Liver-Cancer Books

As a two time cancer survivor, I wish I had found this book 10 years ago and I might not have had to go through all I have. The author is a wonderful physician and writes in a manner that is clear and understandable. The material is so important for anyone to maintain a high antioxidant status for overall health. Thank you, Dr. Berkson.

Everyone in America needs to read this book!! Anyone in America that has a liver problem, from Hepatitis C to liver cancer can get get better from taking this product. We have been to Dr. Berkson's office, and he is a marvelous Dr.!! You should have some kind of review to let people know about this book.

If you've heard of alpha-lipoic acid and its being extremely helpful in treating diabetes, liver illnesses, mercury intoxications, or as an anti-oxidant, you may want to know more about it before taking it. This book, by Burt Berkson (MD, PhD) is an excellent answer to your worries. Berkson describes how he got to be interested by alpha-lipoic acid, it's safety record ("FDA"-approved in Germany for 50 years), it's uses, and, perhaps most interesting, his views on medicine.

Not only does Dr. Berkson come across as a very competent and compassionate physician, especially in regards to lipoic acid, on which he is America's leading expert, he is also an outspoken critic of what he correctly sees as problems in modern American medicine. In the first chapter, he describes how he almost ended his career when he saved the life of a dying patient against the wishes of his boss, and how he would do it again. No insurance policy and few doctor's visits can provide the benefits of his invaluable candor, which serves to immunize his readers with a large and healthy level of cynicism about medicine as it is practiced in the United States today.

One thing that this book does not contain is advice on what dosage of lipoic acid to ingest. This may be a sign of great wisdom; in Germany, where Dr. Berkson worked at the Max Planck Institute, and where lipoic acid has been on the market for decades, neurologists who exclude a potential heavy metal poisoning in their patients are not regarded with the sort of wonderment that mermaids and unicorns otherwise garner. Those with a heavy metal problem can suffer some extremely unwelcome and perhaps permanent side-effects if they take the sort of dosages that others easily tolerate. By not giving any advice on this subject, Dr. Berkson certainly isn't giving any bad advice on this subject.

I heartily recommend this book.

Dr. Berkson has put his research and findings into terms that all can
understand. I had hepititis and recovered, but suffered from minor
liver malfunctions which triggered constipation and poor digestion of
fats. Merely the addition of Alpha Lipoic Acid has helped restore my
liver function and aleviated my problems. I've gained much usable
information from his book about preventing heart disease, a family
problem....I am thankful that I have finally found a supplement that
has helped me with those continuing liver related problems.

If only the author had used twenty pages to say what he has said in whole, long, 155 page book. It is too laborious to get essential facts- like optimum dosage for example is nowhere to be found easily, if at all. He knows his stuff, but must it take so long and why no summary page? Also it is a one size fits all- how do people survive all the diseases he outlines without this potion?

This is by far the best and most thorough book ever written (along with it companion texts) on Qigong and Qigong Therapy. This is a must have for any library thats includes Chinese medicine, Qigong or mysticism. There is a lifetime of information contained in these texts.

This is by far the best and most thorough book ever written (along with it companion texts) on Qigong and Qigong Therapy. This is a must have for any library thats includes Chinese medicine, Qigong or mysticism. There is a lifetime of information contained in these texts.

This is by far the best and most thorough book ever written (along with it companion texts) on Qigong and Qigong Therapy. This is a must have for any library thats includes Chinese medicine, Qigong or mysticism. There is a lifetime of information contained in these texts.

This is by far the best and most thorough book ever written (along with it companion texts) on Qigong and Qigong Therapy. This is a must have for any library thats includes Chinese medicine, Qigong or mysticism. There is a lifetime of information contained in these texts.

This is by far the best and most thorough book ever written (along with it companion texts) on Qigong and Qigong Therapy. This is a must have for any library thats includes Chinese medicine, Qigong or mysticism. There is a lifetime of information contained in these texts.

I cannot overstate how helpful this book was to me. My daughter was diagnosed with Wilms (kidney) cancer 14 months ago. This book was given to me several days after her initial diagnosis and I turned to it many, many times over the long journey to recovery. Even today, with my daughter happily in remission, I turn to it for help in dealing with late side effects and the emotional consequences of the rollercoaster that is childhood cancer. Of all the books I have read over the past 14 months (and there have been many - I'm an avid reader), this one was absolutely the best. If I could, I would buy up all the copies and give it to every parent of a child with a solid tumor.

I am a Pediatric Oncology Nurse that buys these books to give to the newly diagnosised families. All of them have told me that it is a wonderful tool.

