Living with Cancer

Living with Cancer is comprehensive, straightforward, and just plain wise. From the practical details of diagnosis and treatment to the deep meaning of hope, it offers answers to the questions that people facing cancer have and guidance for how to live--truly live--with this disease. If you have cancer, or love someone who does, read this. -- Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, author of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End This essential guide serves as a medical GPS, helping cancer patients understand what just happened, where they are now, and their options about where they are going. -- Diane E. Meier, MD, Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care From the practical details of diagnosis and treatment to the deep meaning of hope, this book is filled with all the questions most people facing cancer have and the answers needed to live as well as possible. Everyone facing cancer and everyone who loves them should read this book. -- Michael W. Rabow, Director of Symptom Management Service, Helen Diller Family Comprehenseive Cancer Center Readable right from the start, this great book's joint approach of palliative care and oncology fits with the American Society of Clinical Oncology's new guidelines: within the first 8 weeks, every seriously ill cancer patient should be seen by an interdisciplinary palliative care team along with their oncologist. -- Thomas J. Smith, MD, Director of Palliative Mediicne, Johns Hopkins Medicine A spectacular guide for anyone facing a cancer diagnosis. -- Vinayak K. Prasad, MD, MPH, Oregon Health and Science University, coauthor of Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives A unique and greatly needed book. Written by experts in the fields who are used to working together as a team, Living with Cancer covers the breadth and depth of cancer care for patients and families. Authoritative yet easy to understand, it combines best evidence with patient examples in a cohesive way that feels like a conversation with a very skilled, experienced, and compassionate doctor. -- Anna Roshal, MD, Washington University School of Medicine An excellent book which describes the optimal integration of general oncology and palliative care for anyone living with cancer across the cancer continuum. -- Kenneth D. Miller, MD, The Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute, Sinai Hospital, author of Choices in Breast Cancer Treatment: Medical Specialists and Cancer Survivors Tell You What You Need to Know

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