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 LA Times Book Review MIND, BODY AND SOUL A Guide to Living With Cancer >By Nancy Hassett Dahm Taylor Hill Publishing 309 pages, $27.95 As a registered nurse specializing in cancer care, Nancy Hassett Dahm has cared for more than 400 end-stage patients in the last decade. This book is a manual for getting good care--including how to evaluate doctors and nursing aides and how to win battles with your HMO--and a critique of the current system. It's also a guidebook for caregivers. Dahm is disturbed that so many doctors are undereducated about pain management and thus undertreat their cancer patients' physical misery. She provides direction for patients and families trying to maximize good quality of life. Dahm focuses on giving patients' optimism, telling them that 90% of cancer pain can be controlled, and encouraging them to think positive because there are 8 million cancer survivors. At the same time, she tries to touch on the specifics of cancer treatments and medications, hospital services and home care, with instructions for helping a dying patient through their final moments to make that passage as smooth and gentle as possible for the patient and loved ones. Copyright 2001, Los Angeles Times |
