Product Description

There are lots of books offering medical advice on cancer, but this book is different. It chronicles the cancer experience through a lay person’s eyes and through the immediacy of personal experience.

'I’ve Got Cancer, But It Hasn’t Got Me' demystifies the world of cancer and offers a sense of companionship and camaraderie. It empowers the reader to take ownership of her situation and encourages her not to define herself by the cancer. Practical tips are suggested and advice on other resources and support is given.

'I’ve Got Cancer, But It Hasn’t Got Me' is an all too common story of an ordinary woman (and her family) floundering around in the foreign land of cancer. But it is also a story of possibilities, of joy in meeting the challenge head on, of new friendships and of a deepened awareness of the beauty of life and the preciousness of the moment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165585 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Review
Breast cancer is a terrifying disease that, this year, will claim the lives of 630 Irish women. There are many cancer-related books on diet and alternative therapies but I ve Got Cancer, But It Hasn t Got Me by Derry-based Kate Dooher, is different. Just before her 50th birthday, on the eve of receiving a PhD, Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer. Four years on and, fingers crossed, her prognosis is good. Her reaction? To write a book that may help not only other people with cancer by demystifying the treatments, charting the highs and lows, physically, spiritually and emotionally, but would be invaluable to family and friends. A moving but practical guide to cancer. --Image magazine, October 2004

When Kate Dooher discovered a lump on her breast her world was turned upside down. She immediately thought she had been handed a death-sentence. Thankfully, Kate survived and in her book, I ve Got Cancer But It Hasn t Got Me, Kate relives her experience. Kate, a residential centre worker who lives in Derry, says: "I am in my early 50s, I am married with four grown up sons. I m an ordinary woman. For some reason the experience of this dreaded illness has become my greatest gift. It brought me forcibly into the now. "...If anyone is heading down this road now, be prepared. People say the strangest things. Don t let them get to you, you have bigger battles to fight." --Sunday World magazine, October 2004.

Foreward by Jan de Vries to this account of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and the insights of a journal of the ordeal and the faith that buoyed the sufferer up to find and investigate her options for treatment and healing. Humour and pathos are part of the remarkable and readable story. --Books Ireland, November 2004

About the Author
Kate Dooher lives in Derry, Northern Ireland and works with a residential centre specialising in peace building. She is married with four grown up sons.

Customer Reviews

".....Seek out a star, to travel by."
This book is down to earth, sensible, practical, and written from experience. Reading it will be of great value to the sufferer and the family. Getting a diagnosis of cancer is like walking into a wall. The effect is stunning and frightening. A new world which seems strange, stark and very lonely is suddenly all around you. Familiar things are somehow different and there is no easy comfort. There is confusion as in a journey without maps. This book provides a map from someone who has travelled the road.The dangerous bits are marked, the helpers noted, the route explained and the directions clarified. Many people are too afraid to read about their condition. I gave this book to one lady like this. It took her about 2 months to open it. She then read it in one sitting, found it of enormous help and phoned me to tell me so, from half-way round the world. (She has now got her hair back and is progressing well.) So don't be afraid. Find out as much as you can. You will be glad of the wealth of information and explanation in Kate Dooher's book of experience and comfort.

A story with empathy
Only a few pages into this book and I was gripped. Having had breast cancer some two years previous it was one of the first books I was able to read on the subject. As I read further I felt as if I was reading my own story - apart from some of the treatments we had virtually followed the same path. One of the most moving parts was the last chapter written by the author's husband - too often it is the partner who is the forgotten one. The reality of this story highlights the strength and support that can be given to cancer suffers.