Harpham--a doctor and cancer survivor--imparts all the learning she has gained, both medically and emotionally, to get a patient through the first few confusing and often scary months in the way that is best for them personally. In this revised and updated edition, Harpham discusses all the new developments in diagnosis and treatment, particularly new medications and formerly experimental methods that are now being used. Because of the growing number of people in managed care, she addresses how to work through the system to get full medical care, including when not to accept the limitations of one's health-care plan. Now a long-term cancer survivor, Harpham has an even deeper understanding of how to navigate the emotional and psychological roller coaster of being a newly diagnosed cancer patient. She incorporates her knowledge in this edition to help people become what she calls healthy survivors--cancer patients who get the best medical care possible and who minimize the pain, debility, and loss resulting from cancer.

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