Survivor Taking Control of Your Fight against Cancer [Paperback]

Shortly after her thirty-seventh birthday,Wall Street Journalreporter and editor Laura Landro was told that she had chronic myelogenous leukemia.Survivoris the remarkable account of her battle against this devastating, potentially fatal cancer -- and her successful struggle to take control of her own case.
At first almost paralyzed with fear when diagnosed with this form of blood cancer, Landro resolved to use her journalistic training to seek out the treatment that would give her the best shot at surviving. Noting that most Americans spend more time researching what kind of car to buy than they do their health care, she shows how and why all patients can -- and must -- arm themselves with the facts, learn to understand medical jargon, get doctors to answer all their questions in layman's terms, weigh conflicting medical opinions, and make the difficult choice among the options open to them.
Landro's inspiring story offers all readers hope and the know-how to navigate the terrifying and bewildering world of medicine, even when they are very ill and at their most vulnerable.Chapter One: THE BAD NEWS

On the afternoon of August 20, 1991 -- my thirty-seventh birthday -- I was in my apartment in New York City, trying to muster some energy to celebrate. For weeks, I had been feeling increasingly tired and out of sorts. My parents were in town to take me out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant, and the following day we were planning to drive to Long Island for a family vacation at the beach, a period of rest that I hoped would do me some good. Too bad I'm not there already, I thought. I suddenly had such a crushing sense of fatigue that I decided to lie down for a few minutes.

Three hours later, it took all the strength I had just to get up off the bed again. Something has got to be wrong with me, I thought to myself as I stared at my pale face in the mirror, trying with makeup to cover the dark circles under my eyes.