And in Health: A Guide for Couples Facing Cancer Together

by Dan Shapiro

Overview

This book offers engaging and digestible lessons for couples navigating the life change that a cancer diagnosis brings. Dan Shapiro draws on his more than twenty-five years of clinical work as a health psychologist who has researched and worked with couples facing cancer, and on his own experiences of being both the patient (having and beating Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his twenties) and the supporter/advocate (when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer) to weave together insights on facing cancer while maintaining a strong relationship. And in Health gives advice in short lessons on the main areas of concern or conflict that can come from life with cancer—from diagnosis to treatment and life post-treatment.

Topics include:


   • How to forge yourselves into a powerful team and evade common conflicts

   • Dealing with physicians and getting the best care possible, along with tips for navigating the medical world

   • Strategies for coping with the emotions that can interfere with your relationship—anger, mood swings, spouse fears, and depression

   • Distinguishing between supportive and draining people in your lives, and learning to invite and accept help

   • Opening to new types of intimacy and making peace with dependence

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834828902
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	05/14/2013
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	946,110
File size:	361 KB

About the Author

Dan Shapiro, PhD, is the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Professor of Medical Humanism and the Chair of the Department of Humanities at Penn State College of Medicine. He earned his PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Florida and went on to Harvard Medical School, where he completed his fellowship in medical crisis interventions. Shapiro is the author of Mom's Marijuana, about his personal cancer experience, and Delivering Doctor Amelia, on his psychological treatment of a physician.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 Things to Know Immediately 7

2 Navigating Your Relationship through Early Challenges 35

3 Conquering the Medicine and the Medical Team as a Team 61

4 Learn to Deal with the Emotions 83

5 Having a Great Relationship during Treatment 119

6 Work Together to Get What You Need from Outside People 149

7 Let's Talk about Sex 171

8 Closeness and Making Peace with Dependence 185

9 Navigating Our Relationship at the End of Life 199

A Few Last Words 213

Notes 215

Index 228

About the Author 234

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Shapiro is a triple threat: a psychologist who has been both a cancer patient and the spouse of a patient. He brings these perspectives to this terrifically helpful book that will assist couples as they face the challenges of serious illness. Lucid, practical, and informed by research and interviews with patients and their spouses, Shapiro provides a blueprint for managing the illness and succeeding as a couple.”—Andrew Weil, MD, author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health and Spontaneous Happiness

"A go-to manual for any couple facing a cancer diagnosis.  Dan Shapiro provides critical tools, strategies, and compassionate reassurance to help couples manage the challenges of a cancer experience as a team, and strengthen their relationship in the process. Shapiro has experienced these issues inside and out as a medical professional, cancer survivor, and caregiver, and he delivers his hard-earned wisdom in an easy, pragmatic and humorous style."—Heidi Adams, President and CEO, Critical Mass Young Adult Cancer Alliance

Editorial Reviews

Shapiro is a triple threat: a psychologist who has been both a cancer patient and the spouse of a patient. He brings these perspectives to this terrifically helpful book that will assist couples as they face the challenges of serious illness. Lucid, practical, and informed by research and interviews with patients and their spouses, Shapiro provides a blueprint for managing the illness and succeeding as a couple.”—Andrew Weil, MD, author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health and Spontaneous Happiness

"A go-to manual for any couple facing a cancer diagnosis.  Dan Shapiro provides critical tools, strategies, and compassionate reassurance to help couples manage the challenges of a cancer experience as a team, and strengthen their relationship in the process. Shapiro has experienced these issues inside and out as a medical professional, cancer survivor, and caregiver, and he delivers his hard-earned wisdom in an easy, pragmatic and humorous style."—Heidi Adams, President and CEO, Critical Mass Young Adult Cancer Alliance

From the Publisher