Diagnosis Cancer: Your Guide Through the First Few Months. This item is unavailable.Diagnosis Cancer: Your Guide Through the First Few Months

Handles the many questions for which cancer patients and their families need answers, and includes a suggested reading list, resources for the newly diagnosed patient, and an explanation of common medical tests

Harpham's work is a welcome addition to the host of books that attempt to provide some relief to cancer patients and their families. With a no-nonsense, let's-get-down-to-basics approach, the author, a physician and cancer survivor, answers the questions that any newly diagnosed cancer patient is likely to have. Her information is practical; her calm logic and straightforward data, based on the belief that knowledge "brings comfort, hope, and a better chance for improvement," encourage confidence. By understanding how cancer is evaluated, how and whether or not to choose an oncologist, the advantages of various available treatments and why they have to draw so damn much blood, the patient becomes better informed and, in consequence, a more active participant in his or her healing. Harpham's handiwork is a valuable tool for those who hope to better the treatment process and to dispel the confusion during the initial few months following a cancer diagnosis. She knows what she's talking about: she's a doctor who has also been a patient.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When people are told they have cancer, thousands of questions begin to run through their minds, from "Why me?" to "What do I do?" Harpham, a physician and a cancer patient herself, has written a book that fills a gap in the cancer literature. Since over one million Americans hear this diagnosis every year, Diagnosis: Cancer should be of interest to patients, their friends, and families, as well as students and workers in health professions. Harpham's philosophy is that people do not choose to have cancer but can choose how to cope with it. Writing in an accessible, concise style, Harpham covers the medical, emotional, and social issues associated with cancer. From biopsy to radiation, nutrition to surgery, she combines her knowledge as a doctor with her experience as a patient to pass on vital, practical, and necessary information to her audience. Of particular value are the glossary of medical terms, bibliography, resources list, and test explanations. Edward J. and Richard J. Larschan's The Diagnosis Is Cancer ( LJ 7/86), also written by a cancer patient and a health professional, provides a legal slant to similar issues. Very highly recommended.
- Janet M. Coggan, Univ. of Florida Libs., Gainesville
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.