Blogging in B Minor

I wanted to take a minute and post some information related to some books I’ve picked up over the past months that have really been invaluble to me in researching my condition. I did a lot of research in picking and choosing the books I wanted to dedicate time towards and these have been excellent. For those that are visiting my site for purposes of gaining knowledge regarding brain tumors, I hope you’ll find this information helpful. The first book listed by Dr. Peter Black is outstanding. Dr. Black is one of the Neurosurgeons that reviewed my film as a second opinion and he was right on the mark in telling me that I should proceed with surgery. This led to the diagnosis of a grade 3 oligoastrocytoma when others had thought I had a low grade glioma.

• Living With A Brain Tumor: Dr. Peter Black’s Guide to Taking Control of Your Treatment by Dr. Peter Black – Dr. Peter Black is a renowned neurosurgeon. As the Chair of the Harvard Medical School of Neurosurgery and several Boston area hospitals, he has credentials that speak for themselves. I was fortunate enough to have him personally review my case and films. His book is invaluable and I would highly recommend it to anyone diagnosed with a primary brain tumor.
• Brain Tumors: Leaving the Garden of Eden–A Survival Guide to Diagnosis, Learning the Basics, Getting Organized, and Finding Your Medical Team by Paul M. Zeltzer – This book is invaluble. It provides you with information that is relevant but for those that are not as organized as most, it will equip you with techniques to organize your case, allowing you to be more effective in managing your care and being your own advocate which is essential.
• Brain Tumors – Finding the Ark by Paul M. Zeltzer (Companion to the above the above book) – you need to obtain this book that is the companion to the above book. It is a continuation and provides more detail.
• Coping With Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy by Daniel Cukier – a good primer regarding the topic at hand.
• Surviving “Terminal” Cancer: Clinical Trials, Drug Cocktails, and Other Treatments Your Oncologist Won’t Tell You About by Ben Williams – Don’t let the “name” of this book frighten you. You don’t have to have a “terminal” diagnosis to benefit from this. Ben Williams is a GBM survivor of 15 years – a dx that typically only affords a 1-2 survival rate. He has an amazing story and this book outlines what he did. His story is amazing and the techniques he used are a reminder to all of us that anything is possible.
• Navigating Through a Strange Land – A Book For Brain Tumor Patients by Tricia Roloff. This is a book of testimonitals from patients, caregivers and doctors. For me, it helped identify the feelings I was going through.

If anyone who is reading this has other recommendations in terms of reading materials I would love to hear from you. I would also be happy to add them to this post in addition to obtaining them myself. I am a big researcher – knowledge is power so please contact me.

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Regards,

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