Hospice Palliative Care Book Reviews &
The Palliative Care Book of the Month
Dr. Woodruff, MD
(Australia)
Visit our Hospice and Palliative Care Bookshop at:
www.hospicecare.com/bookshop/
Book of the Month
ARMED WITH CHOCOLATE FROGS
Living With Advanced Breast Cancer
Kate Carey Productions, 2006
190 pp
ISBN 0-9775529-1-8
Available at www.overthefencepress.com.au/katecarey
RRP $AUS 24.95
I welcomed a new class of palliative care volunteers yesterday. I told them they needed to read this book. Today, the next rotation of medical students has arrived. They didn’t get a choice—I told them they had to read this book. Under the auspices of Breast Cancer Network Australia and with the assistance of a professional writer, Christine Gillespie, twenty brave women with advanced breast cancer have written down what is in their heads and in their hearts.
It’s all here. The agony of waiting, waiting, waiting for results; sometimes losing it altogether, real dummy-spits. The pain caused by doctors’ arrogant or inept communication. The joy of getting home, being with loved ones, savouring family milestones they thought they might never see. Husbands for whom nothing is too much, others who leave. Coping with physical disfigurement or your hair coming back white. Problems with bras and wigs and artificial boobs. The benefits of support groups. Dealing with children.
‘Strained and hesitant, my son asks
“Mum, are you dying?”
And I am undone.’
But there is also a lot of warmth and humour in this book. Your adult son trying to explain his way through Australian Customs with a year’s supply of oestrogen-free vaginal moisturizer. And what happened with the marijuana cookies.
This priceless collection of anecdotes is an invaluable tool for helping health care professionals (including my medical students and the volunteers) think about what is going on in the hearts and minds of patients with advanced cancer. Fearing dying, yes; but loving living more. You cannot help but be impressed by the resilience and the personal growth of these women with advancing metastatic disease. For anyone suffering the disease and those close to them, this book would be a great comfort.
And the chocolate frogs? Well, you’ll have to read it.
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Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
(March 2007)
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Book Reviews
UNPLUGGED. Reclaiming Our Right To Die in America
William H. Colby
American Management Association, 2006
272 pp
ISBN 0-8144-0882-6
RRP $US24.95
William Colby was the lawyer who represented Nancy Cruzan in the first right-to-die case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Nancy died after being in a persistent vegetative state for 8 years, but 4 years after her family unanimously agreed that her feeding tube should be removed. Here, Colby dissects the implications of the case of Terri Schiavo, who suffered irreversible brain damage in February 1990 but wasn’t allowed to die until Easter 2005. The first part of the book is about the bitter feud that broke out between Terri’s husband and her family and the years of legal wrangling that ensued. It is very well written and I found it hard to put down. When the courts finally said Terri’s feeding tube could be removed, Florida Governor Jeb Bush stepped in and over-ruled them with legislation that was dubbed ‘Terri’s law’. The law was immediately declared unconstitutional by the courts, but it took another eleven months of appeals before the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled it to be so. When that failed, legislation was hastily pushed through the Senate and House of Representatives, which brother George Bush got up to sign at 1.00 in the morning. Fascinating reading.
But let’s be fair to Colby. This book is about the ramifications of Terri Schiavo’s case and it is well-researched and well written. How does a modern society grapple with cases like this? He provides a good description of the rapid advances made in medical technology over the last 50 years, followed by the advent of Living Wills and the like. He manages to provide a view of the problems from the point of view of ordinary people, health care professionals, spiritual leaders and legislators. The views of Pope Paul II and the infamous Dr. Kevorkian feature too, as does the Oregon physician-assisted suicide program. Hospice and palliative care are described as the jewel in the crown. To his credit, Colby never seems to take sides. He even has empathy with the demonstrator carrying a placard saying “Hospice Auschwitz”. Thoughtful and thought-provoking.
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PALLIATIVE CARE CONSULTATIONS:
Advanced Breast Cancer
Sara Booth (Ed)
Oxford University Press, 2006
146 pp
ISBN 0-19-853075-7
RRP £29.95, $US59.50
There is probably no area in which it is more important for the medical oncology and palliative care teams to work closely together than in the management of women with advanced breast cancer, which makes this latest addition to OUP’s Palliative Care Consultations series most welcome. Relatively non-toxic hormonal therapies and chemotherapy may provide both the best palliation of symptoms and the possibility of prolongation of life. Chapters provide an overview of the current management of advanced breast cancer, the treatment of pain, psychological and social issues, odour and wound management, the treatment of lymphoedema and the management of malignant pleural effusions. There is a chapter on bisphosphonates, which have so much to offer but seem to be associated with an increasing incidence of osteonecrosis of the jaw. There is also a good chapter on the management of carcinomatous meningitis; perhaps the next edition could have a chapter on the treatment of cerebral metastases, given the apparently increasingly incidence of cerebral disease in women with c-erbB-2-positive tumours treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin).
