When Your Life Is Touched by Cancer (eBook)

Bob Riter is the Executive Director of the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes in Ithaca, NY, an organization that provides support, information, and community to people affected by cancer. His involvement in the cancer community began in 1996 when he was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40. Bob writes about cancer from a variety of perspectives in his column for the Ithaca Journal and his essays have appeared in Newsweek and CR Magazine. He routinely speaks to college classes, civic organizations, and professional groups about the human side of cancer. A native of Huntington, West Virginia, Bob received a master's degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan. He is currently a member of the New York State Health Research Science Board, and was the winner of the 2006 Innovation in Breast Cancer Research and Education Award in the health professional category from the New York State Innovation in Breast Cancer Research and Education Program.

IntroductionAcknowledgmentsForeword Just DiagnosedAdvice for those Newly DiagnosedCancer and Positive ThinkingIt’s OK to Ask Your Doctor These QuestionsHow Old is too Old to Treat Cancer?Second OpinionsIf Your Mom has CancerGood Cancers and Bad CancersCommunicating with Your DoctorWhy Aren’t They Doing More?Clinical TrialsCancer-Related AnxietyCancer and DepressionWatching and WaitingTelling the KidsTelling the ParentsWhat to Sayand Not SayWhen a Loved One Has CancerThoughts and Prayer TreeDuring TreatmentKeeping Yourself in BalanceNon-Traditional Cancer TherapiesCancer and Alternative TherapiesDoctor-Patient InteractionsChemo Nurses and Radiation TherapistsA Better Phrase than Staying StrongHow You Feel and How You LookToo Little and Too Much Cancer TreatmentAdvocating for a Loved OneGroundhog FriendsHelping from a DistanceHelping Those We Don’t LikeHelping Friends with CancerBeing PresentMore than TiredChemobrainUnderstanding Friends with CancerVisiting Those in the HospitalSingle with CancerCancer as a MarathonHoliday GiftsHoliday Gifts for those with Serious IllnessWhen a Partner is in DenialAfter TreatmentThe After-Treatment BlahsWhen Loved Ones Complete TreatmentSurvivor’s GuiltPost-Cancer RelationshipsDonating Blood and OrgansSurvivors Can Help the Newly DiagnosedCancer as a Chronic DiseaseBeginning to Talk about HospiceWhat to Say When Cancer ReturnsPersonal Reflections and Random EssaysMy Cancer ExperienceDon’t Ask about My BattleUncertainty and CommitmentsMental Illness and CancerThe Ugly Stepsister of CancerCancer and the Nature of HopeI have cancer. What’s new with you?My "Cancer Sucks" ButtonSmall Acts of HeroismThe Uncertainty of CancerThe Transitions of CancerThe Good That EmergedThe Look People Give YouSurprising Facts about CancerStepping Up for NeighborsNew Year’s WishesGood News in CancerOur Cancer ProfessionalsNew Nurses and Cancer PatientsVeterinary OncologyThe Guys at the Corner TableDoing What I Do