After the Diagnosis


Book Description

A heartfelt lesson on the art of living well through serious illness. Dr. Julian Seifter understands the difficulty of managing a chronic condition in our health-obsessed world. When he found out he was suffering from diabetes, he was an ambitious medical resident who thought he could run away from his diagnosis. Good health was part of his self-image, and acknowledging that he needed treatment seemed like a kind of failure. In his practice, however, as he helped his patients come to terms with serious conditions, he began to understand that there were different, better ways to approach a life-altering diagnosis. In this frank account of his experiences both as a doctor and as a patient, he shares the many lessons he has learned.--From publisher description.




Life after the Diagnosis


Book Description

A renowned expert in palliative care, who is featured in the Netflix documentary, End Game, Dr. Pantilat delivers a compassionate and sensitive guide to living well with serious illness. In Life After the Diagnosis, Dr. Steven Z. Pantilat, a renowned international expert in palliative care demystifies the medical system for patients and their families. He makes sense of what doctors say, what they actually mean, and how to get the best information to help make the best medical decisions. Dr. Pantilat covers everything from the first steps after the diagnosis and finding the right caregiving and support, to planning your future so your loved ones don't have to. He offers advice on how to tackle the most difficult treatment decisions and discussions and shows readers how to choose treatments that help more than they hurt, stay consistent with their values and personal goals, and live as well as possible for as long as possible.




After the Diagnosis...


Book Description

Regardless of our age or status, any one of us could be faced with a diagnosis - it might be a curable sickness or a chronic disease, a serious condition or a terminal illness. In the 21st century, dying is, more often than not, an elongated process that may stretch out for many years. And since all of us will, eventually, die, the question is, how do we live well while dying? How can we avoid being bullied by the obsessive inner voices of anxiety and fear that leave us self-absorbed and disconnected from the very life we hope to save? In this book, we'll share a rare slice of heaven that can be grasped on this side of the grave, at any point along the path of living and dying. A place beyond acceptance. A place of transformation in which we can realize, in the fullest, purest way, what our life's purpose has been, and what an amazing gift we can entrust to those we'll leave behind. We can learn to embrace mystery, to understand that our suffering can be transformative. Our legacy can become one of love - pure, powerful, and eternal. It's never too early to embark on this work of living and loving that begins and ends with God. Healing work that deepens faith and enriches relationships, inspires open, honest, and loving conversations, and frees us from the burdens of our ego selves. As inspirational as it is practical, this book is intended for patients and caregivers, friends and family - anyone struggling to live life wholly and joyfully during the challenges of sickness, dying, and death.




Every Patient Tells a Story


Book Description

A riveting exploration of the most difficult and important part of what doctors do, by Yale School of Medicine physician Dr. Lisa Sanders, author of the monthly New York Times Magazine column "Diagnosis," the inspiration for the hit Fox TV series House, M.D. "The experience of being ill can be like waking up in a foreign country. Life, as you formerly knew it, is on hold while you travel through this other world as unknown as it is unexpected. When I see patients in the hospital or in my office who are suddenly, surprisingly ill, what they really want to know is, ‘What is wrong with me?’ They want a road map that will help them manage their new surroundings. The ability to give this unnerving and unfamiliar place a name, to know it—on some level—restores a measure of control, independent of whether or not that diagnosis comes attached to a cure. Because, even today, a diagnosis is frequently all a good doctor has to offer." A healthy young man suddenly loses his memory—making him unable to remember the events of each passing hour. Two patients diagnosed with Lyme disease improve after antibiotic treatment—only to have their symptoms mysteriously return. A young woman lies dying in the ICU—bleeding, jaundiced, incoherent—and none of her doctors know what is killing her. In Every Patient Tells a Story, Dr. Lisa Sanders takes us bedside to witness the process of solving these and other diagnostic dilemmas, providing a firsthand account of the expertise and intuition that lead a doctor to make the right diagnosis. Never in human history have doctors had the knowledge, the tools, and the skills that they have today to diagnose illness and disease. And yet mistakes are made, diagnoses missed, symptoms or tests misunderstood. In this high-tech world of modern medicine, Sanders shows us that knowledge, while essential, is not sufficient to unravel the complexities of illness. She presents an unflinching look inside the detective story that marks nearly every illness—the diagnosis—revealing the combination of uncertainty and intrigue that doctors face when confronting patients who are sick or dying. Through dramatic stories of patients with baffling symptoms, Sanders portrays the absolute necessity and surprising difficulties of getting the patient’s story, the challenges of the physical exam, the pitfalls of doctor-to-doctor communication, the vagaries of tests, and the near calamity of diagnostic errors. In Every Patient Tells a Story, Dr. Sanders chronicles the real-life drama of doctors solving these difficult medical mysteries that not only illustrate the art and science of diagnosis, but often save the patients’ lives.




