Product Description
This guide offers those living with leukemia the skills and resources to meet their needs for information and support. It addresses topics including: diagnosis and medical tests; finding, and successfully interacting with, a good oncologist; characteristics of the leukemias, factors in prognosis, and the various subtypes and staging systems for the disease; treatments, including watch-and-wait, chemotherapy, marrow transplantation, stem cell rescue, radiation, biological treatments, and trends in research; side effects and long-term effects of treatment, including how to cope and increase your quality of life; emotional responses to diagnosis, treatment, remission, possible recurrence, and other aspects of dealing with the condition, including stories from dozens of families living with leukemia; getting support from your family, friends, employers, and the broader community; leukemia resources - a comprehensive list that includes organizations, print, and online sites.
About the Author
Barbara B. Lackritz is a retired educator, speech/language pathologist, and four-term alderwoman and member of the Planning and Zoning Commission for the City of Town and Country, Missouri. Barb received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1959 and her master's degree from Columbia University Teacher's College in 1962. She has accumulated about 50 post-master's degree credits. A leukemia survivor and cancer patient advocate, Barb manages 30 cancer support lists for the Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR) and, with AML survivor Arthur Flatau, PhD, is webmaster of the award-winning "GrannyBarb and Art's Leukemia Links." Barb's own leukemia story is on the Web and is used by doctors at the National Cancer Institute for training new doctors. She deals daily with requests for information and support from patients who have found her web site or joined her hematological cancer lists. In addition, Barb is currently president of the American Association of University Women--Missouri (AAUW-MO) and member of the National Institutes of Health Director's Council of Public Representatives. She sits on the Board of Directors of ACOR and of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) Foundation.
