Reclaiming Your Life After Diagnosis

A Comprehensive and Compassionate Approach to Cancer Care Reclaiming Your Life After Diagnosis is packed with incredible information and resources to get you or someone you love through the challenging journey of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. This book accurately and compassionately addresses the physical, emotional, social and practical needs of cancer patients and their support systems. Find out how to: Put an effective support and resource team in place to buffer against the challenges of diagnosis and treatment Build a community to deal with the daunting decisions treatment requires Develop practical, more effective ways to manage side effects Deal with complex emotional issues ranging from the shock of initial diagnosis to creating a living legacy and a meaning-filled life Through powerful, first-person testimony, as well as a plethora of the best tips, evidence-based research, treatment and support information currently available, Reclaiming Your Life After Diagnosis will help cancer patients develop the strength and empowerment they need to stay focused on healing—and to develop the mindset of a survivor.

Thoroughly updated to incorporate the sweeping changes in medical insurance and employment laws, "Can Survive" focuses squarely on the needs of recovered cancer patients. Written by a cancer survivor, this groundbreaking book is a complete resource guide designed to help with problems commonly encountered after cancer treatment, from fear of remission to job and insurance discrimination to altered relationships and long-term physical effects from chemotherapy and radiation. Interweaving stories and tips from survivors with advice from doctors, oncology nurses, psychologists, and social workers, "Can Survive" is both reassuring and pragmatically useful.

Offers cancer survivors strategies and advice to help them address their physical, emotional, social, and practical needs while undergoing treatment, with first-person accounts in which other cancer survivors share their tips for survival.

"In 2008, Amy Curran Baker was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma and opted for bilateral mastectomy with Direct to Implant Reconstruction. Within three weeks of being diagnosed she had a mastectomy and was on the road to recovery. But after the surgery she had a lot of questions, the same that most women will have. As an Occupational Therapist, she knew some of the answers from her own clinical training and experience. But many more came from speaking with other women who had undergone mastectomies, from researching message boards, and a little bit of luck. Now she and her co-authors have brought together the answers to the questions that women face in chapters that cover everything from how to prepare for going to the hospital to when you come home" -- publisher's web site.

Can Lyn reclaim her sanity in the midst of chaos and confusion? A happy wife and mother who loved nothing more than taking care of her brood, Lyn Barrett was knocked off course by a family crisis that triggered her inner world to crumble. Her diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative identity disorder, threatened her life as she knew it, her family, and her future. With the knowledge that DID is a coping strategy young children use to protect themselves from chronic trauma, Lyn embarked on a journey to discover her true self.

One's journey through cancer does not end with the last treatment. Cancer affects patients and survivors not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. Living through cancer impacts one's sense of self, one's energy level, and one's ability to move on. The cancer experience calls into question the meaning and purpose of life. It affects one's relationship with self, others, and God. Moving forward from the shock and trauma of cancer requires that survivors take time to address these inner dimensions of their cancer experience. This book does just that. It is a compelling personal journey through the many challenges faced by survivors as they attempt to reclaim their life after cancer. The author, a ten year cancer survivor, believes that facing and walking through the emotional and spiritual upheaval of the cancer experience can have a transforming effect on one's life. She describes her own process, focusing on the first two years after diagnosis---a time of intense fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and turmoil. Acknowledging, facing, and walking through this pain brought her to a place of greater emotional and spiritual freedom---to a richer quality of life. Although each story is unique, survivors live through similar emotional and spiritual struggles. Questions included at the end of each chapter invite the reader to reflect upon their personal journey as a way of working through whatever is preventing them from moving forward. This book is a must read for survivors living through the inner struggles surrounding their cancer experience and movement forward. It is a source of support for those feeling alone in their pain. It is a guide for those wishing to heal and grow emotionally and spiritually from the crisis of cancer. It offers hope and encouragement to all cancer survivors.

How do you pick yourself up after being dealt a devastating blow? Ashley M. Ratcliff got a crash course in collecting the broken pieces of her once easygoing life and building something beautiful with them when her health suddenly declined.

A life-changing book for anyone caught in the whirlpool of a behavioral addiction. At some point in our lives, we all engage in behaviors that are risky, irrational, or unwise. We might find it exciting and temporarily rewarding to gamble on the lottery or impulsively buy an expensive gadget. But just as substances like alcohol and narcotics have the potential to become addictive, so do certain behaviors. A person addicted to gambling, shopping, the internet, food, or picking at their skin may suffer shame in the shadows while their behavior consumes time and energy and disrupts their life. Some people with behavioral addictions lose their family, job, savings, and home. With a physical basis in the brain, behavioral addictions are serious illnesses—but simply willing yourself to stop is usually not enough. Why Can't I Stop? is for anyone who has a behavioral addiction, as well as their supportive families and friends. Examining seven of the most common and serious addictions—gambling, sex, stealing, internet use, shopping and buying, hair pulling and skin picking, and food—the authors bring together cutting-edge research to describe behavioral addiction, its causes, and how it can be diagnosed and treated. Featuring patient stories of behavioral addiction and recovery, as well as information about treatment centers, this compassionate guide will help readers better understand the complicated issues surrounding these addictions and teach family members how to help the addicted person while helping themselves.