Contents: Coping with the Emotional Impact of Cancer

Coping with the Emotional Impact of Cancer

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Coping with the Emotional Impact of Cancer


	Table of Contents
				Foreword to the First Edition
				Preface
				How to Use this Book
				Acknowledgements

	Introduction: How a Psychologist Coped with His Own Cancer
				Discovering My Cancer • Finding a Doctor • A Second, and a Third, Opinion • Facing Surgery • Waking Up During Surgery • A Return of Meaning to Life • Different Agendas • Fighting to Get Chemotherapy • Chemotherapy Begins • The Long Fight • A Turning Point • The Road Back to Health • Meeting with the “What If” Voices • Lessons Learned—Lessons to Share
	1			Coping with Your Diagnosis The Initial Shock • Deciding to See a Doctor • Preparing to See a Doctor • Do You Want to Know the Diagnosis? • How the Diagnosis is Conveyed • Know the Difference between the Diagnosis and the Prognosis • Coping with the Impact of the Diagnosis • The Stress of the Diagnosis • Changes in Self-Perception
	2			The Power of Your Beliefs Why Consider Your Beliefs? • The Meaning of the word “Cancer” • Anger at Yourself for Being Human • The Need to Make Sense of Illness and Suffering • Discovering Your Beliefs • Illusion of Control • How You Try to Explain Suffering • Review Your Reactions to the Diagnosis • New Ways of Thinking about Cancer • Five Stressful Reactions • Where Do I Go from Here?
	3			Maintaining a Fighting Spirit: What You Can Do How to Reduce Stress During a Stressful Time • Five Actions to Make More Energy Available for Healing • Expect a Surprise • Replace Negative Reactions • Nutrition: Feeding the Healthy Part of You • Nutrition Research • Race and Cancer • Too Much of a Good Thing • Expect a Positive Transformation
	4			Managing the Stress of Serious Illness Understanding Your Healthy Stress Response • The Power of Imager • Regaining Physical Control • Talking to Your Body • Regaining Cognitive Control • Five Steps to Integrating Physical and Cognitive Control • Exercise: Rate Your Stress Level
	5			Coping with Depression and Helplessness Cancer and Depression • Options for Therapy and Medication • Three Contributors to Depression • How to Cope with Depression: Four Steps
	6			Becoming an Active Patient You Are More Than Your Diagnosis • The Patient Role: Mastery or Helplessness • My Heart Attacked Me—My Cells Have Turned Against Me • Becoming an Effective Human Being • Being a Good Patient May Not Be Good for You • Who Knows What’s Best for You? • Know Your Doctor’s Assumptions • The Power of Choice
	7			You and Your Doctor—Building a Working Relationship Statement: Vulnerability and Power Join Hands How to Find a Quality Doctor and a First-Rate Hospital • Understanding the Basic Doctor-Patient Contract • Realistic Trust or Blind Faith? • Shared Responsibility, Shared Authority • Medical Training and Emotions • How to Take Charge of Your Medical Treatment • Be Prepared to Ask Questions • Take Me Seriously—Respect My Feelings • Medication • Protecting Yourself from Pessimism • The Misuse of Statistics • Resources for Treating the Whole Patient • Nutrition and Cancer Therapy • Psychosocial Support • The Team Approach • The Nurse • Recommendations
	8			Communication Skills: Staying Connected Communications within the Family • Why Communicate Your Feelings? • Expressing a New Identity • Choosing How to Communicate • Speaking the Unspeakable • What the Family Can Say • Three Barriers to Communication • Three Essential Communication Skills • Different Timetables—Different Tasks • Changes in Family Roles • The Rights of Family Members
	9			Fully Alive after Cancer—The Transformative Power of Facing a Life-Threatening Crisis The Essential Lesson • Transformation—New Potential for Cancer Patients • The Power of Living in the Present • Centering Exercise • Mourning the Loss, Releasing the Past, Accepting Your Present • Shifting Roles • Change in Relationships
	10			Coping with End of Life Issues A Change in the Patient’s Role • Preparing for Your Final Days • Deciding on Terminal Care • Hospice Care for Terminal Patients • The Family’s Dilemma • Pain Control and Symptom Relief • Enhancing the Quality of Life • The Patient’s Family • Challenge–Choice: Life’s Consequences
				Appendices A. Exercise for Recall of the Diagnosis B. Reducing Stress by Making Yourself Safe with You C. The Patient’s Bill of Rights D. Resources
				Bibliography

				Index

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