If you have found yourself catapulted into the nightmare of having a child with cancer, this book will help you to understand much of the journey to come. No matter what stage your child is in treatment...beginning, middle, finished treatment, relapsed, or palliative...this book is an indispensible resource. Personal stories peppered throughout the book help you come to realize that you are not alone in this battle. This book also has a wonderful list of resources to help families through this hard time. Buy one for yourself, family members (especially in-laws!), your child's pediatrician, your child's teacher, and your closest friends so they can have a glimpse into what you and your child are facing and can help you along the way. This book should be given to EVERY parent when they hear those horrible words, "Your child has cancer..."

This book was recommended to me after my daughter was diagnosed with nueroblastoma. It explains it all. The book is broken down by topic (ie radiation and chemotherepy) and also by tumor.
The language used was easy to understand. The book was my map through the world of childhood cancer.

Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation fully endorses this book and places it on the 'must have resource list' for any parent whose child is diagnosed with any type of solid tumor cancer. This comprehensive guide provides extensive information on the diagnosis, prognosis, procedures, treatment and side effects of neuroblastoma, Wilms Tumor, retinoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and bone sarcomas. Included is a thorough explanation of the various chemotherapy drugs used in treatment and their common side effects. Detailed information on radiation therapy, surgery and bone marrow transplantation is also included. Additionally, the book provides practical advice to families on related issues such as nutrition, returning to school and the end of treatment. The book addresses the emotional impact that such a cancer diagnosis places upon the child, their family and friends and offers practical insight on how to cope. A comprehensive list of childhood cancer websites, support organizations and additional reading materials is listed at the back of the book. The authors'extensive interviewing of families who have 'walked down this road' offers hope to those whose 'journey' has just begun.

Tired of hearing that healing is a step-by-step process? Coping with daily challenges that threaten to overwhelm? Janalee Card Chmel offers you a gift in this honest, heartfelt work of art. GRANT ME SERENITY comforts in a singular, welcoming way: not by glossing over pain, encouraging readers to escape pain, or promising that life can be simplified and managed, but by illustrating how one strong person plowed through a series of tough experiences and, after a long and often bitter journey, comes to acknowledge how the painful loss she so resents compels her to live her life to the fullest. Janalee Card Chmel is that strong person. Her mother would be proud.

Not only is Chmel's book good for those with terminal illness and their caretakers, it was helpful for me--someone who has suffered with chronic pain and sickness. I could identify with Janalee's anger and frustration with the medical community and the unfairness of her situation. Just like Janalee, I've screamed at God and wanted to attack my bed with a rolling pin! This book gave me permission to deal with some of the feelings I've stuffed away, and revealed some other areas that I need to confront in order to heal and find "serenity". Thanks Janalee!

Janalee Card Chmel, by reaching inside herself, reaches out to all of us who have experienced a great loss. She is so open with her emotions and gifted in her ability to relate poignant moments that at times I felt like an intruder. But she chose to take us on her journey and shares it beautifully. By being so honest in her writing, she enables the reader to be honest with himself.

In addition to her writing ability, Janalee produced a book that is technically and aesthetically first-rate which book lovers will appreciate.

This book is one of the best I have ever read (and I've read thousands!). Janalee makes you really care about what is happening to her and her family, and though you know from the outset that her Mother will die, you can't help but keep hoping that a miracle will happen and she will be cured. Janalee opens up her heart to the reader, and lets you have the rare experience of sharing her pain, her hopes, and her love for her Mother. Having been given the privilege of reading Janalee's book while it was still in draft form, I couldn't wait for the finished product to come out on the market, and I was not disappointed! I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever gone through the experience of seeing a loved one through their final illness; anyone who needs help in coping with the loss of a loved one; or anyone who simply wants to read something that will warm their heart and make them feel that though life can sometimes be almost unbearably hard, we should take the time to appreciate our loved ones RIGHT NOW, and let them know it.

There is a kind of sameness to Louis Begley's protagonists. I read the Schmidt books a few years back, and while I enjoyed the stories and appreciated the craft inherent in their telling, I couldn't bring myself to really like Schmidt. The same is true of Thomas Mistler. An ultra-successful businessman in the ad game, he comes across as rather cold and ruthless in his personal life. He is mostly about being in control, and remains this way even about his dying. He will choreograph and direct his death and whatever time he has left insofar as it is possible. Begley is obviously trying to draw parallels to Mann's Death in Venice, but it doesn't quite succeed. The images are clear and stark, however, right down to the shining black vessel he purchases from a boatman in Venice, a wherry - "Squat, and shiny black like a long coffin ..."
As he did in the Schmidt books, Begley writes with knowledge and ease about the world of business, tax advantages, and legal loopholes regarding transfers of wealth; but he is equally at ease in talking of art, literature and music. An interesting and rare talent. If you enjoyed About Schmidt and Schmidt Delivered, you will probably also like Mistler's Exit. - Tim Bazzett, author of the ReedCityBoy trilogy ([...])

