After Cancer: A Guide to Your New Life [Paperback]

Wendy S. Harpham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 1995

As anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer knows, surviving cancer is more than just killing cancer cells and getting through treatment. Patients must deal with the emotional, social, spiritual, and financial fallout of a cancer diagnosis. By helping survivors understand that they can't go back to where they were before cancer, Dr. Wendy Harpham liberates them to move forward to a different, "new normal." In a reader-friendly, question-and-answer format, Dr. Harpham (herself a cancer survivor) addresses a wide range of issues. Among them are understanding the medicine of reevaluation, follow-up, and prevention after treatment; dealing with the most common physical aftereffects of treatment; learning how to make decisions about work and school; relating to friends and family; helping children deal with parents' cancer; and coping with the practicalities of living wills and insurance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Harpham (Diagnosis Cancer), a Dallas internist diagnosed with lymphoma in 1990, is no stranger to the challenges, physical and emotional, faced by people who have had cancer and chemotherapy. In a poignant introduction describing her illness, the author tells of the changes one must confront after treatment. She makes it clear that there is no special formula for recovery, and that timetables are of no particular consequence because everyone is different. Her useful Q&A format candidly addresses many central questions: long-term side effects, probability of recurrences, diet considerations, coping with depression. Living with cancer and its aftereffects is an ongoing education in living, says Harpham, who advises how to cope between cancer checkups, when to call the physician and when not to worry. Post-cancer fatigue is discussed in depth. In addition to the facts cancer survivors must know to make the best possible recovery, the author provides readers with hope. This is "must" reading for anyone coping with the aftermath of cancer treatments, as well as for their families and friends.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Harpham, author of Diagnosis: Cancer;Your Guide Through the First Few Months (LJ 5/15/92), once again uses her skills to answer many of the questions cancer survivors have. Because she is both a doctor and a cancer survivor, Harpham understands the process and can write effectively about the obstacles most survivors encounter, such as physical changes, emotional strains, and financial stresses. Emphasizing that "knowledge is power," she advises readers to take a proactive stance and encourages minimizing risk through diet, exercise, and aggressive surveillance. The section on postcancer fatigue will be of special interest to many patients. A bibliography, resources list, explanations of types of healthcare workers, and a list of steps for cancer prevention make this book essential for survivors and those who care for them. Highly recommended.
Janet M. Coggan, Univ. of Florida Libs., Gainesville
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1 edition (July 20, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060976780
• ISBN-13: 978-0060976781
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #908,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book, August 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: After Cancer: A Guide to Your New Life (Paperback)

I believe that only cancer survivors can make a pertinent review this book.

I strongly recommend it to anyone who is a cancer survivor, or anybody who wants to try to understand a friend or relative who has had cancer.

The author, Wendy Harpham, is a cancer survivor. She is also a medical doctor. She writes from both perspectives. This makes her book not only informative, but also full of empathy.

It made me cry. It made me laugh. It made me realize that there is "a life after cancer" and that, as Wendy suggests, I can "make it a good one."

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough but conventional, October 27, 2005

By 

Joel Brame - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: After Cancer: A Guide to Your New Life (Paperback)

This book took on a huge topic: the period after cancer. There is too much in this topic to cover in one book. Dr Harpham did a thorough job with the areas that she focused on. Her question-and-answer format made the book easy to flip through-- it does not require cover-to-cover reading, which is excellent for slow readers like me.

Rather than using dozens of heart-warming examples of survivorship as in other books, Dr Harpham gives the information in a more linear, factual way. This is good for people who don't want gloss but just the straight facts (I personally would have enjoyed more stories and to hear her own voice come through). She touches on many real-life issues that most other books don't address such as radiation-related tooth cavities and risks of potential birth problems in pregnant cancer survivors. For this information alone the book is worth the purchase.

My only issue is that the book sticks with the popular, conventional, let's-not-rock-the-boat approach of the American Cancer Society. Such as when she puts "avoid sun exposure" at the top of a prevention recommendations list, without acknowledging the tremendous cancer-protective effects of vitamin D and the fundamental fact that all life comes from sunlight. Complementary/Alternative medicine is quickly presented with warnings of how dangerous it is, while the horrible toxicities and lethal side effects of conventional medicine are addressed with an assumption of acceptance.

To cover both conventional and CAM topics in one book would make an exceptionally thick book. If you are looking for information beyond the conventional medical model, you would do better with books by Patrick Quillin or Ralph Moss. But if you trust the conventional system, then this book is an excellent resource to get you through the after cancer period.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Found This Book Very Helpful, April 8, 2003

By 

"laklak522" (Dallas, TX, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Cancer: A Guide to Your New Life (Paperback)

I found it very helpful to have a resource such as this book by Wendy Harpham when I finished my cancer treatments. The book helped me understand what I was feeling and why. I am now 3 years out and have just finished rereading the book. It has helped me, again, in my "new life" after cancer. I found that the book accurately explained the emotions I had been confronting. I highly recommend the book and believe that her book is a must read for any cancer survivor who has finished treatment, especially if you have just completed treatment, but even if it was years ago.