Living with Colon Cancer: Beating the Odds
by Eliza Wood Livingston
Summary
In this helpful and inspiring book, Eliza Wood Livingston provides a wealth of practical information about colon cancer while telling of her own heroic battle against this challenging disease and her survival after a bleak diagnosis. At every stage of her long journey from initial diagnosis to recovery, she describes to readers what they can expect, urges them to be their own advocates and to ask the right questions of healthcare professionals, and effectively conveys the comforting message that they need never feel alone. This accessible, fact-filled book is essential for anyone confronting this disease.
Excerpt
In the last decade, as women have raised public awareness of breat cancer, it is being discussed more openly than ever before. That discussion and dissemination of information has been the genesis of cancer support communities, especially among women. This attention and insistence of blunt disclosure of the epidemiology, morbidity, and mortality rates of breast cancer has undoubtedly been responsible, in some measure, for the dramatic increase in funding for research ad the release of new chemotherapies.
In contrast, colon cancer still remains a disease of secrecy and shame. Colorectal cancer is the third most common malignancy in the world, and second only to lung cancer, causing more deaths than any other. American Cancer Society statistics reveal that in 2004, there were 146,940 new cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed in the United States, and 19,200 Canadians were diagnosed with colorectal cancers. In both countries, colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of death from cancers, killing more people than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
When a woman learns that she has breast cancer, she is unfailingly welcomed into a sisterhood....When a person learns that he or she has colon cancer, neither the support nor the networks of information that might mitigate and soften the impact of the disease are forthcoming. Many people remain in hiding with their disease, and adequate literature geared to the lay public is not easily available. An exception is Mark Pochapin’s informative and useful 2004 book, What Your Doctor May Not tTell You about Colorectal Cancer.
In obituaries, the deceased is often listed as having died from complications of breast cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, or brain cancer. It is only in the last few years, especially since Katie Couric’s courageous crusade to expose colon cancers to public scrutiny, that the deceased might be listed as having died of colon cancer. Has it become more acceptable to die from a disease suffered by a young, strong, good-looking man such as Ms. Couric’s late husband? What are the cultural values that consign mention of this disease to hushed conversations in hallways?....
When the subject of colon cancer comes out of the darkness and into the light, people struggling with the disease will be relieved of the added burden of shame and secrecy. And those not afflicted will feel more comfortable asking their doctors for referrals to get appropriate screening tests before symptoms arise. I wrote this book in the hope that it will be helpful to those living with cancer, especially colon cancer, and to their family, friends, and care providers.
Reviews
"The author�s own battle against colon cancer....Insights on what to expect and how to handle it are well done and very specific."--Midwest Book Review
"Her aim with this book is to provide practical information and emotional support;"--Library Journal
Author's Biography
Eliza Wood Livingston worked as a certified nurse midwife on the obstetrical staff at Kaiser Santa Teresa Medical Center in San Jose, California, prior to her cancer diagnosis in 1996. She and her husband are the proprietors of the Villa Marco Polo in Victoria, British Columbia.