Can Survive
Author: Judith Ellis, Susan Nessim, Judith Ellis
List Price: $15.00
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ISBN: 0618004173
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co (03 April, 2000)
Sales Rank: 419,135
Average Customer Rating: 5 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Informative and Compassionate
"Can Survive" was written to provide cancer survivors (those who have completed successful treatment) with a road map to life after physical recovery from the disease. The obstacles facing survivors are surprisingly plentiful, and many are not obvious either to survivors or to friends and family members. The chapters of practical advice in areas such as insurance, employment, and residual effects of treatment, are thorough and helpful. Because of ignorance, discrimination, poor communication, and other factors, it is crucial that the survivor venture back into the mainstream with a tool kit of strategies, and "Can Survive" provides those tools in an effective and well-organized manner. This book would be the finest present I could imagine to give to a patient leaving the hospital after being pronounced "cured", and I believe it would be an excellent idea for hospitals to do just that.The book discusses serious issues that arise after primary treatment is complete, and it therefore deals with some difficult topics. Despite this, "Can Survive" maintains its empathetic and positive tone throughout. Many of the personal vignettes of survivors are troubling and can leave one thoroughly disappointed in the "system". In my opinion, Susan Nessim's most important achievement with "Can Survive" is that she guides the reader through these minefields with a gentle touch, and with the clear assurance that others have experienced, and conquered, the same problems. This book contains both important practical information that can be put to immediate use and an optimistic, tenacious spirit that enables the fight. Besides being an invaluable resource to survivors themselves, it should be required reading for friends or family striving to understand the experience of their survivor, and to help him or her negotiate the unexpectedly perilous shoals of post-treatment life.
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