The Human Side of Cancer: Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty

by Jimmie C. Holland, Sheldon Lewis

In The Human Side of Cancer, Jimmie C. Holland, M.D., explores the broad range of emotions people with cancer and their loved ones experience from the moment of diagnosis through the treatment and its aftermath. For more than twenty years, Dr. Holland has pioneered the study of psychological problems of cancer patients and their families -- whom she calls "the real experts." In The Human Side of Cancer, she shares what she has learned from all of them about facing this life-threatening illness and what truly helps along the cancer journey. This book is the next best thing to sitting in Dr. Holland's office and talking with her about the uncertainty and anxiety elicited by this disease. And it is a book that inspires hope -- through stories of the simple courage of ordinary people confronting cancer. Offering the latest scientific information about the mind-body connection and cancer, Dr. Holland dispels the countless myths surrounding this controversial subject, including the notion that a person with cancer is somehow to blame for getting the disease or for not getting better. Dr. Holland disputes the current one-size-fits-all approach to coping with cancer, based on her experience that everyone has a unique way of coping, which should be respected. She also provides the latest information on "medicine that doesn't come in a bottle" counseling, support groups, meditation, and other coping strategies that can help. This book imparts Dr. Holland's message of common sense and caring. The Human Side of Cancer provides practical and compassionate guidance for dealing with

Genres: Medicine, Nonfiction, Medical, Psychology

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 2 out of 5]

May have been a revolutionary book in its day but now it simply serves a an indictment for the current medical system and the way it treats cancer patients. Unfortunately the author's more holistic view of how to support individuals with cancer is practically non-existent in most practices. The cancer act along with the pharmaceutical industry appears to have ossified practice into the continued practice of surgery, chemo (now immunotherapy too) and radiation and although the war on cancer looks like an interminable war the numerous practices which may help the cancer patient feel better remain on the fringes of conventional treatment.

And Jimmie Holland was rooted in conventional practice so her ideas, in a less entrenched medical practice, should have promoted more integrative practices.