Living with Cancer: The Ultimate Teen Guide

by Denise Thornton

Overview

Cancer hits hard at any age, but it is especially challenging for teens who must battle their disease while negotiating the tricky terrain of adolescence. This book explores the range of challenges cancer places on both teens who have cancer and teens who have friends or family members with cancer. Denise Thornton follows cancer's devastating path through a teen's life from diagnosis to treatment and survivorship, with special attention to how cancer can affect relations with friends and family, and its impact on school life.

Living with Cancer explores the toll cancer can take on self image and looks at how teens facing cancer have found a sense of balance and control. Each chapter takes advantage of expert knowledge and new information that is continually coming to light, but the bulk of the book is made up of narratives shared by teens whose lives have been changed by cancer. This book will prove immensely useful for teens who are facing cancer, as well as friends and family members who want to understand and support them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810872783
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/18/2011
Series:	It Happened to Me Series , #30
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	190
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Denise Thornton is the author of Physical Disabilities: The Ultimate Teen Guide (Scarecrow Press, 2007).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

1 You Have Cancer 1

2 Fighting the Good Fight 15

3 The Family Room 37

4 Friends for Life 57

5 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall 69

6 Camp and Other Comforts 89

7 Cancer and Your Classroom 101

8 Fighting Cancer as a Volunteer 119

9 Am I a Survivor Yet? 135

Teen Roll Call 155

Glossary 165

Index 171

About the Author 175

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up—Written primarily for teens surviving cancer, this guide is chock-full of advice, tips, and firsthand accounts. The views of teens with a sibling or a parent battling the disease are also presented. Honest and heart-wrenching, this title doesn't shy away from the brutal realities of the disease. Chapters are broadly organized, focusing on topics that include the initial diagnosis, treatment, family, friends, self-image, and school, among others. One chapter of particular interest is about camps that offer medical and emotional support. Source notes and additional resources at the end of each chapter are extensive. Sidebars highlight topics such as celebrity battles with cancer, books and movies featuring characters with the disease, or more scientific information, such as the fact that the first bone marrow transplant was done on a teen. With a few exceptions, the material is current and relevant, and the many black-and-white photos are dynamic and well chosen. Read cover-to-cover, the personal anecdotes become overwhelming at times; taken in smaller chunks, this is a valuable resource, reminding those affected that they are not alone. This title provides a nice complement to Cancer Information for Teens: Health Tips About Cancer Awareness, Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment (Omnigraphics, 2009), which offers more in-depth medical information while Living with Cancer better addresses the emotional needs particular to teens.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY

School Library Journal

Captures poignantly the emotions of young people dealing with their recurrent cancers.

New York Journal of Books

At the heart of the book are the experiences of young cancer survivors and families, who reveal their pains both emotional and physical, their coping strategies, their fears and hopes - and their determination and courage....This accessible book offers valuable, often lifesaving insights and information to both adults and youth.

Youth Today

Each year, 72,000 teens and young adults are diagnosed with cancer, and thousands more will have a parent or sibling diagnosed. Considered the "invisible cohort" within cancer research, teens living with cancer have unique needs that are not always met. This thirtieth volume in the It Happened to Me series examines the needs and experiences of teen cancer survivors in their own words, along with some general information and support recommendations. Thornton, whose brother died of leukemia, clearly cares deeply about her subject and the teens who tell their stories....Teens needing comfort during a difficult time may find it in this volume.

VOYA

Captures poignantly the emotions of young people dealing with their recurrent cancers.

New York Journal Of Books