Living with Childhood Cancer: A Practical Guide to Help Families Cope (LifeTools: Books for the General Public)

Like a natural disaster, the diagnosis that your child has cancer can shatter your world. Living With Childhood Cancer was written by two individuals who survived the stress of family cancer by mobilizing their resources and rebuilding their lives. In this down-to-earth guidebook, the mother-daughter team Leigh A. Woznick and Carol D. Goodheart draw on their own family's experience with cancer, as well as their expertise -- one as a parent and the other as a psychologist. The result is a book filled with sound emotional and practical guidance.

In this comprehensive resource, the authors lay out practical strategies for coping with overwhelming medical information, frequent invasive procedures, heavy financial burdens, and crippling stress. Their insights are illustrated by interviews with cancer families of all kinds, as well as the nurses, doctors, and others who care for them. Readers will find invaluable guidance tailored to their specific needs on such topics as handling emotions, reducing stress, choosing a hospital, dealing with insurers, communicating with health professionals, and understanding the impact of the disease on family and friends. Further sources of support are listed in an encyclopedic resource list of organizations, books, and videos designed to help families maintain hope and restore their lives.