Scary Diagnosis: What You Need to Know to Get the Best Health Care

Edward G. Rogoff, Ph.D., is an accomplished educational leader who has taught at Baruch College, Long Island University and New York University. Diagnosed with hemophilia as a child he was cured of it as an adult following a liver transplant. Rogoff has served on the Board of the Hemophilia Association of New York since 1980, and for seven years he was also on the Board of LiveOnNY, the major organ donor organization for the New York City metropolitan area. Professor Rogoff remains a major advocate for continued research and better treatments for all patients who receive a scary diagnosis.

Foreword 

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: The First Shock, Then Waiting for Answers

When you receive a scary diagnosis, you need to know how to receive it,

hear it, process it, and rely on others to provide prospective.

Chapter 2: Life or Death

Everyone eventually dies, and some diagnoses are death sentences. But for

almost every diagnosis there is a reason for more optimism than pessimism.

Chapter 3: Vulnerability Squared

Being sick makes you feel vulnerable, fearful, and powerless.

Chapter 4: Sick Children

As vulnerable as you are as an adult, children are far more defenseless.

Chapter 5: Building Your Team

When you receive a scary diagnoses, you naturally tend to become depressed

and isolate yourself from the world.

Chapter 6: You Must Never Lose Your Dignity

At its worst, medical treatment can feel like torture, creating unimaginable

pain that can reduce you to feeling like a supplicant begging for

relief.

Chapter 7: Distrust and Suspicion

Skepticism is good; paranoia is bad. But you are likely somewhere on this

continuum.

Chapter 8: Selecting and Managing Your Doctor

How you can find and select the right doctor.

Chapter 9: Faith, Hope, and the Three Stooges

You need to focus on your attitude and take concrete steps to keep your

mood positive.

Chapter 10: To Share or Not to Share

It may be painful to share, but it can also bring you relief.

Chapter 11: Managing the Hospital Experience

Which hospital you should select to receive the best care?

Chapter 12: Coping with Big, Bad Bureaucracies

How the bureaucracies of insurance companies, hospitals, medical practices,

and government programs can crush your spirit and damage your

chances of successful treatment.

Chapter 13: Confront Your Disease by Being More Than Just a Patient

Being engaged in your work, family, and interests is what makes you who

you are and you shouldn’t lose that to your scary diagnosis.

Chapter 14: With Gratitude, Optimism Is Sustainable

You must strive to find gratitude and acknowledge the strength you found

when coping with your scary diagnosis.

Suggested Reading

Index