Exquisite novel featuring an older American businessman, quite successful, an ad man actually, who receives a diagnosis of terminal cancer and repairs to Venice solo leaving behind (and uninformed) his wife and son. On my list of Best Books Read This Year.

Thomas Mistler, a very successful (but not especially ethical) CEO, learns he has terminal cancer. To cope, he takes a solitary trip to Venice, where his goal is to explore his past and to adjust to his six-months-to-live medical status.

On the plus side, Begley shows how Mistler uses the art and locale of Venice, as well as the people he meets, to come to terms with his life and familial regrets, as well as the world of achievements and missed opportunities he will leave behind. From this perspective, the book describes an intriguing, albeit depressing, vacation. This is the story of a man tying together loose ends.

On the other hand, I read this book as a comment ONLY on the life of Thomas Mistler who, to use Tom Wolfe's term, is a master of the universe. For me, its revelations and resolutions made sense for Mistler. But universality is absent.

A good book for Louis Begley fans.

Thomas Mistler, the founder and CEO of a world-renowned, New York advertising agency, is not a very likable person. A self-indulgent WASP who enjoys the high life, he is accustomed to getting his own way both in business and in his personal life. Married to an "appropriate," pedigreed wife, with whom he has an appropropriate, conventional home life, he also pursues other women attracted to his "glitz." Suddenly, Mistler discovers that he has liver cancer, too far advanced to make treatment a viable option without interfering with the quality of his remaining days.

With remarkable sang-froid, Mistler decides not to tell his family, feigning a business trip to Europe so that he can have a week by himself in Venice to prepare for the inevitable. To his surprise, he discovers a young woman in his hotel room, a photographer he has just met at a dinner party who is attracted to him but also wants to work for his agency. With Lena he revisits many of his favorite places, and indulges in sensual pleasures, fine wines, and foods before his insensitivity drives her away.

Alone, Mistler explores his past and contemplates his relationships with his father, his father's mistress (Tante Elizabeth, whom he adores), his wife and son (who has escaped to the West Coast to become a writer), friends from school, and ultimately, "the girl who got away," a Radcliffe classmate when he was at Harvard, who is now living in Venice. Unsentimental, Mistler makes no excuses for what he gradually begins to see as his faults. While he knows he will not change, at this point, he also knows, as an advertising man, that he has the power to affect how he himself may be viewed in the future if he acts appropriately now.

The Venice setting is perfect for this book about a man contemplating death. The canals are polluted and devoid of life, and the city itself survives only through an enormous effort to hold back the sea. Resembling Hades and its series of rivers, Venice also features gondoliers in black boats who resemble Charon, the old man who ferries the dead across the River Styx to Hades, and when Mistler buys a black wherry from a boatman, all the imagery comes together. Though the main character may not be someone with whom the reader will identify, his behavior and actions are consistent with his personality. Author Begley conveys Mistler's formality and his inner feelings in elegant language, completely appropriate for Mistler, and his insights into life's big questions are thoughtful. Mary Whipple

I enjoy reading Louis Begley, but I do get a bit tired of his all conquering male sex gods. Why do women fall for these over-the-hill guys? Don't know.

The writing is excellent and insightful, however, so well worth reading. If only I understood the last sentence I might know if Mistler's Exit was to be a good one or not.

I bought this book for my Mom who had been diagnosed with live cancer. What the doctors were not telling her, this book does. It is a good book for the basic education about liver cancer and was helpful for her as she sought to learn about her disease.

agood book, i could learn alot of informations out of this book, thak you ...dear writer.

When a former co-worker got liver cancer, I bought this book for several reasons, one of which was a search for the best treatments - or, more simply put, for hope. If that is what you are looking for, and nothing else, then skip this book. If, on the other hand, you want essential background to the disease, and can use this background to help negotiate the complex considerations of new chemotherapeutic agents, then this book is recommended.

This field is changing rapidly. Not rapidly enough as it turns out, but it seems only a matter of time before a cluster of genetic insights converge and treating such cancers becomes a practical reality. To the researchers doing such work, Godspeed.