Multiple-Myeloma Books

What a fantastic book!! It's pulled together all the the facts that I have read from different resources and compliled them into one simple concise and understandable context. Believe it or not I can hardly put it down. I'm ordering 2 more for relatives.
Thank you Mr. Heller

Excellent overview for newly diagnosed, but with treatment modalities, newer diagnostics and staging criteria, I find most of the best up to date and newer info from the heme/onc or websites such as IMF (international myeloma foundation) or American Cancer Society.

"Plain English" is exactly right. I bought this book mostly to help my father understand my mother's illness. After reading it myself, I cannot describe how much this book has helped not just my dad, but my entire family. We had never even heard of Multiple Myeloma before my mother's diagnosis, so one can imagine how confused and helpless we felt. The technical medical terms with which we were being bombared at her first diagnosis left us feeling very inadequate and anxious. Mr. Heller explained the disease and answered many questions we had in plain English format. After reading this book, my dad is less confused about how to help my mother, more confident in his own ability to take care of her, and less anxious about her symptoms. Mr. Heller's wife was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma and this book is written from his (the husband's) point of view.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with the first effects of being diagnosed, or having someone you love being diagnosed, with Multiple Myeloma. It is a good starting point in explaining things you need to know in an easy-to-read way.

It's so easy to get lost in a lot of the medical stuff about myeloma, but this book helps anybody to understand it a while lot better. In addition to getting into the nature of the disease and different treatments, the writer delivers a load of great tips that none of the doctors really get into. As your life turns into hell, this book is a big help in making things a bit better in a lousy situation. The forms are pretty good although I like their download thing on the internet.

This book is like blessed rain after a drought. Someone close to me has MM and when we received the diagnosis, I frantically tried to find info on the disease of which I had never even heard. This little book should be given out by doctors to every new MM patient. It's clear, wryly humorous and positive, yet realistic voice covers everything from how one feels when finding out what's wrong with the patient to making final decisions. Do I or my loved one have 2 years or 15? What, exactly, IS Mutiple Myeloma? What can we expect, what medicines are around, what are their names and what do they do? What if I can't eat, or lose my hair? How will he deal with depression or anxiety? What changes will we have to make at home? Should family and friends be told the truth? Where is the reliable internet information on this rare and intractable disease? How does one cope? My copy is so dog-eared that it looks almost as if it came with angled corners on its pages! The author's wife is fighting for remission, as many of us are. He knows what he's talking about. Let doctors write the exacting medical tomes about this, but for practical, supremely useful advice, Heller's book is a must read.

Very simple, clear, written in laymen's language; a good place to begin the inevitable research. I was very considerate of buying only up-to-the-minute books, as medicine changes so quickly

I found this book very informative. My father was diagnosised with Multiple Myeloma and I have a somewhat better understanding about the disease. I highly reccommend it for any family member of a person with MM or the person themselves.

Just like the title says: this book, intended for those (and their caregivers) newly diagnosed with myeloma, answers 100 general questions you're likely to have when confronted with this nasty blood cancer. Co-written by an oncologist and a myeloma patient. No substitute for actual treatment, to state the obvious, but a good primer that doesn't have to be read cover to cover for the informative value it provides.

This small book represents a very tidy, concise, informative introduction to this rare disease, multiple myeloma. It is a very complicated disease process, and whether you have some basic medical knowledge or not, the reader will appreciate how easy it is to extract information and answers to questions.

Written by a physician specializing in the disease and a patient who has experienced the worst of what this disease can offer, together they deliver hope and basic knowledge so a patient, care giver or relative can make informed decisions.

I am personally inspired by the patient (and author) James W Huston. There are real and promising treatments and he quite simply embodies the term survivor. I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. A Bashey as well. I urge you to get this book as a excellent first resource to aid you and your family or friends in the fight against myeloma.

Myeloma is a very difficult and deadly sickness with no cure. Many people are misdiagnosed for years. This Handbook expands on what the IMF says in their booklet so extensively that I recommend it highly as an educational even though technical tool. Great job by Oxford Press and my only regret is that there is no simple way to update it more often. So far there were 1995 and 1998 editions, I look forward to the 2001 edition which could mean an overhaul of the themes. A few non focus subjects on the sickness could be eliminated.

With ONLY DAUGHTERS, Bob McDavid rushes headlong into the world of murder mystery mayhem. From the time Eleanor Rawlings' husband disappears, with the FBI in hot pursuit, to the surprise action-packed ending when Eleanor must confront her worst fears, the reader is on board and eager for more. A first time novelist, McDavid does an outstanding job detailing the intricacies of family relationships and the intertwining connectedness of small town life. This suspense novel is made even more compelling by the author's firsthand knowledge of the joys and the heartbreak of pregnancy and childbirth that he artfully weaves into his storyline. Be warned, you may pick up this page turner and not be able to put it down! After two weeks of reading Forsythe, Le Carre, and Connelly, I was not disappointed by ONLY DAUGHTERS.

