As a medical oncologist and palliative care specialist in a large cancer center, I care for individuals whose lives have been affected by serious chronic illness and work to develop more effective strategies for eliminating cancer and the suffering it causes. Because I try to offer my patients encouragement as well as treatment, I am always on the lookout for tools that will help them navigate through difficult issues that may arise. Living with Cancer is one such tool.

Dave Visel has not written this book from the perspective of a health care professional or science writer. Moreover, he does not work in a field related to health products, pharmaceuticals or health information. Dave is a man whose wife, Karen, was diagnosed with cancer. He did not know what to do about her diagnosis or how to do it, but he knew he needed to learn everything about cancer: the disease itself, science, heath care professionals, health care systems, humanity, friendship, love and personal coping. The result is a gift for the rest of us: a useful "What do I do now and how do I do it?" guide for all of us who have been affected by cancer or acknowledge that we are at risk for being affected by it. This book represents something that I have long wished I could give not only to my patients and their families but also to my own family, friends and neighbors. It is not a book with all of the answers, but it provides a solid foundation upon which one can build an understanding of what might be needed to deal with cancer.

Why do I want to give this book to my family, friends and neighbors rather than just my patients and their families? The reason is simple: because virtually everyone I know has some reason to wish that they could understand cancer better. This is not particularly surprising, as more than 1.3 million Americans are diagnosed with invasive (and thus risky) cancer each year. About 560,000 persons die of cancer each year; however, there are also more than 10 million cancer survivors among us. As our populations grow older and live longer, cancer will touch each of our lives in some way.

Cancer has touched my life personally. I was eleven years old when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. It was hard and scary for all of us, but she survived. Two years later, she had another breast cancer, and her treatment was again successful. She currently lives with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and advanced lung cancer. In the interim, her mother died of stomach cancer, her father died of a brain tumor, and her youngest brother died of pancreatic cancer. Within sight of my own home, I have one neighbor with advanced pancreatic cancer, two neighbors whose parents died of cancer within the past year, and one neighbor whose sister is receiving treatment of advanced breast cancer. My daughter's elementary school teacher is helping her mother deal with lung cancer; the unavoidable disruption in her personal life impacts her colleagues and our children. It is not that we live near power lines or a chemical plant or necessarily did anything wrong. This is simply the reality of our world today. At some point in our lives, we will all face the unwelcome task of understanding and navigating the confusing world of cancer.

Living with Cancer is a book that I want to have and want others to have, but it is not a book I could have written. Even health care professionals, many of whom are gifted communicators and educators, cannot reproduce the perspective of a layperson who learned about cancer by trial and error and is willing to openly share his or her experiences. Moreover, professional organizations such as the American Cancer Society and American Society of Clinical Oncologists are well suited for providing terrific up-to-date information on a variety of cancer topics but not personal, day-to-day, how-to-live-through-cancer information of the sort in this book. Specifically, this book has a conversational style that makes it readable. Also, Dave's extensive consultations with reputable medical professionals, lawyers, philanthropists and counselors have made the information provided here credible. No physician or professional organization is going to agree with or vouch for every page of this book, however. To achieve that kind of consensus would change the nature of the book.

It is unfortunate that the typical person who comes face to face with the need to understand cancer is overwhelmed by the myriad of available Internet resources as well as advice (and occasional misinformation) from friends, neighbors and even health care professionals. Although all of the factual information in this book is attainable through other means, no other book provides this kind of comprehensive format with information and personal advice framed in a reassuring manner.

The book is not just about cancer. It is also about solving problems, finding meaning and hope in our lives even when faced with difficult circumstances and striving to live as long and as well as possible. This book will inspire you as well as inform you.

Michael J. Fisch, M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Director, Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) Research Base
Associate Professor, Sections of General Oncology and Palliative Care
The University of Texas , M. D. Anderson Cancer Center