A guide easy on the eye, not mired in confusing medical terminology and a fine primer on risks

books:

	• Breast Cancer Basics and Beyond: Treatments, Resources, Self-Help, Good News, Updates Delthia Ricks Hunter House, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Eyeopening, precise, well-researched

As a nurse who worked with patients through each step of treatment -- and as a breast cancer survivor myself -- I found this book to be invaluable. It is a must-have for anyone being treated for breast cancer and building a library to understand it better. That's not just because it answers many important questions but because it raises some that scientists still need to answer, especially about environmental links, links to foods, genes, obesity, etc. We need more answers in each of those areas. A chapter is devoted to breast cancer myths, which is very eyeopening. It discusses many common beliefs dangled out there as facts, which turn out not to have much science behind them, like if you eat a lot of broccoli you won't get breast cancer. For some reason many people, some health care professionals included, believe this stuff.
You can try to wade through thicker and wordier books, but for a little less money you can get this one and use your leftover cash to take yourself to a movie. That will at least allow you to take your mind off your medical problems for awhile.

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A guide easy on the eye, not mired in confusing medical terminology and a fine primer on risks

From the basics of diagnosis, treatment options and follow-up care to the latest research on treatment progression, recurrence, genetic and ethnic factors in breast cancer, and more, here's a guide easy on the eye, not mired in confusing medical terminology and a fine primer on risks for any newly diagnosed with breast cancer. There are plenty of books on the market about the subject: what differentiates this from competitors is its focus on traditional treatments, activist responses, and choices which take into account quality of life and future health concerns.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

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Excellent and comprehensive

My oncologist had two of these books on his desk and gave me one the day I was told about my diagnosis. I started thumbing through it when I got home and could not put it down because with each page, all of the questions I had about this terrifying disease were being answered. I wound up reading it from cover to cover in two days.

The real-life stories from women and men who discuss their breast cancer experiences are invaluable and made me think how lucky I have been so far to have good, caring doctors. The author, Delthia Ricks, a medical writer for Newsday in New York, interviewed dozens of breast cancer survivors and each survivor's story is featured in little vignettes.

One woman tells how she had gotten a mammogram, which revealed a large tumor, but her doctor never called to tell her about the results of her test. When this woman went to see the doctor about a sprained ankle months later that's when the staff pulled her records and "accidentally" found the mammogram information. This woman went for months not knowing about her cancer -- and not because she wasn't doing the right thing. She did what she was supposed to do -- she got a mammogram. It was the doctor who was negligent and allowed this woman's cancer to grow and go untreated.

This book also is helpful because it shines a light on harmful myths and cautions readers about needless scare mongering that overshadows breast cancer. She lists some of these scares as underwire bras, antibiotics and seatbelts, each of which have been reported as causes of the cancer. There is no convincing evidence supporting any of these as triggers of the condition.

Ricks helps her readers understand that many studies that lead the evening news or make headlines are about preliminary research whose final results are probably years away. This is a book that I can highly recommend to anyone who has been newly diagnosed, who is in the midst of being treated for breast cancer or who may have had the cancer many years ago. It's well worth your time

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By gathering together all the latest information available, Breast Cancer Basics and Beyond helps women better understand their illness and enables them to make knowledgeable choices about their care, from diagnosis to recovery. Among the topics discussed are the pros and cons of different treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapy; breast reconstruction; recurrence rates; building a support team; follow-up care; and life after cancer. The book also addresses current issues such as emerging therapies; possible links between breast cancer and obesity, HRT, environment, and genetics; and debunks myths about the causes of and preventive measures against breast cancer. Top specialists and researchers offer comments and testimony, and personal stories from breast cancer survivors provide heartening reminders that the reader is not alone.

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