Product Description

This is the book Val Sampson needed when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Its purpose is to offer hope and support in coping with the fear and loneliness that often accompany cancer. Debbie Fenlon was Val's breast care nurse and is now a lecturer. This guide takes a look at conventional medical treatments of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and at the part to be played by complementary medicines. It shows how to manage your life and answers questions on how to break the news to family and friends. This book aims to show that it is possible to lead a happy and fulfilling life after a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #653357 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

From the Publisher
The Breast Cancer Book offers practical advice and hope to women with breast cancer, detailing both the emotional and physical aspects of the illness

From the Author
A guide to help you through the experience of breast cancer
Val and I thought long and hard about this book before we wrote it. We looked around to see what was available and found that sensible, practical information on how to cope with breast cancer for women in the UK was hard to find. We both had many people, women with cancer, their family and their friends, come to us to ask our advice and so we thought that if we wrote it down we could reach a bigger audience. For me it was the chance to be the breast care nurse who you can take home with you and ask your questions any time you want to. For Val it was 'I've found out so much on my journey, I wish there had been a guide around that had told me all this at the beginning.' Of course everyone is different and there is the concern that what is the right thing for one person is not right for another, so we have tried to make it as user friendly as possible, so you read the bits you want to, when you want to. We really hope that you find this book helpful.

About the Author
Val Sampson is a freelance journalist who has written for a wide range of newspapers ranging from The People to The Guardian and The Times, as well a numerous women's magazines including She, Woman, Woman's Own, Best, Woman's Weekly and You. She has had breast cancer twice in the last five years. She leads a seminar on Language and the Concept of Cancer for nurses at the Institute of Cancer Research. Debbie Fenlon was Val Sampson's breast care nurse when she was first diagnosed. She is now an oncology lecturer with the Institute of Cancer Research in association with the Royal Marsden NHS Trust. The foreword is by Ian Smith, Professor of Cancer Medicine, Medical Director, Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research.

Customer Reviews

Breast cancer and beyond!
This is a superb book. It really is a "must" for anyone who is dealing with their own diagnosis of breast cancer and for their friends and family.

I found the style warm and approachable without becoming sentimental and the medical sections were dealt with thoroughly and clearly, explaining serious concepts without trivialising or "dumbing down".

The book goes way beyond breast cancer in many places. The authors talk about hoping and coping, managing in a crisis, dealing with the people around you (including an excellent section on talking to your children), strategies for when you need cheering up... all of which are relevant in everyone's life at some time.

What particularly impressed me was the combination of subjects, from the practical to the physical to the psychological. To find all these resources gathered in one place is fantastic.

A friend gave me this book to read and I'm back to buy my own copy now!

Thank you!
This has not been my best year. Two operations for breast cancer and not enough information. I discovered this book through Amazon .co.uk and immediately ordered it. I have found it to be such a help and actually enjoyed reading it at a time when I found it difficult to put everything together for myself.
My thanks to Val and Debbie for my new "bible".

This book helped me through my treatment
Just finished my radiotherapy and I've read and re-read this book. It's reassuring, reliable and comprehensive - the sort of book you are always dipping in and out of. I've recently read The Secret History of a Woman Patient and I recommend this too because it complements The Breast Cancer Book. It's Janet Rhys Dent's gripping personal account of learning how to be a patient and it reads like a story that keeps you turning the pages. It too is upbeat, just like The Breast Cancer Book.