Previvors
Facing the Breast Cancer Gene and Making Life-Changing Decisions
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- 125,00 kr
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- 125,00 kr
Utgivarens beskrivning
The first guide to all surgical and nonsurgical options for women with a high risk for breast cancer.
Advances in genetic testing and risk assessment have changed the face of medicine, but with them has come a Pandora's box of dilemmas. Imagine discovering you had a significant risk for developing breast cancer. What would you do?
Through the incredible true stories of five young friends, as well as interviews with more than seventy top breast cancer experts, health writer Dina Roth Port addresses the universal questions of women everywhere who have watched family members suffer from the disease and wondered, "Am I next?" Full of practical information, Previvors is the first comprehensive book to guide women through the difficult process of determining their risk, weighing the options, and coping with the emotions of deciding to undergo surgery. Readers will learn:
•The pros and cons of getting tested for the BRCA gene
•How to decide between surgical or nonsurgical options
•The latest research in breast cancer surveillance
•The advanced new world of breast reconstruction
•How to overcome body image and sex issues post-surgery, and more
From navigating health insurance coverage to finding the right medical team, Previvors is an invaluable resource for women facing decisions about their risk and future health.
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Health writer and former Parenting staffer Port provides invaluable information in her excellent reference for "previvors"--people with a predisposition to develop breast cancer. Using the stories of five women who made the gut-wrenching decision to have prophylactic mastectomies (one, at high risk of ovarian cancer, also opted for removal of her ovaries), Port provides a step-by-step guide to the factors affecting one's cancer risk, including the breast cancer genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2; weighing the options for dealing with that risk--scans, "chemoprevention" (e.g., with tamoxifen), surgery; calculating the cost of treatments; and confronting the physical and psychological conditions each alternative might bring. The choice, Roth argues, is personal. And that's where Lisa, Mayde, Amy, Rori, and Suzanne whose mothers battled breast cancer (here died)--offer roadmaps for "previvors." This book, they say, is the one they wish they and their mothers could have had.
