Authors: Ronit Elk Ph.D., Monica Morrow M.D.
ISBN-13: 9780764524820, ISBN-10: 0764524828
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
Date Published: July 2003
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Ronit Elk, PhD, has enhanced funding for research on ways of preventing cancer and improving the quality of life for cancer survivors.
Monica Morrow, MD, is a renowned surgical oncologist and Director of the Lynn Sage Breast Program.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with breast cancer, you're probably confused, afraid, shocked, or even angry. Or you may be all of the above. Let this book become your trusted manual. Discover more about the cancer, explore treatment options, find ways to make this part of your life easier. Let shared experiences serve as your knowledgeable guide and anchor to help you make wise and confident choices.
Think of breast cancer as a journey and this book as your roadmap. Have you already been diagnosed? In that case, this book can help you explore these important truths:
All the information in this book is based on the most recent research findings, the clinical expertise of oncologists, and the invaluable experiences of the women who have walked this road before. Breast Cancer For Dummies covers all of the following topics and more in simple, easy-to-understand terms:
This book can help you feel like you have a sister who's a doctor, a sister who tells you what to expect every step of the way, who gives you the best advice she can, and guides you along the way. (Of course, there is absolutely no replacement for advice about you from your own doctor.) You'll feel empowered to know and understand what's going on in your body, so that you can become a part of your own treatment team and make decisions along with your doctors and your family.
Introduction | 1 | |
About This Book | 2 | |
Foolish Assumptions | 2 | |
Conventions Used in This Book | 3 | |
How This Book Is Organized | 3 | |
Icons Used in This Book | 6 | |
Where to Go from Here | 6 | |
Part I | Will My Hair Fall Out? Coming to Grips with Breast Cancer | 7 |
Chapter 1 | Tackling Breast Cancer One Step at a Time | 9 |
Starting Right Back at the Shocking News | 10 | |
Searching for Treatment | 10 | |
Predicting Your Prognosis | 11 | |
Talking with Family and Friends | 11 | |
Seeking Out Others | 12 | |
Taking Care of Business | 13 | |
Moving Forward with the Rest of Your Life | 13 | |
Chapter 2 | Getting Hands On with Your Breasts | 15 |
Being Best Friends with Your Breasts | 15 | |
Taking Matters into Your Own Hands: Breast Self-Exams Can Save Your Life | 18 | |
Bumping into a Lump | 21 | |
Chapter 3 | Understanding and Reducing Your Risk | 25 |
Assessing the Odds | 26 | |
Facing Risks You Can't Change | 26 | |
Regarding the Risks You Control | 33 | |
Calculating Your Risk: Choosing a Model That's Right for You | 38 | |
Chapter 4 | Rebellion of the Mutated Genes: Reviewing Breast Cancer | 41 |
The Lowdown on Cancer: What It Is, What It Does | 41 | |
Staying in Place or Running Rampant: Classifying Breast Cancer | 46 | |
Finding Out How Far It Has Spread: Staging Breast Cancer | 52 | |
Part II | All Kinds of Oses--Diagnoses, Prognoses, and Treatment Options | 53 |
Chapter 5 | Warming Up to Mammography, Sticking It Out During Biopsy | 55 |
What's Black and White and Round all Over? Picturing a Mammogram | 56 | |
Bringing on the Biopsy | 69 | |
Chapter 6 | Decoding Your Pathology Report | 77 |
Looking Under the Microscope | 78 | |
Reviewing the Report | 79 | |
Chapter 7 | Who Knew That All Cancer Is Also a Stage? | 87 |
Understanding the Staging System | 88 | |
Staging a Cell Coup | 94 | |
Chapter 8 | Understanding Your Prognosis: Am I Going to Die? | 99 |
Prognosticating: Just a Prediction | 100 | |
Peeking at Other Predictors | 103 | |
Survival Statistics | 105 | |
Chapter 9 | You Mean I Have a Choice? Finding the Right Treatment for You | 107 |
Going to Bat for You: The Treatment Team | 108 | |
Turning the Tables and Testing the Doctor | 112 | |
Reviewing Treatment Options by Stage | 116 | |
Being Pregnant: Special Considerations | 138 | |
Rolling Hot Off the Presses: Recent Developments | 139 | |
Part III | Buckling Up--Traveling Through Treatment | 141 |
Chapter 10 | Knowing What to Expect from Surgery | 143 |
Studying the Surgeries | 143 | |
Easing into Presurgery | 150 | |
Heading in to Surgery | 154 | |
You're Going Home | 158 | |
Confronting Surgery's Emotional Consequences | 164 | |
Chapter 11 | Knowing What to Expect from Radiation Therapy | 167 |
