TITLE:
After You Hear It's Cancer: A Guide to Navigating the Difficult Journey Ahead
AUTHOR: John Leifer (with Lori Lindstrom Leifer)
PUBLISHER: Lanham, MD:
Bowman and Littlefield, 2015, (320 pages).
The C word strikes fear initially. Once it has sunk in, the emotions are often mixed with both confusion as well as moments of clarity about what life is really about. Calling it a "life changing experience," author John Leifer shares from the heart about his journey with his wife, who was diagnosed with malignant breast cancer. Like what his wife felt about encountering cancer for the first time, the feeling is one of being overwhelmed and shut down. Making decisions about what to do next becomes an even greater challenge with stress and anxiety swirling around. Quoting Karen Sepucha of Harvard Medical School, it is a common scenario that even those who had overcome past challenges will find it difficult to help themselves. That is why people with cancer need support. That is why families of cancer patients need help. That is why books like this is a valuable resource to help deal with the difficult path carved by the news of cancer.
In writing this book, senior health executive and author John Leifer hopes to empower readers toward better decision making when hearing news about cancer. He guides us through the experiences of ten individuals plus his wife Lori, to give us a first person account of the long and difficult journey. He leads us through the BEFORE-DURING-AFTER phases of cancer treatments.
