Published: May 30, 2011
Words: 45,174 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458076373

Short description

Written by a cancer survivor and patient advocate, Kicking Cancer's Ass is about dealing with one of life's greatest challenges with all the support and knowledge you need. Overflowing with tips, helpful hints, and humour. Kicking Cancer's Ass can help you get more out of your doctor, set up your support system, beat the 4 am blues and much more. Includes 3 bonus chapters: A Guide for Caregivers.

Extended description

Kicking Cancer's Ass: A Light-Hearted Guide to the Fight of Your Life

"At any stage in the journey that is cancer; this book is invaluable for patient and caregiver alike."
Sandi S – Cancer Survivor (Read more) Kicking Cancer's Ass: A Light-Hearted Guide to the Fight of Your Life

"At any stage in the journey that is cancer; this book is invaluable for patient and caregiver alike."
Sandi S – Cancer Survivor

"Very thoughtful and humorous; Excellent work!"
Dr. Andrew Matthew- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

Kicking Cancer's Ass: A light-hearted Guide to the Fight of Your Life is written for anyone going through cancer. It contains valuable strategies, information and insights about one of life's greatest challenges. Robert Hawke draws on his experiences as a thyroid cancer survivor and on his background in comedy to deliver a helpful and humorous guide to getting through this disease.

Overflowing with tips, helpful hints, and humour...
Kicking Cancer's Ass can help you:
-Get more out of your health care professional
-Set up your support system so it serves you best
-Deal with the 4 AM blues
-Stay connected with yourself and those around you
-Make simple choices that will help you be more healthy in the future
-Learn strategies for recovery that your doctor might not even know

A Message from the Author

During recovery, I asked myself "If I had a friend or family member who was going to go through the experience of having cancer, what would I tell them? What would I want them to know to make this journey easier? Kicking Cancer's Ass: A Light-Hearted Guide to the Fight of Your Life is the answer to that question.

This book's journey began more than 5 years ago. In fact, when I was diagnosed with cancer, at a young age (yes, I thought 39 was young) I had no idea what to expect. Oh sure, I knew that my health would be affected by this disease but I didn't know how. I also didn't know that cancer would change virtually every area of my life, at least temporarily. I went into these experiences without much in the way of preparation and stumbled through with the help of family and friends. Along the way, I learned how to get through it one step at a time.

I hope you find this useful and I wish you well on your journey. Many of us have gone through it and we wish you all the courage, knowledge and support that you need in the days ahead.
Best Wishes, Rob

As a bonus, Hawke has included Kicking Cancer's Ass: A Guide for Caregivers. These 3 bonus chapters are specifically written for loved ones who are looking after people going through cancer. They contain valuable strategies and insights to make this part of the journey easier.

30% of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives. We need to help ourselves and each other as much as we can.

About the Author

Robert Hawke has worked as an actor and writer for more than 20 years, and is a Canadian Comedy Award nominee for 2011. Much to his surprise he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and was successfully treated 8 months later. During his recovery Robert collaborated and starred in the successful one man show "NormVsCancer: A Terminally Funny One Man Show" which he performed in Los Angeles, Toronto, and off-Broadway in New York.
Robert is the first patient to become an active member of the Centre for Innovation in Complex Care (CICC), an interdisciplinary group committed to positive sustainable changes in health care at Toronto's University Health Network (UHN),
Robert is co-lead of the CICC’s Patient Empowerment Program whose mission is to create and deliver unique education and empowerment tools to persons living with cancer. His work was praised in the Ontario Legislature by the Hon Deb Matthews, Minister of Health in the spring of 2010.

Robert is an alumnus of famed comedy troupe The Second City, performing across Canada and internationally in the Second City National Touring Company. He shared in a Canadian Comedy Award for the fully improvised musical "Showstopping Number” and shared in a Gemini Nomination for television writing.

He lives in Toronto with his terrific wife and remarkably small dog.
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Tags

cancer, humor, humour, health, survivor, guide, caregiver, caregivers, cancer treatments, alternative medicine, advocate, health and well being, health books, health care, doctors, health benefits, cancer treatment, caregiver guide, caregiver burnout, caregiver support, thyroid, cancer survivors, cancer support, health and wellness, cancer humor, cancer patient, health and wellbeing, guide book, patient advocate, thyroid cancer, cancer survivorship, cancer diet, thyroid disease, thyroid disorders, thyroid gland, robert hawke, kicking cancers ass, kicking cancer ass, rob hawke

Available ebook reading formats

Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.

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Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Buy	Download sample
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Buy	No sample available
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	Buy	No sample available

Videos

Book Launch: You're Invited!
There will be a book launch for "Kicking Cancer's Ass: A Light-hearted Gude to the Fight of Your Life" on Saturday, November 5th at 8 PM. It will be held at the Ben Wick's Pub in Toronto (424 Parliament Street)... And YOU are invited! Meet the Author! Share Stories! Laugh!! Eat chicken wings (for FREE). Admission is free. See you there. For more info, email me at RobHawke@gmail.com.

Reviews

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Review by: Myles Beskind on July 06, 2011 :
Robert Hawke is a funny guy, an actor and veteran of The Second City comedy troupe. His world turned upside-down the day he was told the odds were that lump in his neck was thyroid cancer. He needed a guidebook, something to tell him what to expect from this journey – the good, the bad, and the absurd. He couldn’t find such a book, so he wrote one for the rest of us. Kicking Cancer’s Ass: A Light-Hearted Guide to the Fight of Your Life is Hawke’s welcome gift to his fellow Cancer Club members.

Funny people have written books about cancer before. Usually they are memoirs mixed with stand-up-routine yuks, like Robert Schimmel’s Cancer on $5 Dollars a Day (Chemo Not Included). I couldn’t read a book like that shortly after my diagnosis – it was too long on one-liners, too short on information I was craving. Hawke’s humor is subtler; it keeps the reader entertained at a time when they are likely being overwhelmed by a recent cancer diagnosis. There’s solid advice about the emotional roller coaster cancer patients will ride, the science behind the various tests and procedures they’re likely to encounter, and the naturopathic therapies that can be combined with the best Western medicine to improve the patient’s recovery.

One typical example of the very practical advice the reader receives in the book: when talking with the doctor after the initial diagnosis, Hawke suggests, “Write the answers down… because what may seem crystal clear in the doctor’s office can slip your mind when you leave.” As any cancer patient will tell you, this one is right on the money.

There are moments of silliness, like those in a section at the end of the book addressed specifically to caregivers. Hawke lists 8 ways to entertain yourself while at the hospital with your patient, from giving yourself a sponge bath to wheelchair racing to the Obstetrics Ward. These laughs seem to come along at just the right interval before fear and doubt obscure the reader’s ability to see the central message in the book, namely: you will get through this.

If all cancer survivors come through the experience with the desire to help others learn from their own experience that Hawke obviously did, bookshelves would be flooded with great guides to the Cancer Journey. Until then, Kicking Cancer’s Ass is the one book every newly diagnosed cancer patient (and their caregivers) should read.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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