Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence: A Practical Guide to Help You Through the First Few Weeks

A trusted and essential companion for everyone dealing with a diagnosis of cancer.

"If you're reading this book, you're probably reeling... This book is going to do one specific thing for you: it's going to help you get your balance back."
-from the introduction

Cancer is a Word, Not a Sentence is a practical guide written for people who have just been diagnosed with cancer. It aims to help them -- and their loved ones -- make sense of what happens next and to plan a course of action. Dr. Robert Buckman describes everything that comes after the diagnosis, including tests, the stages of the disease, treatment options and follow-up.

Having treated patients and interacted with their families for years, Dr. Buckman presents a six-step plan that provides information needed to make important choices in seeking the best treatment:

• Communicating with the medical team
• Treatment options and their pros and cons
• The right questions to ask and where to get information
• The decisions the patient has to make
• The possible outcomes.

Dr. Buckman also focuses on daily life: how to talk to your spouse or children, how to break the news to friends, and how to obtain the information you need. There's also a section addressed to family and friends who "just don't know what to say."

In simple and straightforward language, this practical book provides a guide for use in the real world.

Dr. Robert Buckman, the author of 16 books, is a medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, and an adjunct professor at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston. His techniques in communicating difficult messages are taught at medical schools around the world. Dr. Buckman is a popular guest on television programs. He is also the author of What You Really Need to Know About Cancer.