Positive Options for Colorectal Cancer: Self-Help and Treatment »

Colorectal cancer develops slowly over a period of several years, undetected, usually as polyps. It is a preventable and treatable disease if caught in time, yet most know little about how to read its symptoms. Written for the layperson, this book covers all the uncomfortable questions and answers about the disease, from prevention and warning signs, to screening and diagnosis techniques, to making decisions and developing treatment plans. Also included are positive stories about life after cancer by 12 survivors.

Contents

Foreword....................viii
Acknowledgments....................x
Introduction....................1
Chapter 1: Facing the Unknown....................5
What Is Colorectal Cancer?....................5
Warning Signs....................7
Paying Attention to Symptoms....................7
Basic Screening Tests for Colorectal Cancer....................11
Missed Signals....................15
Risk Factors for Colorectal Cancer....................16
The Role of Stress....................17
The Role of Genetics....................18
Positive Options for Facing the Unknown....................22
Chapter 2: Gathering Information....................24
Additional Tests for Colorectal Cancer....................25
Stages of Colorectal Cancer....................27
Adjusting to New Test Results....................28
Questions from Colorectal Cancer Patients....................30
Myths and Misinformation....................33
Positive Options when Gathering Information....................35
Chapter 3: Working with Medical Professionals to Develop a Health Plan....................37
Legal and Financial Concerns....................38
Managing Medical Records....................40
Finding a Good Doctor....................41
How to Get the Best Results when Working with Doctors and Nurses....................43
Learning the Language of Medicine Land....................46
What We Would Like to Say to Doctors....................47
Positive Options for Working with Medical Professionals to Develop a Health Plan....................48
Chapter 4: Dealing with Your Feelings....................49
Coping with aDiagnosis of Cancer....................49
Anger as a Catalyst....................50
Denial as a Form of Protection....................51
Bargaining for Time....................54
Sorrow vs Depression....................56
Finding the Right Support Group....................56
Ways You Can Get What You Need from Others....................59
Positive Options for Dealing with Your Feelings....................61
Chapter 5: Making Decisions about Treatment....................63
Basic Information about Chemotherapy....................64
An Oncologist Answers Questions about Chemotherapy....................69
Basic Information about Radiation Therapy....................70
My Experience with Radiation Therapy....................75
Preparing for the Side Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation....................78
Questionable Treatments....................79
Positive Options for Making Decisions about Treatments....................81
Chapter 6: Coping with Surgery: Plain Talk about a Complicated Subject....................83
When Is Surgery Necessary?....................83
Temporary Ostomies....................86
First Aid: The Enterostomal Nurses....................87
Suggestions for Your Hospital Stay....................89
What Should You Take to the Hospital?....................90
The Operating Room....................92
The Recovery Room....................93
Positive Options for Coping with Surgery....................94
Chapter 7: The First Six Weeks after Surgery....................96
What to Expect Once You're Home....................96
Follow-Up to Surgery....................99
Special Problems....................100
Steps to Healing: Being Helped by Complementary Therapies....................101
Positive Options after Surgery....................105
Chapter 8: The Challenges of Chemotherapy....................106
Returning to Chemotherapy....................106
Traveling the Chemotherapy Highway....................107
Things That Help....................110
Dan's Story....................114
Positive Options for Going Through Chemotherapy....................117
Chapter 9: Possible Complications after Treatment....................119
Ileostomies and Colostomies....................120
Recurrences of Cancer....................128
Positive Options for Dealing with Complications after Treatments....................129
Chapter 10: Lessons Learned from Surviving Cancer....................131
Begin with Realistic Expectations....................132
Learn When to Ask for Help....................132
Reduce Unnecessary Stress....................133
Make a Comeback from Cancer with Good Nutrition and Exercise....................134
Expect to Encounter Some Potholes of Depression....................136
Remember to Laugh....................137
Explore the Private Roads of Sexuality....................137
Finding Meaning after Cancer....................138
Positive Options after Surviving Cancer....................140
References....................141
Resources....................142
Index....................148