A guide to help cancer patients deal with their post-treatment health includes tips on diet, exercise, and enviroment to prevent relapse, manage stress, and maintain healthy relationships.

Informationen zum Autor GERALD M. LEMOLE, MD, is a board-certified surgeon, thoracic surgeon, and integrative doctor. The author of Facing Facial Pain and The Healing Diet , he lives in Huntingdon Valley, PA. PALLAV MEHTA, MD, is the Director of Integrative Oncology and Director of Practice Development at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. He lives in Philadelphia. DWIGHT L. McKEE, MD, is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, hematology, nutrition, and integrative and holistic medicine. He lives in Aptos, CA. Klappentext After the intense experience and range of emotion that comes with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy (or all three), cancer patients often find themselves with little or no guidance when it comes to their health post-treatment. After Cancer Care is the much-needed authoritative, approachable guide that fills this gap. It includes information on how to maintain physical healthwith chapters on epigenetics, nutrition, and exerciseas well as emotional health through stress management techniques. The cutting-edge and growingly popular science of Epigenetics has shown that you are not stuck with your genetic history: your choices in diet, exercise, and even relationships can help determine whether or not your genes promote cancer, and therefore determine your propensity for relapse. Your lifestyle has an effect on the most common types of cancer including breast cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, bladder cancer, and lymphoma. The doctors present easy-to-incorporate lifestyle changes to help you "turn on hundreds of genes that fight cancer, and "turn off the ones that encourage cancer, while recommending lifestyle plans to address each type. In addition, they share 34 healthy recipes and tips on staying active and exercising, detoxifying your house and environment, and taking supplements to help prevent relapse. With more than three decades of post-cancer-care experience, Drs. Lemole, Mehta, and McKee break down the science into palatable, practical takeaways so that you can drastically improve your quality of life and enjoy many years of cancer-free serenity. Zusammenfassung After the intense experience and range of emotion that comes with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy (or all three), cancer patients often find themselves with little or no guidance when it comes to their health post-treatment. After Cancer Care is the much-needed authoritative, approachable guide that fills this gap....

Autorentext
GERALD M. LEMOLE, MD, is a board-certified surgeon, thoracic surgeon, and integrative doctor. The author of Facing Facial Pain and The Healing Diet, he lives in Huntingdon Valley, PA. PALLAV MEHTA, MD, is the Director of Integrative Oncology and Director of Practice Development at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. He lives in Philadelphia. DWIGHT L. McKEE, MD, is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, hematology, nutrition, and integrative and holistic medicine. He lives in Aptos, CA.

Klappentext

After the intense experience and range of emotion that comes with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy (or all three), cancer patients often find themselves with little or no guidance when it comes to their health post-treatment. After Cancer Care is the much-needed authoritative, approachable guide that fills this gap. It includes information on how to maintain physical health—with chapters on epigenetics, nutrition, and exercise—as well as emotional health through stress management techniques.

The cutting-edge and growingly popular science of Epigenetics has shown that you are not stuck with your genetic history: your choices in diet, exercise, and even relationships can help determine whether or not your genes promote cancer, and therefore determine your propensity for relapse. Your lifestyle has an effect on the most common types of cancer including breast cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, endometrial cancer, colon cancer, bladder cancer, and lymphoma.

The doctors present easy-to-incorporate lifestyle changes to help you "turn on” hundreds of genes that fight cancer, and "turn off” the ones that encourage cancer, while recommending lifestyle plans to address each type. In addition, they share 34 healthy recipes and tips on staying active and exercising, detoxifying your house and environment, and taking supplements to help prevent relapse.

With more than three decades of post-cancer-care experience, Drs. Lemole, Mehta, and McKee break down the science into palatable, practical takeaways so that you can drastically improve your quality of life and enjoy many years of cancer-free serenity.

Leseprobe
CHAPTER ONE

WHAT NOW?

YOU'VE JUST FINISHED TREATMENT FOR CANCER, AND YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT you are cancer-free. After months or years of treatment--including major surgery and rounds of nauseating chemotherapy and scarring radiation-- you've achieved your goal. You can go back to your old life as though none of this ever happened! Or can you?

When you go through treatment for cancer, there is a clear end goal: remission and beating your disease. But when the day comes that your oncologist bids you adieu, with just an appointment card for a 3- or 6- month follow-up appointment, that farewell can feel . . . anticlimactic. He's done what he can for you, and your cancer is in remission. You are essentially healthy again. Oh, you'll be coming back to see him once in a while for a checkup, but you can finally pick up your normal life and move on. This is a joyful moment!

But once the initial relief wears off, many patients find that instead of feeling ecstatic, they feel uncertain, frightened, and out of control. They've heard so many stories of recurrence, and they've heard the prognosis after recurrence can be dire. Instead of providing an action plan to fend off the threat of a relapse, few oncologists offer anything in the way of advice or care following the end of treatment. After fighting for your life with a team of experts, you are on your own with no compass to guide you.

For some patients, the time following their treatment for cancer can be more emotionally fraught than the time during treatment itself. During treatment, they are focused on getting better, and they have a team of passionate professionals working toward that goal. Co-workers rally around them, and friends and family show up with casseroles and offer rides. Everything is focused on killing the cancer.

When treatment is over, the team of professionals disappears. The need for rides and casseroles also disappears. Physically, you feel much better, and it's high time you got back to your life. But getting "back to your life" isn't always possible or even desirable; you've been through a life- changing experience. The fact is, the end of treatment may not mean going back to your old life at all. You aren't out of the woods yet and still have those follow-ups to contend with.

THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES

For many people, the stress they feel about their future health is debilitating. At least during cancer treatment, they were fighting it. Of course, it's natural to worry about the future. But excessive worry and anxiety about possible hazards in our path can prevent us from living life to its fullest.

There is an ancient story, told by the Roman orator Cicero, about a man named Damocles. Damocles was envious of the power and possessions of his ruler, Dionysius, whom he served at court. Dionysus was well aware of Damocles's jealousy. He shrewdly proposed that they switch places, to allow Damocles a firsthand taste of the fabulous benefits of royalty. Damocles greedily accepted the invitation. He was es…