Perhaps more than the other books in this series, this book contains a lot of palliative oncology for the palliative care team, alongside a lot of palliative care for the oncology professionals. It will provide an excellent introduction to the management of women with advanced breast cancer and should be available wherever they are cared for.
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THE ANGEL LETTERS
Lessons That Dying Can Teach Us About Living
Norman J. Fried
Ivan R. Dee, 2007
122pp
ISBN 1-56663-718-X
RRP $US19.95
Dr. Fried is a pediatric psychologist working in a children’s cancer center in New York. In The Angel Letters, he recounts nine stories of dying and bereavement by way of imaginary letters written to the departed children and adolescents. Each letter serves as a lesson, covering a range of issues from love and understanding to truth and acceptance. Each chapter has a post-script in which Dr. Fried offers his own interpretation of the messages that each child’s death conveys to us, the living. I was moved by his extraordinary professional compassion and liked the way the stories were told. This book will provide help and guidance to those of us who work in end-of-life care and much comfort to those who grieve.
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EDUCATION IN PALLIATIVE CARE
Building a Culture of Learning
Bee Wee and Nic Hughes (Eds)
Oxford University Press, 2007
354 pp
ISBN 0-19-856985-5
RRP £29.95, $US57.50
As palliative care continues to evolve, increasingly influencing the care on non-malignant disease and reaching into different cultures around the world, this book addresses the very important question as to what are the best methods of education for palliative care.
The first part of the book describes the situation as it is, both in the UK and around the world. Part II focuses on learning, teaching and assessment in different settings. The third part explores ways of building and nurturing a culture of learning in palliative care, both as individuals and as organizations.
This book is very practical and down-to-earth in discussing how best to teach palliative care, but I wondered about some of the practicalities. I got a sense of a slightly detached world of academic palliative medicine where there was plenty of time to think and plan, consult with colleagues, and reflect. In many situations, although far from ideal, clinical teaching is often an added responsibility for busy clinicians.
As one who has been involved with palliative care education for some time, I found a significant amount of new material and perspective in this book. The book is both detailed and comprehensive and would be essential reading for anyone involved with setting up or running palliative care education courses.
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THE LAST ADVENTURE OF LIFE
Sacred Resources for Transition
Rev. Maria Dancing Heart
Bridge to Dreams Publishing, 2005
318 pp
ISBN 0-9752932-0-6
RRP $US22.95
This book is a collection of stories, poetry, scriptures and quotations put together by an experienced hospice spiritual and bereavement counsellor to help patients and their families with the dying process and with bereavement. The book deals with spiritual virtues (truth, beauty, love and joy), the spiritual processes (trust, reflection, awareness and hope), the gift that our spiritual paths give us, and the transforming power that grief work brings to our lives. A variety of meditations, exercises and complementary therapies are discussed. It is deeply Christian in theme, but I sensed a broader cultural outlook—perhaps because the author lived in Japan as a child. Compared to other books that I have seen, I thought Maria Dancing Heart’s book was a little more profound and sounded a calmer note.
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HAEMATOLOGY AND PALLIATIVE CARE
Towards an Integrated Practice
International Program of Psycho-Social Health Research (IPP-SHR), 2006
15 pp
In practice, the integration of palliative care with clinical haematology is often more difficult than with solid tumour oncology. This gem of a little pamphlet outlines a trilogy of models. The Functional model (providing a satisfying continuum of care from diagnosis to bereavement for patient and families), the Refractory model (a death-denying model resistant to palliative care integration resulting in unnecessary hardship for patients and families), and the Evolving model (a model that evolves and can change in either direction between the other two models according to circumstances).
You can request a copy or download a pdf file at www.ipp-shr.cqu.edu.au.
It’s free!
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CD REVIEW
HUGS & KISSES
ROOM 217. Music for Life’s Journey
Available from www.room217.ca (site is secure, international shipping available)
Price $CAN 19.99 each, plus shipping
Bev Foster and the team from Room 217 (who produced Spirit Wings, Gentle Waters, and Celtic Whisperings a year or so ago) have brought out another CD of music for use in the palliative care setting. This one is for children. Familiar tunes and lullabies, tastefully and appropriately presented. I was definitely more relaxed after I had listened to it!
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Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
(March 2007)
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Procedure to submit a book for review:
If you would like to have a book reviewed and included in the IAHPC bookshop, please send a copy to the IAHPC Bookshop Editor:
Dr. Roger Woodruff
IAHPC Bookshop Editor
210 Burgundy Street Suite 9
Heildberg, Victoria 3084
AUSTRALIA
Note: Books sent to our bookshop editor become property of IAHPC and the review may take some time to appear in the Newsletter. Only books related to palliative care and with an ISBN number will be reviewed. Others will be discarded. Thank You!
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