I've Got Cancer, What's Your Excuse?


Book Description

Call it a mid-life crisis, but you reach a point where nothing makes sense anymore. Not the goals you set yourself, the years focussed on trying to achieve them, what was let go, what was gained along the way. You look back and think, Is that it? Then you get sick. And everything changes.' This startlingly honest and often hilarious memoir from one of Ireland's best-loved comediennes is told through the lens of cancer treatment and its aftermath. From the moment when she heard but didn't necessarily absorb the shocking diagnosis, through the months that followed, Gildea describes the mixed emotion of the journey, at once swept along on its tide and struggling to grapple with its effects. Through depression, comedy, Catholicism, chemotherapy, the bog, emigration, sex, mastectomy, fear and love, I've Got Cancer, What's Your Excuse? takes a refreshingly irreverent look at life, the stuff it throws at you, and what you do with it, as it ultimately asks: 'Did cancer save me?




I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse?


Book Description

The best-sellling author of All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat describes her battle with seizures, coping with medical procedures and tests, and her brain surgery, in an illustrated memoir that explores the themes of creativity, healing, love, commitment, family, and personality.




A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemo


Book Description

This book is the opposite of a misery memoir and is certainly safe to give to cancer patients as a cheerful present. More importantly, it sheds new light on:• Why Kim Kardashian is worth Keeping Up With• What playlists to make for MRI scans• The truth behind the legend of Medea• Bikini etiquette on a deserted beach• What to do with a glut of rainbow chard• What an Oscar-winner should say in an acceptance speech• How to deal with cold-callers selling life insurance• And what to wear on a March Against Menopause (layers, obviously)




Chemo Fog


Book Description

Cancer patients have benefitted greatly from recent advances in the drugs, dose regimens, and combinations used to treat their primary tumor and for the treatment or prevention of spread of their disease. Due to the advances in chemotherapy and other aspects of prevention, early detection, and treatment modalities, an increasing percentage of patients are surviving the disease. For some types of cancer, the majority of patients live decades beyond their diagnosis. For this they are forever thankful and appreciative of the drugs that helped lead to this increased survival rate. But no drug is devoid of adverse effects. This also applies to chemotherapeutic agents. The acute cytotoxic effects of these agents are well known––indeed are often required for their therapeutic benefit. The chronic adverse effects are varied and in some cases less well known. With the increase in survival rates, there has emerged a new awareness of these chronic adverse effects.




I'd Rather Do Chemo Than Clean Out the Garage


Book Description

An inspiring and witty memoir by a woman battling cancer—with laughter. Fran Di Giacomo made it through one case of cancer at forty—then got hit with a worse case in her fifties. Tired of the somber, weepy books she kept getting from well-meaning friends, she stumbled upon a book that made her laugh out loud—and realized that was what she’d been missing. Laughter felt good—and that was how she wanted to feel. Inspired, she wrote this unique memoir, an unsentimental, sharply funny take on her experience—including her favorite techniques for shamelessly exploiting the chemo lifestyle. She reveals the way that indulging her sense of humor not only kept her sane during the hardest moments, but also allowed her to continue her successful career as an artist, even through thirteen hospitalizations, ten surgeries, and constant chemotherapy. Her book is terrifically entertaining—as her oncologist warns in the foreword, you should avoid reading it in the immediate postoperative period due to the risk of popping a suture. It can also help other cancer patients, or anyone dealing with hardship, to cultivate a zesty enthusiasm for life and empower themselves to keep fighting.




Don't say "Everything happens for a reason"


Book Description

“My friend has cancer. What can I do to best help them?” A cancer diagnosis of a friend, acquaintance, or co-worker will often leave us wondering about the most appropriate things to say to someone suffering from this dreadful disease. In general, cancer fighters much prefer aid and comfort during their agonizing treatment over being subjected to empty clichés and annoyingly dismissive “you need to stay positive” lectures. Keith Hardeman’s, "Don’t say 'Everything happens for a reason'" is an easy-to-read, how-to guide that provides constructive, no-nonsense lessons on empathy, communication, and practical help for anyone wishing to support their friends coping with cancer. "This book is for those who experience the shock of learning about a friend’s cancer diagnosis and don’t quite know what to do or say to help them. Keith Hardeman, a caregiver during his wife’s trauma with breast cancer, enlightens us with credible guidance on the dos and don’ts of supporting a friend with cancer. He offers his readers insightful, concrete advice for helping members of the cancer community along with suggestions for effective communication strategies. You want to help your cancer friend in the best way possible? Read this book!" -Dr. Barri L. Bumgarner, author of "Fifty cents for a Dr Pepper" "We all want to help a friend or acquaintance fighting cancer. To do so, effectively, it’s important to understand the perspectives of those who have already 'been there and done that.' For better or worse, being a cancer caregiver has taught Professor Hardeman many lessons about how to help cancer friends that he shares in this book. It is written with understanding, compassion, and is rich with sage advice." -Dr. Robert Cowles, Professor Emeritus, Westminster College




The Test of My Life


Book Description

‘That day I cried like a baby not because I feared what cancer would do but because I didn’t want the disease. I wanted my life to be normal, which it could not be.’ For the first time Yuvraj Singh tells the real story behind the 2011 World Cup when on-the-field triumph hid his increasingly puzzling health problems and worrying illnesses. In his debut book The test of my life, he reveals how—plagued with insomnia, coughing fits that left him vomiting blood, and an inability to eat—he made a deal with God. On the night before the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final, Yuvraj prayed for the World Cup in return for anything God wanted. In this book, he lays bare his fears, doubts, and the lows he experienced during chemotherapy—when he lost his energy, his appetite, and his hair—and his battle to find the will to survive. Poignant, personal, and moving—The test of my life—is about cancer and cricket; but more importantly, it is about the human will to fight adversity and triumph despite all odds.




Balance


Book Description

In this book, you will learn practical, real life strategies and techniques from a combination of work/life balance experts as well as everyday people, who have designed work/life balance systems that work.




In His Grip ... a Walk Through Breast Cancer


Book Description

Amy’s story is a most inspiring one to read for anyone going through life’s struggles - one that will give encouragement whatever one may be dealing with. First and foremost, this is an account of a “cancer journey;” a journal revealing an absolute faith that God is willing to walk the journey alongside of you, all the way! If you are reading this and you are someone setting out on, or already in the middle of, a similar journey, this is an important read for you! Amy’s story will certainly not hide any of the rough × but it will tell you about many positive aspects as well, and how faith is the only way to make the trip. This book is not just for cancer sufferers, but also for anyone experiencing life’s many trials, whatever they may be. Amy’s raw and emotive style tells it just like it is. You will feel the emotion; shed some tears and certainly draw many smiles. There is little more powerful than hearing this story told literally, while experiencing each and every aspect of the journey along with her. The power is in hearing God’s story, as told through Amy, and that’s just what this is. You will be encouraged that it’s okay to have roller coaster emotions, to feel anger, to experience joy, to feel spiritually low and equally high; that it’s okay to ask “why me?” Amy is one amazing lady who turned what could have been a very negative experience - focusing on feeling sorry for herself - to one that focuses on making an impact on others. For example - Amy refused to wear a wig once she lost her hair so she would not miss opportunities to testify to others who would otherwise not have approached her. Perhaps most compelling is how many people have told Amy that while they should have been supporting her in keeping a positive attitude, she was in fact being the inspiration for them. I know! I was one of those people! I pray for them every day and I know that they do the same for me. It is this, together with God, that will keep us all positive and moving forward, whatever the challenges of life that are thrown our way.