Colon and Rectal Cancer: A Comprehensive Guide for Patients & Families (Patient Centered Guides) - Softcover

Johnston, Lorraine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565926331 ISBN 13: 9781565926332

Publisher: Patient Centered Guides, 1999

Synopsis

The fourth most common cancer, colon and rectal cancer is diagnosed in 130,000 new cases in the U.S. each year. As with many other cancers, the treatment environment is evolving. As a patient (or the family researcher) you need up-to-date and in-depth information to participate wisely in treatment decisions.Colon & Rectal Cancer: A Comprehensive Guide for Patients & Families includes:

• Characteristics of colon cancer, staging, suspected causes, and factors in prognoses
• Current treatment options
• Clinical trials and promising future treatments
• Coping with medical tests, symptoms, and treatments
• Recognizing and minimizing the impact of treatment on sexual function, libido, and fertility
• Caring for and adjusting to an ostomy, whether temporary or permanent
• Emotional responses to diagnosis, treatment, remission, and all other aspects of dealing with the condition. Stories from those living with colon cancer are included.

Author Lorraine Johnston, with her background in life sciences, emphasizes using knowledge to dispel fear. Those who read this book will encounter medical facts simply explained, advice to ease their daily life, and tools to be a strong advocate for themselves or a family member.

About this title

About the Author

Lorraine Johnston is the wife of an eight-year lymphoma survivor and the daughter of a twenty-year lymphoma survivor. In the years since her husband's diagnosis, she's been involved in a number of support groups that offer emotional and practical support to lymphoma survivors. Her first book is Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas: Making Sense of Diagnosis, Treatment & Options. In the course of her support group efforts, Lorraine has been interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and by National Public Radio's Marketplace program regarding the best ways to find reliable medical information using a personal computer and various media such as the World Wide Web. She attempts to dispel the myths that access to sound medical information is cloaked in secrecy and that medical literature is impossible to interpret. Using her life-long love of biology and her degree in life sciences, she helps cancer survivors evaluate accurately the material they locate, emphasizing resources such as the National Cancer Institute's databases of treatments and clinical trials, and the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE, a collection of over nine million published medical research studies. Lorraine's years of study have included many courses in psychology, but she found that nothing in her educational background prepared her adequately for facing the terror and heartbreak of cancer. One of her chief interests is helping the newly diagnosed as well as long-term survivors feel less lonely and less afraid as they confront their diagnoses and weigh their options.

Reviews

In her latest guide, medical writer Johnston takes a sweeping look at the clinical, financial, social, and research aspects of colon and rectal cancer. Unfortunately, owing to the vast amount of information amassed here, basic definitions and crucial explanations often lack clarity. Part of the problem is that the book lacks a streamlined approach to presenting data; chapters encompass far too many topics grouped under one broad subject. For example, "Modes of Treatment" lumps together the surgical, chemical, biological, radiological and stage/treatment fundamentals for both rectal and colon cancer. The result is a profusion of technical terms that are inadequately explained and poorly organized. Finally, as in her previous book, Non-Hodgkins Lymphomas: Making Sense of Diagnosis, Treatment, and Options (LJ 5/1/99), Johnston provides ineffective Medline search strategies that yield over 1000 citations--which is sure to overwhelm and frustrate a novice (or sick) searcher. A better alternative would be the American Cancer Society: Colorectal Cancer (Random, 1999) by Bernard Levin. Not recommended.
-Gail Hendler, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Ctr., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Patient Centered Guides
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1565926331
• ISBN 13: 9781565926332
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 544