Just Get Me Through This! : The Practical Guide to Breast Cancer

A breast cancer survivor presents an insightful, humorous, and compassionate guide that addresses the daily experience of dealing with breast cancer and offers a wealth of tips on topics ranging from using raw aloe gel to minimize surgery scars to easing back into an intimate relationship. Reprint.

It's hard to believe that a breast cancer guide can be fun, but breast cancer survivor Cohen and oncologist Gelfand have produced a book that combines medical information with the kind of warm, funny, rueful sharing a woman gets from a good talk with her girlfriends. The authors understand that surviving an illness as emotionally and physically traumatic as breast cancer requires help not only with big issues but also with apparently trivial ones. In between solid and well-summarized discussions on diagnostic, treatment and reconstruction options, they share a plethora of tips on the smaller but still difficult problems faced by disease victims, such as finding the right post-chemo headgear (silk slides off a bald skull, so cotton is better). They prepare readers for everything from insensitive remarks (when Cohen told one acquaintance she was starting chemotherapy that day, he replied, "So I guess you're not available for lunch") and hormonal swings to insurance problems. The tone is upbeat but realistic, sympathetic but never patronizing; "Rules of the Road" sections directed to friends and family give them advice on how to offer useful support. This wise, balanced book is a welcome addition to a woman's medical care library, offering not just warm, intelligent hand-holding for breast cancer victims but also useful insights for anyone with a friend or family member suffering from this frightening disease. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Having someone to talk with who has been there can make that mind-numbing diagnosis of breast cancer somewhat bearable. Even a stranger from a support group or the friend of a friend can reassure you just because she knows what you're going through. Cohen, a breast cancer survivor, has chosen to be that confidante and information source. She outlines every step of the process from diagnosis to posttreatment in a way that is congenial, honest, wry, and straight-from-the-hip. Books by physicians (e.g., John Link's The Breast Cancer Survival Manual, LJ 3/1/98, which is frequently referenced here) have excellent information, but Cohen's friend-in-need approach offers a unique and welcome perspective. In addition, oncologist Gelfand steps in where more technical discussions and definitions are required. As Cohen gives the real skinny on options, chemotherapy (eat Fudgsicals to minimize or eliminate mouth sores), radiation (grow your own aloe plant for relief of skin irritation), relationships, workplace issues, and aftercare, she considers "Rules of the Road" for family and friends to help them know what to do and say during a loved one's ordeal. This is a wonderful book; all patient health collections should have several copies.
-Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.