Wellness Community Guide to Fighting for Recovery from Cancer [Paperback]

Harold H. Benjamin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 1995

An inspirational source of guidance, information, and hope for patients who want to take an active role in battling cancer shares practical advice on such topics as stress reduction, exercise, nutrition, enhancing the immune system, and psychological and social support. Original.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Benjamin, founder of the Wellness Community, a psychosocial support program for cancer patients, expands upon his earlier title, From Victim to Victor (1988), with this empowering, empathetic guide. Reiterating the concept of the Patient Active and its take-home message that cancer patients who fight for recovery are likely to improve the quality of their lives and may enhance their chances for recovery, he explains the mind-body connection underlying his approach: a strong immune system can resist disease better, and the immune system can be strengthened by psychological means. To that end, he details practical techniques for controlling stressful, negative emotions?anger, hopelessness, helplessness?and maximizing pleasant ones. Benjamin makes it clear that these efforts are not an alternative to traditional medicine but an adjunct; while urging cancer patients to take control, he emphasizes that no guilt should be attached to getting cancer or to its progression. Appendices include a nutrition handbook and lists of resources for cancer patients.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Here are two books on coping with cancer in the long term. Written by the director of the largest cancer program devoted to providing free psychological/social support to patients and their families, The Wellness Community Guide to Fighting for Recovery from Cancer aims to reach some of the more than one million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year. In this revised version of From Victim to Victor (LJ 10/15/87), Benjamin takes a relentlessly cheerful, upbeat, and positive approach, emphasizing stress reduction, visualization techniques, immune system maximization, improved diet, exercise, and use of the Patient Active concept, which blends psychology and psychoneuroimmunology in an effort to convince patients that they can counter their disease. He argues that in fighting to recover, patients will improve the quality of their lives and, by following specific suggestions, will gain hope, control, and the ability to take advantage of partnerships with their healthcare providers, support groups, family, and friends. This energizing book has valuable appendixes to aid in this process and is enthusiastically recommended. Gaynor is associate director at New York's Strang-Cornell Cancer Prevention Center and a professor at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. His Healing Essence, which addresses many of the same concerns as Benjamin's book, offers a seven-step technique called ESSENCE that stresses mind/body connections. An acronym for experience, see, surrender, empower, nurture, create, and embody, ESSENCE is recommended as a means of handling fear, going beyond suffering, ending melancholy, and creating hope. While both these books focus on empowerment and self-work, Benjamin's book has the edge with its energetic message and gentle yet firm guidance through the processes of taking control while working within a medical framework. Recommended for consumer health and patient education collections.
Janet M. Coggan, Univ. of Florida Libs., Gainesville
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; Revised edition (August 16, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874777941
• ISBN-13: 978-0874777949
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,239,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is about cancer recovery, not living or dying with it., April 7, 1999

By 

Nancy Howe - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wellness Community Guide to Fighting for Recovery from Cancer (Paperback)

If you, or someone you love, has cancer, this book teaches --- step by step --- how to move from victim to victor. Benjamin explains how to make a series of decisions to fight for your recovery rather than turn the responsibility over to the physician. This isn't alternative medicine, it is a complement to conventional treatment and it has the enthusiastic support of Sloan-Kettering, Jonsson Comprehensive (UCLA), and Dr. Susan Love. More than 75% of the book is specific, concrete advice designed to help a cancer patient regain hope, eliminate anger, prepare for surgery, deal with the pain of radiation or chemo, and form a productive partnership with your doctor. Benjamin founded The Wellness Community, which is the place that Gilda Radner praised so highly in her book. His approach was *by far* the most helpful book I found to help me cope with the fear and the sense of aloneness that I experienced when I was unbelievably diagnosed with stage T2 tonsil cancer two years ago (age 42). Benjamin is clear that no one is to blame if the course of the disease doesn't go as hoped. But he also points out that by improving the quality of your life, you may strengthen your immune system, which may enhance your chances for recovery. Benjamin drives home that cancer isn't a death sentence. This approach was revolutionary for me. Benjamin changed the way that I, as a patient, dealt with cancer and in doing so I changed the way that my physicians dealt with me. I had hope and I took an active role. My doctors told me that I came through it all "far better than most." What could be better than that?

5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to begin your journey, December 26, 2010

By 

G. Striewig (CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wellness Community Guide to Fighting for Recovery from Cancer (Paperback)

If you are not already proactive in your approach to surviving cancer, this book and The Wellness Community will teach you how. With today's technology, cancer has moved from being a "terminal" illness to being a "serious" one. It IS survivable, and you and your family need to understand this concept and how to help yourselves make it happen.