Children With Cancer A Comprehensive Reference Guide for Parents

by Munn Bracken, Jeanne

• ISBN13: 9780195147391
• ISBN10: 0195147391
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Written by a reference librarian whose child has survived cancer, this book pulls together a wealth of up-to-date information essential for any layman who wants to help a child or family through this ordeal--including grandparents and other relatives, friends, neighbors, teachers, andclergymen. Doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals will also find the book a valuable resource. Children can and do survive cancer; the last decade has seen enormous strides in treatment. Children With Cancer will help patients and their families to be educated consumers--to search outthe best care available as well as to live each day under care to the fullest. The information ranges from sophisticated, hard-to-find medical facts to practical tips on how to handle side effects, deal with curious strangers, and much more. The author describes in detail the types of childhoodcancer--how they affect the child, what treatments are available, how to cope with the changes this diagnosis will bring to the entire family, and where to go for help, both emotional and medical. The tone is encouraging yet honest about the problems that must be faced--not only from the diseasesbut from the treatments too, conventional as well as experimental. An appendix explains common medical tests and a glossary defines terms. The book includes comprehensive lists of organizations, clinics, and cancer centers, complete with names and addresses, and numerous bibliographies on specificsubjects. About the Author: Jeanne Munn Bracken is a librarian, reporter, and free-lance writer. A long-needed resource for parents of afflicted children BLFilled with practical tips and hard-to-find information BLHonest yet reassuring BLIncludes comprehensive listings of cancer centers, clinics,organizations, and suggestions for further information.

Author Biography

Jeanne Munn Bracken is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, with a major in German Language and Literature and a minor in Speech and Drama. She also graduated from Simmons College with a Master of Science in Library Science. She worked at the UNH Dimond Library, at the Boston University School of Medicine Library, at the Research Library at Arthur D. Little, Inc., and at the Acton Memorial Library. She currently is Reference Librarian at the Lincoln (MA) Public Library.

Table of Contents

What We're Up Against: The Disease
Introduction	p. 5
Genetics of Childhood Cancer	p. 23
Leukemia	p. 27
Lymphoma	p. 41
Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma	p. 49
Neuroblastoma	p. 57
Wilms Tumor	p. 65
Bone Cancers	p. 73
Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors	p. 85
Retinoblastoma	p. 101
Soft Tissue Sarcomas	p. 111
Germ Cell Tumors	p. 119
Testicular Cancer	p. 125
Rare Cancers of Childhood	p. 129
What we can do about Childhood Cancer: The Treatments
Introduction to Childhood Cancer Therapy	p. 143
Surgery	p. 159
Radiation	p. 175
Chemotherapy	p. 191
Bone Marrow and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplants	p. 227
New and Experimental Treatments	p. 241
Alternative and Complementary Treatments	p. 251
Supporting the Child Through Therapy	p. 263
How to Cope
Emotional Aspects of Childhood Cancer	p. 285
Siblings, Other Family, and Friends	p. 303
Handling Medical Problems at Home	p. 313
Money Matters	p. 329
The Patient at the Clinic and in the Hospital	p. 337
Rights and Responsibilities	p. 359
The Patient at School	p. 367
The Adolescent Cancer Patient	p. 375
The Survivors	p. 385
Death	p. 395
Using the Internet	p. 409
Appendices
Clinics and Local Organizations in the United States and Canada	p. 419
Organizations in the United States and Canada	p. 469
Organizations and Clinics Outside the United States	p. 485
Medical Tests	p. 505
Bibliography	p. 521
Glossary	p. 549
Index	p. 561
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.