Opening Fire via Radiation | 168 | |
Giving Radiation a Thumbs Up: Effectiveness | 168 | |
Knowing Nearly Every Pro and Con | 171 | |
Preparing Yourself for Treatment | 172 | |
They Don't Call It a Regimen Because It's Easy | 176 | |
Sticking It Out During Symptoms | 179 | |
Chapter 12 | Knowing What to Expect from Chemotherapy | 181 |
Opening Fire via Chemo | 181 | |
Giving Chemo a Thumbs Up: The Good News | 183 | |
Deciding Whether Chemo Is Right for You | 188 | |
Calling Up the Regimen(t) to Wage War on Cancer Cells | 192 | |
Sticking It Out during Symptoms | 202 | |
Chapter 13 | Knowing What to Expect from Hormone Therapy | 211 |
Throwing a Monkey into the Multiplying Wrench | 212 | |
Putting Tamoxifen on the Scale: Weighing Risks and Benefits | 213 | |
Scoping out Other Hormone Treatments | 215 | |
Sticking It Out During Symptoms | 217 | |
Future Prospects | 220 | |
Chapter 14 | Giving Complementary Therapies Kudos | 221 |
Defining Terms: It Matters | 221 | |
Distinguishing the Good from the Bad | 223 | |
Giving Complementary Therapies a Compliment | 224 | |
Chapter 15 | Regarding Reconstruction | 231 |
Looking Over Some Options | 232 | |
Questions to Ask When Considering Reconstruction of Your Breast | 237 | |
So Many Options, but Just One Chest | 241 | |
Knowing What to Expect after Surgery | 248 | |
Chapter 16 | Duking It Out with Recurrence | 251 |
Reckoning with Recurrence | 251 | |
Predicting the Future, Part II | 253 | |
Getting Nasty with Metastasis | 258 | |
Asking Your Doctor | 260 | |
Chapter 17 | Boxing Back at the Double Whammy: Health Insurance and Money Woes | 263 |
Uncovering Your Insurance Coverage | 263 | |
Getting Money from the Feds (for a Change) | 269 | |
Paying Out of Pocket | 272 | |
Looking to the Law | 274 | |
Part IV | Living Life After Diagnosis | 277 |
Chapter 18 | Putting on Some Chicken Soup: Looking After Yourself | 279 |
Dreading the Diagnosis | 279 | |
Stepping Through This | 281 | |
Toeing the Line after Treatment | 285 | |
Preparing for the Rest of Your Life | 289 | |
Chapter 19 | Rekindling Intimacy After Treatment | 291 |
First Cancer, Now This? | 291 | |
If the Bed's A-Rockin' | 293 | |
Going beyond the Physical | 299 | |
Chapter 20 | Helping the One You Love: A Chapter for Family and Friends | 301 |
Hearing the Verdict | 302 | |
Tuning In | 303 | |
Brushing Up on Your Bedside Manner | 307 | |
Balking at the Consequences | 310 | |
Being the Kind of Friend You Want to Be | 311 | |
Chapter 21 | No Kidding Around: Talking to Your Children | 313 |
Giving Myths the Boot | 313 | |
Helping Kids Adjust | 314 | |
Keeping Life on Track | 319 | |
Preparing for Problems | 322 | |
Part V | The Part of Tens | 323 |
Chapter 22 | Ten Best Hospitals for Breast Cancer Treatment | 325 |
Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, PA | 326 | |
MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas: Houston, TX | 326 | |
Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: New York, NY | 327 | |
Lynn Sage Breast Center of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center: Chicago, IL | 327 | |
John Wayne Cancer Institute: Santa Monica, CA | 328 | |
Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center: Boston, MA | 328 | |
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins: Baltimore, MD | 329 | |
University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, MI | 329 | |
The Mayo Clinic: Rochester, MN | 330 | |
UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center: Los Angeles, CA | 330 | |
Chapter 23 | Ten-Plus Helpful Resources | 331 |
CANCERLIT | 331 | |
Families USA | 331 | |
Health Insurance Association of America | 332 | |
Hospice Net | 332 | |
National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations | 332 | |
National Cancer Institute | 332 | |
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine | 333 | |
The Susan G. Komen Foundation | 333 | |
Visiting Nurse Associations of America | 334 | |
Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization | 334 | |
Young Survival Coalition | 334 | |
Chapter 24 | Ten-Plus American Cancer Society Resources | 335 |
American Cancer Society | 335 | |
Cancer Survivors Network | 336 | |
Hope Lodge | 336 | |
I Can Cope | 336 | |
Look Good ... Feel Better | 336 | |
National Cancer Information Center | 337 | |
Reach to Recovery | 337 | |
@tlc (Tender Loving Care) magazine/catalog | 337 | |
Relay for Life | 338 | |
ACS CAN | 338 | |
Finding a Clinical Trial through ACS | 338 | |
Index | 339 |