Mesothelioma Book - Review

"Lean on Me" Cancer through a carer's eyes Lorraine Kember (2003) 130pp.ISBN 0 646 49969 6

As Janet Craven, palliative care nurse, and Andrew Dean, palliative care physician note in their respective forwards to this book, Lean on Me is a unique and intensely personal description of a writer's responses to her husband Brian's diagnosis, treatments and final death from mesothelioma. The book also provides useful discription of the nature of pain, the usefulness of certain drugs, and the ways in which keeping a journal can assist the medical practitioner in assessing pain management. The overarching narrative, however, is the progression of Brian's cancer, and his erratic but inevitable deterioration. Interspersed with poems and excerpts from Lorraine's diary, this is perhaps the most confronting aspect of the book, simply because it is so personal. While Brian's death is factually noted, Lorraine's description of the moment is emotionally conveyed in a short poem and diary entry. The book concludes with reflections written days, weeks and a year later, on Brian's presence, and her search for meaning and love in her changed life trajectory. this is indeed a compelling read, and a useful resource for both carers and practitioners.

David Ritchie Media,communications and Creative Arts Research School of communicaton and Creative Arts, Deakin University, Melbourne

Lorraine Kember is the Author of "Lean on Me" Cancer through a Carer's Eyes. Lorraine's book is written from her experience of caring for her dying husband in the hope of helping others. It includes insight and discussion on: Anticipatory Grief, Understanding and identifying pain, Pain Management and Symptom Control, Chemotherapy, Palliative Care, Quality of Life and Dying at home. It also features excerpts and poems from her personal diary. Highly recommended by the Cancer Council. "Lean on Me" is not available in bookstores - For detailed information, Doctor's recommendations, Reviews, Book Excerpts and Ordering Facility - visit her website http://www.cancerthroughacarerseyes.jkwh.com

In The News:


Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Center Commend Massachusetts ...
TransWorldNews (press release), GA - Jul 3, 2008
Asbestos has been definitively linked to the development of mesothelioma, a deadly lung cancer that affects the pleural lining of the lungs and has a ...

Why are our schools full of deadly asbestos and why isn't anything ...
Daily Mail, UK - Jun 30, 2008
This is a highly aggressive cancer of the lung lining caused by exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is not the same as cancer of the lung; this can also be ...

Man died from asbestos exposure
Gloucestershire Gazette, UK - Jul 3, 2008
By By Court Reporter A MAN died from a lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure when he worked for a power company, an inquest has been told. ...

New clinical trial for patients with asbestos-associated lung cancer
EurekAlert (press release), DC - Jun 26, 2008
From 1940 through 1979, approximately 28 million US workers were exposed to asbestos at work. An estimated 3000 people died of mesothelioma in the late ...
Treatment for asbestos-caused mesothelioma United Press International
Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Center Acknowledges New TransWorldNews (press release)
all 11 news articles

Archive for the ‘Mesothelioma’ Category
Asbestos.com, Florida - Jul 1, 2008
Caregiving arrangements often involve the adult children of those affected, as asbestos-related illnesses, including mesothelioma, can have a latency period ...

Asbestos.com offers free Assistance to Military Veterans
Asbestos.com, Florida - Jul 2, 2008
This exposure has lead to pleural mesothelioma with many veterans, which occurs in the lining of the lungs (a form of lung cancer) and is one of the ...

NW Evening Mail

Asbestos: A killer in the midst
NW Evening Mail, UK - Jun 26, 2008
One in four victims of the fatal asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma is now somebody from the construction trade. “In Barrow we see usually around 15 cases ...
‘What I want to know is, when are they going to get a cure?’ NW Evening Mail
all 4 news articles

The Mesothelioma And Asbestos Awareness Center Hails Supreme
TransWorldNews (press release), GA - Jun 24, 2008
Asbestos exposure has been conclusively linked to the onset of mesothelioma, a deadly form of lung cancer that has a survival rate of less than 1%. ...

Family get £140000 after ex-council man's death
Tottenham, Wood Green and Edmonton Journal, UK - Jul 2, 2008
Jim Crowe, of Wood Green, died in June last year aged 79 from the deadly lung cancer Mesothelioma after years of exposure to asbestos while working for the ...

MAN PLANNED TO SUE FIRM OVER ASBESTOS, INQUEST TOLD
Lincolnshire Echo, UK - Jun 25, 2008
Charles Knott (80) died at his home just a month after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a lung condition brought on by exposure to asbestos. ...
lung mesothelioma asbestos - Google News

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