The Complete Guide to Relieving Cancer Pain and Suffering

ISBN-13: 9780195312027 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 464 str.

Susan S. Lang

Opis

Most cancer patients fear unremitting pain more than the prospect of an untimely death, and are surprised to learn that most of the pain and related symptoms of cancer can be successfully addressed by an informed patient working with a determined health care team.
Thoroughly updating their widely praised 1994 book, You Don't Have to Suffer, Dr. Richard B. Patt and Susan Lang offer a much-needed handbook for patients and caregivers on all aspects of cancer pain and suffering. The authors identify the reasons why patients are so often under-medicated--from patients who feel the need to tough it out to doctors buried in time-consuming paperwork--and argue that properly medicated patients are better able to resume active lives and marshal strength to fight their disease. Those in chronic pain not only suffer, but also jeopardize their recovery. They demonstrate methods that can be used to cope with pain, nausea, constipation, fatigue, and other symptoms related to cancer and cancer treatment, and describe all of the pain-relieving options available in the modern medical arsenal. This includes drugs and high-tech medical procedures, as well as psychological, cognitive, and mind/body techniques. The authors also discuss depression and other psychological components that can contribute to suffering, as well as end-of-life issues. The book includes detailed charts of all the pain medications presently available and lists many available resources, from pain specialists to hospice and home care.
This book will empower cancer patients and their families to make informed decisions about their care and will be of enormous value to the growing number of patients, family members, and health-care professionals determined to relieve needless suffering.

Recenzje

They say that turkeys wouldn't vote for Christmas, so it came as a bit of a surprise, as a cancer patient, to be asked by the editor to review a book on cancer pain . . . I cannot imagine a more complete treatment of the subject, written in truly accessible language, and with open discussion of contentious issues. The book is aimed at patients and carers, and I would also strongly recommend it to those who support and advise patients. This is a book that every informed patient and carer should know about, and which should be on the library shelves of every cancer support group.

O autorze

Richard B. Patt, M.D. is the President and Chief Medical Officer of the Patt Center for Cancer Pain and Wellness (www.cancerpain.org) in Houston. Susan S. Lang is a Senior Science Writer at Cornell University and the author or co-author of eleven books, including Headache Help and Beating the Blues: New Approaches to Overcoming Dysthymia and Chronic Depression.