After Breast Cancer: A Common-Sense Guide to Life After Treatment [Paperback]

Hester Hill Schnipper LICSW (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2003

As women quickly discover, their life when treatment ends is very different from what it was before their diagnosis. Often exhausted, anxious, and emotionally volatile, they are beset by physical discomforts, fearful of intimacy, afraid for their children, worried about recurrence. Anticipating a return to “normalcy,” they discover that the old version of normal no longer applies.

There could be no more knowledgeable guide for women embarking on this complicated journey than Hester Hill Schnipper, who is herself both an experienced oncology social worker and a breast cancer survivor. This comprehensive handbook provides jargon-free information on the wide range of practical issues women face as they navigate the journey back to health, including:

•Managing physical problems such as fatigue, hot flashes, and aches and pains

•Handling relationships: your children, your partner, your parents, your friends.

•How to regain emotional and sexual intimacy

•Coping with financial and workplace issues

•Genetic testing: why, whether, when

•How to move beyond the fear of recurrence

•And much more

This indispensable book will help you rediscover your capacity for joy as you move forward into the future—as a survivor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although countless books and pamphlets have been written for women recently diagnosed with breast cancer, little exists for women who have finished their treatment. While many outsiders assume that the end of treatment brings only relief, women who have had breast cancer know that the post-treatment chapter in the breast cancer experience is one of the most difficult. Schnipper, a breast cancer survivor and an oncology social worker, helps prepare women for life after breast cancer by imparting information and advice in an intimate and direct manner. She covers all aspects of the experience, including physical recovery, coping with family members who expect everything to go back to normal immediately, fertility and fear of recurrence. The idea of transformation underlies the book, and she devotes a moving chapter to the different ways some women have gained or regained a sense of spirituality. As Schnipper writes, "Our lives have been changed in many ways and we have tried to be understanding and flexible about our possibilities.... Our hearts and souls, however, need time to catch up." In this volume, readers will find a guide that might help them better understand their infinitely complex circumstances and find hope.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Although countless books and pamphlets have been written for women recently diagnosed with breast cancer, little exists for women who have finished their treatment. In this volume, readers will find a guide that might help them better understand their infinitely complex circumstances and find hope.
—Publishers Weekly

“If my book is the one you buy when you are diagnosed with breast cancer, this one should be the one you purchase as you finish treatment. Schnipper is a terrific guide on the rocky road to recovery. This book will help you transition from the last chemotherapy/radiation treatment and help you reclaim your life!”
—Susan Love, M.D.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553381628
• ISBN-13: 978-0553381627
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,971,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The One "After Breast Cancer" Book to Read, September 30, 2003

By 

Texas Grandma "Grandma" (The Woodlands, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Breast Cancer: A Common-Sense Guide to Life After Treatment (Paperback)

This is the book I wish I had been able to offer women being treated for breast cancer during my years as an oncology social worker and the one I wish had been available when I completed my own treatment for the disease. It presents the ongoing challenges of survival while offering the reader practical, common sense advice and solid support. Ms. Hill allows her own vulnerability and compassion to emerge but the reader is always aware that the author is a skilled professional with a unique perspective. The style feels conversational allowing even the most complicated information to come across to the reader as entirely accessible. The chapter on Sexuality is done with sensitivity as well as humor and is full of practical suggestions. It should help many women and their partners. The chapter on Genetic Testing offers one of the most understandable I've read about this complicated issue. Information on the possibility of early or late recurrence, always a difficult subject but one every survivor contemplates,is handled well. Throughout the entire book, this reader was engaged. There is no "one size fits all" message in this book. Finally, the anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book will allow many readers to feel less isolated as they recognize their own reactions in those illustrated here. They will also learn to appreciate their individual responses and differences. This well conceived and implemented book will be helpful not only to women completing treatment, but to their families and health care providers. It is a gem.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not crazy..., April 1, 2005

By 

Deboarh Mosher "Deb M." (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: After Breast Cancer: A Common-Sense Guide to Life After Treatment (Paperback)

After all my treatments for breast cancer were done, everyone told me i should feel better-but i didn't! My feeling were much worse than i expected after so many months and i'm glad i found and read this book! It helped me understand that it is OK to have lingering fears and emotions and that it is normal-especially months after treatment! Maybe it's because she is a survivor too, that makes this book so great!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just What You Need, October 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: After Breast Cancer: A Common-Sense Guide to Life After Treatment (Paperback)

At this time last year, I was diagnosed with breast cancer; my treatment ended about 6 months ago. This is the book that I wished that I had read as I first made my way from chemo to radiation, and now try to re-enter a life that seems the same but will be forever changed.

The author, Hester Hill Schnipper, is not only a social worker specializing in patients with cancer; she herself had breast cancer 10 years ago. She therefore offers not only her professional wisdom and expertise, but speaks from her heart.

Every thought or feeling, every phase of recovery and reintegration, is covered here, all in an easy to understand and non-threatening manner. So many books about breast cancer just end up making one more afraid; this one offers both straightforward knowledge and reassurance. For those of us on the long journey forward (and for those who love us), this book is an invaluable guide.