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Just what we need, another book!

Sorry Ira, but it's not as if there aren't enough books out there already, on what to do when you're diagnosed with a "devastating diagnosis"?

Lance Armstrong has one out, It's Not About the Bike, Neil Ruzic wrote one Racing for a Cure (which he gave it away free, when he was alive), and Barbara Lackritz (AKA Granny Barb) wrote one titled Adult Leukemia: Comprehensive Guide for Patients and Families

And now there is one more. Jessie Gruman, PhD is promoting her new book After Shock.

The author, according to an excerpt published in Parade Magazine, is well qualified to write such a book, when she states
I am all too familiar with this process. Four times, I have been diagnosed with life-threatening conditions

Four times she'd been diagnosed with life threatening conditions? And she's still alive? I'm not sure I want any advice from this woman. Why does she keep getting diagnosed with life threatening conditions, and is then miraculously cured? Most people die after one life threatening condition, but she had 4, and is still alive.

I can't help it I am so skeptical and cynical of peoples motives. It seems everyone is trying to make a buck off people who are sick.

If you need help on what to do or what to ask your doctor, there is plenty of good, free and easily obtainable (via the internet) information from numerous sources, e.g. The American Cancer Society, to name one, and peer to peer group message boards for virtually every cancer or disease imaginable at sites such as the Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR) and on Yahoo Groups.

And let's not forget about all the different foundations, focusing on particular diseases, whose principle function is to help the patient, without requiring you buy anything.

The biggest problem most people have is being intimidated by their doctor, and a book isn't going to help you get over that. If that's the problem, get a family member to help you, or hire a living, breathing advocate. That will be money better spent.

And if you can't do any of that, write to me. I'll get the answers for you, and I won't charge you a dime!
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Comments

Ira Allen said…
I don't know where to begin a reply, since your premise is there can be only a certain number of books, a finite amount of knowledge, to share.

That you begrudge someone surviving four life-threatening illnesses misses the point that two of them were detected by early screening and that in all four cases she was lucky enough to have the knowledge, insurance and access to the best specialized care available.

As for everyone knowing what to do if they would only ask their doctor, take a look at the Jan. 22
USA Today article on just this point.

"It's easy to understand why doctors and patients don't always communicate well, says Neal Meropol, director of gastrointestinal cancer at Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Center. Overwhelmed patients may not be able to concentrate during office visits, especially when dealing with technical medical terms."

As for the suggestion that this book is profit-motivated, it is an outgrowth of both Dr. Gruman's personal experience and her work as the head of a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to communicate knowledge to people so they can make intelligent decisions on their own. Any "profits" from the paperback book selling for between $11-$17 are being donated back to the organization.

Your offer of free advice is pretty much the advice Dr. Gruman offers, but the value of the book is likely to be its use and handing out BY health care professionals when dealing with the patient after having delivered the bad news.

Also, I think you have too rosy a view of disease organizations and their missions. The first mission of any and all of them is to raise money to stay in operation.

In exchange for your free advice, I will offer you a copy of the book and hope that if you change your mind some you will post to that effect.
2:33 PM
Marc said…
Again, sorry Ira, it wasn't my intention to begrudge Jessie for surviving 4 devastating diagnoses, nor piss you off, although I admit, I may have been very successful on both accounts.

It's just hard for me to believe, her diagnoses were that life threatening, she could survive 4 of them.

As for everyone knowing what to do if they could only ask their doctor, I don't believe I've ever implied that. In fact I don't believe that all.

What I believe is most people are intimidated by their doctors, and even when they know the right questions to ask, they either don't listen to the doctor, don't understand what the doctor is saying, or the doctor doesn't know the answer, and tries to intimidate the patient.

I've had that happen to me, and that is why I recommended hiring an advocate, if you are also intimidated by the internet. That would be money better spent.

I could go on and on here responding to every point you've made, but I'm not going to do that. That might actually give me a topic for another post.

But I will say, some books, such as the latter two I referenced in the post, can be helpful, because they deal with specific diseases. Others, such as the one brought up by you, deal with generalities (although I admit I've haven't read the book, but will take you up on your offer to send me a copy), and are of little value, except for entertainment value, or to raise money for some general cause.

And one last thing, as far as the profit motive, it was you who brought that up when you stated,

Although the publisher has a legitimate interest in trying to sell a lot of copies, and although I work for the Center......
11:46 AM
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