every stage will find Living with Cancer a comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible guide for navigating the illness and its treatment.

Contents:

Chapter 1: How am I Going to Get Through This? Part I: Making Sense of Your DiagnosisChapter 2: Setting the Goals of TreatmentChapter 3: Understanding the Biology of CancerChapter 4: What Is a Liquid Tumor?Chapter 5: How to Prepare for TreatmentChapter 6: Tests and Scans in TreatmentChapter 7: How Am I Supposed to Cope with This?Chapter 8: How Do I Cope with Changes in My Body? Part II: Managing Symptoms and Side EffectsChapter 9: Controlling NauseaChapter 10: Managing Constipation, Diarrhea, and Bowel ObstructionChapter 11: Minimizing PainChapter 12: Should I Worry about Shortness of Breath?Chapter 13: What If I'm Losing Weight?Chapter 14: What if I Have a Sudden Fever?Chapter 15: Bleeding and Clotting IssuesChapter 16: Why am I So Exhausted?Chapter 17: Why Do People Keep Asking if I Am Depressed or Anxious?Chapter 18: How Does Cancer Affect My Brain? Part III: Dealing with Progressing CancerChapter 19: They Tell Me the Cancer Is ProgressingChapter 20: Living and Hoping with Advancing CancerChapter 21: What About Practical Concerns?Chapter 22: My Doctor Says that Chemotherapy Is No Longer EffectiveChapter 23: My Body Feels Like It's Shutting DownChapter 24: What Is a Good Death? Index7