The God Diagnosis


Book Description

"The God Diagnosis" is the unique journey of a successful surgeon who finds the fulfillment of all his life dreams empty, lonely, and depressing. Embarking on a quest for truth and the answers to life's basic questions, Dr. Viehman finds himself at the epicenter of the most mind blowing diagnosis of his life. In a riveting journey through investigation, testing, and personal struggles Dr. Viehman recounts his journey from death to life in a way that will resonate with anyone seeking the facts and examining the evidence for themselves. Dr. Viehman uses his medical mind to come at these issues in a profound way that is striking, refreshing and fascinating. He is vulnerable, transparent and has the utmost integrity as he sorts out fact from fantasy. This new author is exciting, enjoyable to read and intriguing in his unique approach to this topic. I believe we will hear much more from him and it will shake up many long held beliefs about Christ, Christians and the Church. --- Big Mac Publishers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Viehman was born and raised in Wilmington, DE. He attended and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Delaware. He attended medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania graduating number one in his class. He completed an Internship in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and a dermatology residency at Duke University Medical Center, where he was chief resident. Dr. Viehman completed his fellowship in skin cancer surgery also at Duke. Dr. Viehman co-founded the Cary Skin Center in Cary, North Carolina, and worked there 1998-2008. He is now in solo private practice at Sea Coast Skin Surgery in Wilmington, NC. Dr. Viehman has lectured nationally on dermatologic surgery and authored several published scientific research articles. He has multiple interests, including, running, cross-fit training, and missionary work for orphans in Ukraine with New Life Ministries, and collecting rare Bibles. Dr. Viehman's family includes his wife Ruth, two sons, Brendan and Cameron, a daughter, Hannah and a border collie named Pepper.




Diagnosis


Book Description

The announcement of a serious diagnosis is a solemn moment when directions shift, priorities change, and life appears in sharper focus. It is also a moment when a story takes shape. It is a story we are able to imagine, even if we haven't experienced it firsthand, because the moment of diagnosis is as pervasive in popular media as it is in medicine. Diagnosis: Truths and Tales shares stories told from the perspectives of those who receive diagnoses and those who deliver them. Confronting how we address illness in our personal lives and in popular culture, this compelling book explores narratives of diagnosis while pondering the impact they have on how we experience health and disease.




