Intraocular-Melanoma Books

Quick delivery and I loved the book. It was so much better then I
expected. Would recommend it.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Had never heard of the author until I saw him on the Glenn Beck TV program. I liked the testimony he had, so I decided to read this book, along with "The Gift" and "The Christmas Box". They were all well written and enjoyable to read.

Reading Finding Noel is truly a gift. The stories give one a sense of pleasure as well as serenity. This is the tenth book of Richard Paul Evan's literature that I have read. I look forward to reading The Gift next. My husband used to give me Evan's new book each year for Christmas. After his death, I sort of forgot about getting one as a gift. Recently, I went and purchased Finding Noel and The Gift to add to my collection. The covers are exquisite and the paper with the ragged edge makes it a reminder of past days. These books would make a wonderful gift for a birthday, Hannukkah or for Christmas or even for no reason at all. I highly recommend them.

The irony of fictional writing is that it works best when it comes from a real place. According to author Richard Paul Evans, the background story of his novel "Finding Noel," is drawn from the real-life story of Celeste Edmunds, a woman with whom he used to work.

As with his previous books, this is a personal work for Evans; he uses family names, origins, religion, illness and little slice-of-life things like recipes, traditions and tips to give a homey feel to his characters and story.

"Finding Noel" is also the first book of fiction that features a character diagnosed with eye cancer. Through the character Joette, Evans exposes millions of readers to this rare disease - only 2,000 adults are diagnosed each year - in a way that mainstream media and the inaccessible medical literature have not. For that alone, Evans and his fictional work are the real deal.

I came across this book after doing a search on choriadal melanoma. My dad was diagnosed 5 days before Christmas. I am happy to say he was treated with Radioactive Plaque Therapy in NYC just this past week and the doctor tells us the tumor is dead - gone!! I believe I will have to wait a while until my emotions settle a bit to read it though!

Jeanne Achterberg breaks the mold of illness memoirs and healing tracts with her searing honesty, wit, fresh prose style, insight, and sheer spiritual brazenness. What a joy to read, a powerful investigation of the sorrowful, tough, often elevating experiences of this wounded healer going deeper to try to heal herself, and the personal losses and gains that occur along the way. Bless her for being so nakedly honest in sharing the hard truths about her marriage and personal life in a way that doesn't make the reader feel like a voyeur but like a dear friend who needs to know about the intertwined tentacles of her life as she lives it, and as she tries to extend and expand it both by turning within and by reaching out. Actherberg helps us understand that illness can be a metaphor; it all depends on what metaphor we construct, what truths it holds, and what we do about it.

A respected authority on the use of guided imagery to heal, Dr. Jeanne Achterberg writes an engaging story about her harrowing and year-long journey through physical pain and spiritual darkness into wellness.

She uses her suspected diagnosis for ocular melanoma - a rare and potentially deadly cancer of the internal layer of the eye - as the literal and symbolic theme to anchor a story that is part thriller, memoir, medical mystery, self-help resource and alternative medicine advocacy.

In about 50 short, distinct chapters, Achterberg guides the reader through the impact of this catastrophic disease on relationships in her "orbit" - self, others, the alternative healing community, as well as with the mainstream medical profession.

Achterberg, as reflects her background, credits shamanic and prayerful influences with healing her eye. Unfortunately, since her diagnosis was never medically confirmed, it's not possible to establish that cause-effect relationship.

This lack of perspective reduces her compelling story to a largely anecdotal account. The promise of alternative healing to transform people's lives has not been realized on a broad scale due to the lack of cross collaboration between the alternative and scientific communities. Achterberg was uniquely positioned to bridge the alternative/mainstream divide. Instead, a story of triumph uncomfortably comes across as an "us vs. them" contest

However, Lightning At the Gate is the only book out there that talks about ocular melanoma from a personal perspective. For many diagnosed with this cancer, that's the only story that really matters. For more information about this rare cancer, please check out the See A Cure Foundation website found at seeacure.com

Medical resources for the patient need to meet three criteria. They must be affordable, accessible and accurate. This so-called "official patient sourcebook" on intraocular melanoma fails all three criteria and deserves a zero rating.

Affordability: This soft-cover, less than 200-page, widely-spaced manual is overpriced. At a minimum, it should have come with a CD-ROM.

Accessibility: Means easy access. Most of the URLs exceed 100 characters. There are no eye graphics, comparison charts or images of the different types of eye cancer. Many of the references the authors cite, such as Ophthalmology and Archives of Ophthalmology are subscription-only access. The authors have largely cribbed the language of the ocular specialists without translating it into a patient's vocabulary or perspective.

Accuracy: This manual is a shockingly ignorant and inaccurate work. Their most alarming mistake is to constantly compare eye melanoma to skin melanoma. According to ocular oncology pathologist Daniel Albert, "There is a common misconception that ocular melanoma and skin melanoma are essentially the same disease. This is not the case. The two differ in their systemic symptoms, metastatic patterns, and susceptibility to treatment."

Bottom line: this is an amateur and dangerously misleading work. Intraocular melanoma, particularly the common choroidal version, is a cancer that threatens both a patient's sight and life. Skip this book and simply type "choroidal melanoma, eye cancer, eye melanoma, uveal melanoma, intraocular melanoma or ocular melanoma" into any one of the various search engines. Or check out the patient-advocacy organization of seeacure.com for affordable, accessible and accurate information.