Healing Hepatitis C: A Patient and a Doctor on the Epidemic's Front Lines Tell You How to Recognize When You Are at Risk, Understand Hepatitis C ... C, and Advocate for Yourself and Others [Paperback]

Christopher Kennedy Lawford (Author), Diana Sylvestre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 2009

Get the facts about Hepatitis C

Having hepatitis C can be a transformative, extremely tough experience—especially without the right information. Healing Hepatitis C remedies that by combining the personal story of Christopher Kennedy Lawford, who unknowingly contracted the virus during his years of drug use, with the medical expertise of Dr. Diana Sylvestre, who has devoted her career to treating hepatitis C sufferers. Together they deal with the stigma and misinformation, and the fears and frustrations of this illness. Healing Hepatitis C serves as a valuable sourcebook for medical and treatment information: from what hepatitis C is to what it does, and from what to expect during treatment to how to communicate with your physician, to finding the support you need. Most of all, it walks you through the process of facing the diagnosis and treatment head-on, showing you that it is possible to get through hepatitis C—to be cured of it—without surrendering your life to it.

Together Lawford and Sylvestre offer hope, humor, and medical expertise to help patients, their friends, and families navigate the numerous challenges of hepatitis C virus education, testing, and treatment.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Kennedy Lawford is the New York Times bestselling author of Symptoms of Withdrawal. He has worked extensively in Hollywood as an actor, lawyer, executive, and producer. He has three children and lives in Marina Del Rey, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1st edition (May 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061783684
• ISBN-13: 978-0061783685
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Hepatitis
  • #75 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Abdominal

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genuine Hope, June 13, 2009

By 

Lucinda K. Porter "Lucinda K. Porter, RN" (Grass Valley, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Healing Hepatitis C (Kindle Edition)

Healing Hepatitis C is a refreshing change of pace from most other HCV books. Written by Diana Sylvestre, MD and Christopher Kennedy Lawford - the format is a dialog between the two while they simultaneously speak directly to the reader. Sylvestre provides a physician's perspective and Lawford offers good humored insight from the patient's side. This book is warm, honest, and refreshing.

This book illustrates some of the turmoil that we experience over this disease, particularly regarding treatment. The strength of this book is that it is honest. Healing Hepatitis C is not highly technical yet it succeeds in getting across a lot of information without boring the reader. The Online Resource section provides tools for the reader wanting to know more about various aspects of HCV.

If you are touched by hepatitis C and you need a hearty dose of help, hope and inspiration, read Healing Hepatitis C.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Facts at Last, June 11, 2009

By 

Larry G "Larry Galindo" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Healing Hepatitis C: A Patient and a Doctor on the Epidemic's Front Lines Tell You How to Recognize When You Are at Risk, Understand Hepatitis C ... C, and Advocate for Yourself and Others (Paperback)

What a smart idea, first you get a former drug addict to tell us how he got Hepatitis C and what he did about it, and then you get an informed doctor to break it down for us.
What I once thought about Hepatitis C was that Hepatitis C is a death sentence. Now, Hepatitis C does not seem to be such a dark cloud, dead end.
Too many times in our past medical issues have been swept under the rug because of moral issues, "they did it to themselves", "they are weak people," same with HIV. People think that God placed a curse on them for being wicked. What happened to, "Judge not,"? It's my opinion that Dr. Sylvestre writes this book in the mindset of, "Let's get on with the job of beating back this virus, no matter how someone got Hepatitis C."
Thank God she saw a need and stepped up. If you ever get the chance to talk to the thousands of people Dr. Sylvestre has helped, one thing you will always hear is, "She didn't judge me, she helped me."
My family has four people with Hepatitis C. My mom got hers from a blood transfusion, my sister did not know how she caught hers (but she was a nurse). I and my brother got Hepatitis C from being IV drug users. Dr. Sylvestre treated us all as people.
My hope is that people read this book and become enlightened. I hope the doctors get off there high horses and help the people with Hepatitis C. I hope everyone who reads this becomes a strong advocate for themselves or anyone who has Hepatitis C.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healing/Curing Hepatitis C, July 9, 2009

By 

CM (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Healing Hepatitis C: A Patient and a Doctor on the Epidemic's Front Lines Tell You How to Recognize When You Are at Risk, Understand Hepatitis C ... C, and Advocate for Yourself and Others (Paperback)

This book is a page turner. Excellent read for anyone who is Hepatitis C virus positive still, or involved with people who have Hep C. There is a medical cure for a majority of people with this infection. This book provides much needed information about the disease and it's treatment. It is certainly an encouragement to people wondering if they too can beat Hep C.