As someone who's had cancer, I found this book particularly wonderful for a variety of reasons. Not only do I admire Gearin-Tosh's independence and courage but I applaud the fact that he actually THINKS. And he sure can write too!

For those of us who love language, Gearin-Tosh is a particular joy. How many cancer self-help books quote Chekhov and Shaw? And G-T also cites many cancer "memoirs" by folks who had conventional treatments (and died) like Liz Tilberis and John Diamond. The citations from these books are so very moving. (I was reminded of the late Gilda Radner's story many times, the suffering and the seemingly endless chemos she endured.)

I also did what G-T did when I got my diagnosis--I reached out to everyone I knew who'd had cancer (and asked my friends to find me people to talk to) to find out how they dealt with it. I was particularly interested to know if they pursued any alternative therapies and to find out which ones. I now take many "anti-cancer" supplements and follow nutritional therapies that hopefully will discourage a recurrence of cancer. So far, so good. G-T says the cancer specialist Dr. Barlogie wanrs that the most important thing is not to have "a recurrence." Amen to that but I know many folks with cancer who've had chemo and radiation and experienced recurrences. If the medical profession had all the answers, there wouldn't be such a demand for books like this!! Not only does Gearin-Tosh think, write in an accessible format that's both charming and amusing, but he's a role model in courage.

In the real world, many folks do both conventional protocols and alternative protocols for a variety of conditions including cancer. Often they don't tell their doctors because the doctors are hostile, indifferent or just plain ignorant. G-T's portraits of medical people are marvelous. In a few words, he sketches an entire person. I think this book would be very helpful for doctors too. A little humility is in order. I agree with Gearin-Tosh that medical exceptions should be studied, not dismissed as mere anomalies.

People get entrenched in positions. G-T never said he'd "never" go the chemo route. but he did say it was a last resort. He also says he'd be thrilled if the medical community came up with a real "cure." But given the death rates and horrific side effects of conventional therapies at the time he embarked on his journey, the choice was his to make.

The dirty secret of the medical profession is that cancer patients are guinea pigs for the most horrible therapies. And if we die from them, so what? We were going to do die anyway.

A cancer diagnosis is indeed terrifying; but there's a lot to be said for empowering yourself. Hurrah for Michael Gearin-Tosh.

This is the book I have been waiting years for. Michael Gearin-Tosh describes a journey through the mazes of cancer therapies that is insighful, useful and a wonderful read. He calls the medical establishment to task and to their credit many of that community are paying attention.
Mr. Gearin-Tosh is fair, evenhanded in his warnings and praises for both allopathic and alternative modalities- again useful to someone weighing the options. And finally in the description of his case the whys and wherefores of specific foods and vitamins are outlined.
This is a great read that will save lives.

It was by coincidence I happened upon this wonderful book, if you believe in coincidences. The style and method of presentation of this dreadful subject of cancer was superb. To gain the perspective in writing of a person with documented access and audience to the most well respected oncology experts in the world was wonderful.

I was diagnosed with the same disease as the author had and I had taken similar steps towards health. I experienced many of the same symptoms, many of the same dilibitating conversations on the rush to treatment put out by the traditional medical community. The author relied heavily on others to help him in his daily regime. In that he is fortunate. It was a stunning experience to me to find how many previous people in my life were suddenly unavailable. Suggestion: Do not ever be single and and diagnosed with cancer.

I congratulate and salute M. Gearin-Tosh for publishing an easily read book on a difficult subject. The book draws the reader to the next chapter, and on and on. His list of references is great. Check with the public library for a copy of the book (where I found mine). This is not an average book by any stretch, I am buying a copy even after having read it.

My large container of coffee is cooking on the stove Mr. Gearin-Tosh. Perhaps we can compare notes re oncology or better yet life in a few years over a cup of tea.

This is an entertaining book on a completely depressing subject. Hopefully Mr. Gearin-Tosh's tale will inspire others to do research and discover that chemotherapy does lack scientific proof of effectiveness and that scientific research has been done on the value of nutrition and other concepts.

If you find yourself or a loved one has been diagnosed with any form of cancer, and if you are scientifically inclined, you might want to read "Complementary Oncology" written by some of the world's leading cancer researchers. Chemotherapy and radiation are *not* the only choices for treatment.

I read Professor Gearin-Tosh's book, Living Proof with mixed feelings. After plowing through page after page of language parsings and philosophical arguments, My thoughts about the homeopathic treatments he writes about are still mostly negative. His talent is with language and literature, and it shows.

I simply can't rationalize that dietary supplements are cures! If that were the case, I reason, this terrible disease could readily be tamed. Unfortunately, in the real world, it is not; survival rates, no matter what courses are taken, are abysmal.

Compelling arguments throughout the book have been made supporting his juice diets, vitamin-mineral supplements and coffee enemas. Towards the end of the book, Dr. Carmen Wheatley writes an electrifying and insightful essay entitled: "The Case of the .005% Survivor". It is an excellent investigation and case study of Multiple Myeloma. I still tend to look more favorably to conventional treatments with COMPETENT oncologists.