Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #199791 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-26
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Schneider, a climate scientist at Stanford and a MacArthur fellow, brought skills rooted in the uncertainty of his own field to bear on the treatments he received for mantle cell lymphoma, a rare condition for which treatments were relatively new. With his wife, Terry, also a scientist, he learned as much as possible about the protocol he had been assigned and read up on his oncologist, a leader in this type of cancer, Dr. Sandra Horning. Schneider gives a detailed account of the painful and otherwise unpleasant side effects of the chemotherapy, radiation and bone-marrow transplant he endured in a determined effort to arrest the disease. From the beginning, the author researched probabilities and outcomes and sought to modify decisions made by his physicians. Most importantly, after some resistance, Dr. Horning agreed to use Rituxan for Schneider as maintenance therapy to prolong his remission. Although the author's scientific language can be daunting, patients will relate to his arguments for the importance of patient advocates, individualization of treatments and the negative role bottom-line accounting plays in medical judgments made by HMOs. (Oct.)
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Body+Soul December 2005
"Offer[s] up distinct and fascinating explorations of the connections between the personal, the public, and the medical."

Raleigh News & Observer, 12/18/05
"Schneider's narrative is lively and engaging...informative but personal."

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended
If you are a cancer patient, this book is a must read.

Only about 10% of doctors are open-minded enough to respond to the incredibly logical arguments that Schneider uses.

If you want the best treatment, you have to take control and you'll need a physician that will help you get the best treatment for you, rather than just give you the "standard dose that we give everyone." This book is invaluable in helping you to get the best treatment.

Too personal to be of general interest
The book describes the author's struggle with a rare form of cancer. While it may offer moral encouragement to other patients with challenging forms of cancer, it describes an experience that is not applicable to most people. The author went right away to a top oncologist who was willing to listen to him and most of his struggle was to convince her to follow non-standard procedures that the patient thought were better for him. On page 62 he writes "Challenge, question, and cajole your doctor - but never snub her!" Most ordinanry people do not start with a top specialist who is willing to listen to them and their main challenge is to get around incorrect diagnoses and, yes, to change doctors until they find one who can actually help them.

The author is quite critical about the "system" and some of his criticism is valid, but the problem many patients face is doctors who have not kept with the state of the art or who clearly think that patients are a nuissance.

The book is burdened with a lot of irrelevant stories about the author's proefessional life, he does not miss a chance to tell us what a prominent climatolist he is. If you wish to find advice on how to deal with the medical profession I would recommend How Doctors Think. It is written by a medical doctor and it contains advice of much broader applicability.

This book is a lifesaver
My husband is ill with lymphoma and leukemia, and I read everything I can get my hands on about the illnesses and the medical system. This book is the best I have read for helping you deal effectively with your own experiences and to make the best decisions about doctor, diagnoses, and treatments. The decision-making section is especially helpful, because it points to what information patients and their advocates need, in order to work with the doctors to select treatment protocols that truly fit the needs of the patient.