Live Your Life, Not Your Diagnosis


Book Description

An inspiring and empowering guide to changing your mindset, feeling better, and living a full life after receiving a troubling diagnosis. Discussing everything from diet and exercise to stress and emotion management, Live Your Life, Not Your Diagnosis provides tools readers can use immediately to help them feel better while living with a diagnosis. Written by a master certified mindset coach who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000, readers won’t find negative, scary stories about how a diagnosis will hurt them. Instead, they will find stories of bravery, wellness, support, and detailed steps on how they too can live their life—not their diagnosis. Praise for Live Your Life, Not Your Diagnosis “Powerful and empowering. Hanson shares a fresh, brand new, systemic guide to reframing one’s perspective and living with a difficult diagnosis.” —Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, Founder and Chief Director, Center for BrainHealth, distinguished University Professor, author of Make Your Brain Smarter “A spectacular book. . . . The lessons [Andrea] teaches and the exercises she provides will help anyone who is struggling with any type of medical diagnosis or challenge.” —Brooke Castillo, Master Certified Coach and Founder of The Life Coach School “A true guide on how to listen to our bodies, connect to them, nurture ourselves, and understand the power of our mindset. . . . A must-read for anyone diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Love it!” —Katherine Treadway, LCSW, MSCIR, CRND




Diagnosis: Schizophrenia


Book Description

In this book, thirty-five young, recently diagnosed patients speak about schizophrenia and the process of recovery, while two specialists illuminate the medical science, psychoeducation, and therapeutic needs of those coping with the illness, as well as access to medical benefits and community resources. A remarkably inclusive guide, the volume informs patients, families, friends, and professionals, detailing the possible causes of schizophrenia, medications and side effects, the functioning of the brain, and the value of rehabilitation and other services. In their dialogues, participants confront shame, stigma, substance use, and relapse issues and the necessity of healthy eating, safe sex practices, and coping skills during recovery. Clinicians elaborate on the symptoms of schizophrenia, such as violent and suicidal thoughts, delusions, hallucinations, memory and concentration problems, trouble getting motivated or organized, and anxiety and mood disorders. Adopting an uplifting tone of manageability, the participants, authors, and clinicians of this volume offer more than advice--they prescribe hope.




Sex and Cancer


Book Description

An intimate partnership has physical and psychological components, both of which often take a hit when cancer enters the union. The prospect, and then the process, of treatments tend to alter the way the two people relate to each other. When the diagnosis is one of gynecologic or reproductive cancer for a woman, questions of sexual intimacy and function often color relationships, confuse partners, and raise concerns that other cancers might not. With an estimated 83,000 women a year added to the roles of those battling gynecologic cancers and 300,000 women a year added to roles of those battling breast cancer, Sex and Cancer focuses on surviving and thriving—more than 70 percent of women with gynecologic cancers now survive!—and helps readers mitigate outcomes and overcome challenges of sexual dysfunction after a cancer diagnosis; reassess the priorities in an intimate relationship to support the patient’s struggle, healing, and libido; and learn to interact with the professionals tasked with saving lives and enhancing those areas affected by cancer diagnosis and treatment. Sex and Cancer features stories that illuminate insights about the impact of gynecologic and reproductive cancers on relationships. The stories give life to guidance that’s critical in shaping the effect that gynecologic cancer has on intimate relationships. And readers will find insight, comfort, and suggestions for addresses the questions about intimacy and sexual function that are often left unexpressed.




The Final Diagnosis


Book Description

The #1 New York Times–bestselling author’s classic novel of life and death drama inside a major American hospital—“easy to read and hard to stop reading” (Kirkus Reviews). Change is in the air when a new board chairman sets out to modernize and expand Three Counties Hospital in Burlington, Pennsylvania—a once venerable institution whose standards have slipped. Dynamic Dr. Kent O’Donnell, a Harvard Medical School–trained surgeon, accepts the board’s offer to lead and reform the rundown, disorganized hospital because he wants to make his mark on the world. As medical-board president, O’Donnell faces his greatest challenge in Dr. Joe Pearson, Three Counties’ elderly head pathologist. Once an excellent diagnostician, Pearson is now out of touch with the latest research and procedures in laboratory medicine. But if the hospital lets the imperious doctor go, it risks losing an important benefactor’s financial support. Arthur Hailey’s fascinating, dramatic, and scrupulously researched story reveals both the professional, personal, and romantic aspects of an administrator-surgeon’s life, as well as the tragedies and moments of joy that occur every day in a hospital—a place where life often begins and ends.




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