"Our Journey with Prostate Cancer"
by Judith Anne Desjardins
This book cover was carefully designed to serve as a Guided Meditation during your battle with cancer.
Take it to the hospital, the waiting rooms, the doctor’s office, your bedroom – as a source of Inspiration and Hope.
Begin the meditation by establishing a rhythm of deep, relaxed abdominal breathing, to quiet your body and your mind. Feel yourself relaxing and letting go of fear, anxiety, and darkness.
Look at the book cover and pause a while on each image: the sky, the sun, the refracted rainbow, the mountains in the background, the two strong trees standing side-by-side, their arms interlocking, the rocks beside the trees, the green leaves on the trees.
Say to yourself, “The rocks and the mountains represent my cancer and the challenge before me. In order to get around the rocks and climb to the top of the mountains, I must build my stamina and courage.
Like the two strong trees, my wife/partner/family and I must develop the spirit of a warrior and support each other. We will find nourishment in nature, mother earth, and Higher Power.
The Light will shine forth to guide us. We will work together with our healthcare providers to determine the best possible treatment approach.
Nothing can take away our HOPE and the power of LOVE. Like the green leaves on the trees, I visualize HEALTH and HEALING for my body, mind, emotions and spirit.
Our Journey with Prostate Cancer Synopsis:
“Your spirit is your most important personal weapon in the battle with cancer!”
Writing from the unique perspective of an oncology social worker, a holistic psychotherapist, and the wife of a patient with high-risk prostate cancer, Judith shares the intimate details of their journey and the empowering strategies she devised to turn a pessimistic prognosis into improbable, positive, and hopeful results. “We have walked through the valley of the shadow of death and come out the other side.”
“What I want to present in this book is a full firsthand picture of the emotional and psychological toll that prostate cancer has on patients and their loved ones.”
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I want to show how it affects them on the inside; the parts that may be invisible to others but are very real: the mind, emotions, and spirit.
It is my firm belief that understanding and treating these dimensions of the disease as well as the body, in a holistic approach, can lead to a better prognosis for the prostate cancer patient- and that it can also prevent family caretakers from developing their own medical problems due to stress.
Over the two-year period I’ve been writing this book, I have gained painful yet valuable insight into the whole dynamics of cancer, treatment, and healing. This insight is so much more real and organic than the theories I employed as an oncology social worker in the 1970’s. In those days my knowledge was only theoretical, or limited to what I gleaned or intuited from my work with patients, family members, and the medical staff. I had only a vague idea what the patients and their family members were going through.
In this book, I want to earnestly and honestly share the experiences my husband and I have had with prostate cancer so far, in hopes that you will find comfort and power from the shared experiences whether you’re the patient or the patient’s loved one. You will find here practical suggestions for navigating the medical system, insight into your own emotional-psychological-spiritual processes, strategies for battling prostate cancer in particular, and the courage to fight prostate cancer with all your might-while maintaining a loving relationship.
I pray that by reading our story, you will be blessed in some way and that you will find your Inner Warrior (a person who is strong in body, mind,emotions, and spirit; a person with fierce determination to live, who is disciplined and well armed for the battle with cancer)-again, whether you’re the patient or the patient’s loved one.
One final note: Although I’m writing specifically about prostate cancer, I’m confident that the principals I present here apply to men and women with any form of cancer-as well as their family members.
Endorsements
“This is a truly a personal account, written from the heart. It is both practical and educational, blended in an emotionally compelling journal format with well researched and informed recommendations for the mind, emotions, body and spirit of patients and their families. The mixture of information, prayer, food, love, exercise, the thoughts/emotions/behaviors experienced, relaxation practices, all intertwined is what makes it for me. It gives hope!” ~ Jill Wilson
Book Reviews
“Kudos to Desjardins for her courage and for sharing her experiences and that of her husband’s in fighting prostate cancer. Other than skin cancer, one of the most common cancers among American men is prostate cancer. ~ Norm Goldman
Testimonials
“Pamela Tryon, Nurse Practitioner in the Medical Oncology Department at City of Hope requested me to present portions of Our Journey with Prostate Cancer to the patients and family members in the Advanced Prostate Canc…” ~ Judith Anne Dejardins
More books available from Judith Anne Desjardins:
Creating A Healthy Life and Marriage
Time warps readers to their formative years…& why they think and feel the way they do about sex and intimacy today.
Zranione Serca
Time warps readers to their formative years…& why they think and feel the way they do about sex and intimacy today.