Live Strong
Inspirational Stories from Cancer Survivors-from Diagnosis to Treatment and Beyond
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4.4 • 8 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Survivors from all walks of life talk about what “living strong” in the face of cancer means to them.
Since the now ubiquitous LIVESTRONG™ wristbands became available in May 2004, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised more than $50 million for cancer survivorship programs, and the signature phrase has become a battle cry for those who fight the disease every day.
Now, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has compiled, from hours of videotaped interviews, poignant and dramatic personal accounts from cancer survivors. Covering a wide range of subjects, from grief to spousal relationships, employment discrimination to coping with medical bills, infertility to fear of recurrence, survivors share their experiences and speak candidly about how cancer has impacted their lives. For twenty-four-year-old Amy it’s how her illness changed her relationship with her parents. Mike, a male survivor of breast cancer, talks about gender stereotypes and genetic testing. And Eric, the father of a five-year-old survivor of a brain tumor, recalls how friends and strangers helped his family with financial issues and how the experience brought him and his wife closer together.
While heartbreaking at times, these powerfully honest stories are ultimately uplifting and extremely reassuring to patients and their families. They offer the wisdom and hope that only survivors can give. LiveStrong is a remarkable testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
From the introduction by Lance Armstrong:
My work with the LAF shows me daily that sharing our stories and learning from one another’s experiences helps us cancer survivors continue to survive. Some people think the cancer experience is only about the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, as if after the disease goes into remission, it no longer exists. But survivorship goes beyond remission. Survivorship is an evolution.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The survivors whose candid accounts of their diagnosis, treatment and life after cancer are included in this engrossing collection have faced formidable adversity-not only the disease, but irresponsible care from physicians, insensitive friends and family members and long-term effects such as infertility and a difficult search for a post-cancer identity-but have managed to surmount these obstacles with bravery, indestructible will and humor. The alarming number of stories of careless doctors (one survivor's doctor even dismissed the lump in her breast as nothing to worry about, telling her, "Asian women don't get breast cancer") prompts many survivors to implore others who have been diagnosed not to be afraid "to be incredibly aggressive, stubborn, and even obnoxious at times, because there's nobody out there who cares about your life more than you do." Though some survivors have dealt with the cold reactions of friends and even spouses, they found cancer had improved their relationships with those who remained in their lives. These more meaningful relationships are just one reason why some survivors say cancer changed their lives for the better; one man reasoned he "never would have run a half-marathon at ten thousand feet in Crested Butte, Colorado" if cancer hadn't been part of his life. The formation of these accounts from interviews causes them to be jumpy, but the honest discussions of everything from side effects to survivor guilt will not only be informative to those whose lives have been affected by cancer, but inspirational to anyone who reads these astonishing displays of bravery.
Customer Reviews
Best book ever!!!
This is the only book I would want to read, after reading page 11 it made me want to read more, but I can't bye the book only sample it's to much for me.