The Layman's Guide to Surviving Cancer: From Diagnosis Through Treatment and Beyond - Softcover

A diagnosis of cancer, life-changing for both patients and their loved ones, presents many questions: How will the disease and treatments affect you? What can you do to arm yourself for the battle? What roles do diet, stress, attitude and faith have on its progression? Perhaps most importantly: How do you and your loved ones maintain a sense of normalcy as you prepare for the unknown? Receiving praise from some of the leading oncologists in the country, The Layman's Guide to Surviving Cancer addresses the physical, emotional, dietary, holistic and spiritual aspects of your diagnosis, each invaluable in achieving a healthy body and mind. Drawing on his experiences as a leukemia survivor, and his legal experience, Howard Bressler breaks down the practical issues of dealing with cancer, empowering you and your loved ones to defeat whatever challenges you may encounter on the journey ahead.

The combination of personal anecdotes, practical guidance and realistic encouragement Howard Bressler provides in The Layman's Guide to Surviving Cancer has resulted in a powerful and inspiring must-read book for any cancer patient and their loved ones navigating through the cancer experience. I highly recommend it. — Joseph I. Lieberman, Former United States Senator and Vice Presidential Candidate In my forty-five years as a practicing oncologist, I could impart to my patients only a small part of the wisdom expressed in Howard Bressler's outstanding book for cancer patients. He covers everything that is important, and this book should and will become “The Bible” for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. It will serve as the switch that will turn on the light of understanding, knowledge, pathways of thinking and action, and most importantly, self-fulfillment in the face of a daunting obstacle. My successor oncologists will have one great advantage over me: they will have this vital volume to recommend to patients. I wish I had this book long ago to give to my own patients.If you are newly diagnosed with cancer, or are already in this new world you did not ask for, read this book from cover to cover. A new world of understanding, positive action, and peace awaits you. This book is truly “Everyone's Guide” to dealing with cancer. —Malin Dollinger, MD, FACP, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Author of Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy: How Cancer is Diagnosed, Treated, and Managed Day to Day Cancer patients invariably face a number of questions and concerns when they are diagnosed and go through their treatment. Among them are what they will encounter along the way, how their treatments will likely affect them, what they can do to manage the effects of their treatments and how they can manage their affairs and relationships with their loved ones during the course of their battle. What has been missing from the scene is a convenient, straightforward source to help guide them through these issues. Howard Bressler has created that source. In The Layman's Guide to Surviving Cancer, he has combined the wisdom and emotion of his personal experience with extensive research to create an informative book that offers useful advice, humor and encouragement to light the way for other patients and their loved ones. His book walks the fine line between personal memoir and practical roadmap unlike any other cancer-related book. I have no doubt that many cancer patients will find the guidance and support they are looking for in these pages. A masterful job. — Stuart M. Lichtman, MD, FACP, Attending Physician, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College The diagnosis and treatment of cancer, even when the outcome is successful, is often an extraordinarily difficult and challenging experience for a patient. The physical, emotional and financial toll on the patient, family and friends is often huge, and there has been no good published guide to help prepare all those involved for what lies ahead.Howard Bressler has gone a long way toward helping affected people through this daunting period of their lives. He has written an easy-to-read, engaging, commonsense guide for the newly diagnosed cancer patient and those undergoing treatment, based on his own personal battle against leukemia. He combines his own experiences, anecdotes and perspectives to create a practical guide that is positive, proactive and often humorous, and that will inspire and lead other cancer patients through the grueling minefield of the world of cancer. As someone who has spent his career treating cancer patients, I expect to enthusiastically recommend this book to my newly diagnosed patients and those of my colleagues. A terrific read! —Mark Weinblatt, MD, Chief, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Director, Cancer Center for Kids, Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, New York, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Stony Brook University School of Medicine Howard Bressler has accomplished what few have in writing a cancer-related book; he has crafted a work that provides important, practical information, with interesting references, while flowing naturally and being easy to read and understand. Any reader will relate in some form to this book, as Howard describes his emotional and intellectual journey that transforms sorrow and anxiety into hope and life enrichment while he beats leukemia. Furthermore, he presents a step-by-step guide for individuals who receive a shocking cancer diagnosis, and provides invaluable tools that not only will assist them in getting through their treatment but also emerging with a renewed sense of positivity, perspective and purpose. This is a book that every cancer patient should read and it is one that I will recommend with confidence to my own patients and colleagues. — Fernando J. Bianco, MD, Associate Professor of Urology, Department of Urology, Columbia University Founder, Columbia University Division of Urology at Mount Sinai Medical Center