Communicating Cancer: Strategies for You, Family, and Friends

When Lisa went to her first oncology appointment, the last thing she was expecting was to get communication advice. Yet, that's exactly what her nurse gave her. In that moment, she realized that her life's work researching and teaching communication might come in very handy over the course of her treatment. It did.In this book, she combines her breast cancer experience and her communication expertise to create clear strategies for navigating the many communication moments you-or someone you love-will experience during cancer treatment. Whether it's with your spouse, your family, your friends, your colleagues, or your medical team, Lisa offers strategies for how to optimize your interactions. Drawing on her long-studied understanding of communication, she provides succinct summaries of research to support the ideas she proposes. This book is neither a memoir nor a deep dive into communication research. Rather, it is a book that sits at the intersection of life and research, drawing on the most helpful communication research nuggets and Lisa's own cancer experiences to provide the reader with sound advice on how to navigate sometimes difficult communication encounters.Lisa has been somewhere like where you (or your loved one) is now, and she knows that direct communication can be helpful. Her language is simple. Her strategies are concrete. Her chapters are short. Her approach is both straightforward and vulnerable. And she hopes that this book makes at least one part of your cancer communication experience a little lighter.