: Download Cancer Manual

  Understanding Childhood Cancer: A Passport To Knowledge is a "well of wisdom", containing front-line experience and compassion. Researchers and medical experts at the Alberta Children's Hospital invested nearly five years scrutinizing and compiling all the information they deemed necessary to offer parents a definitive tool to be used at the time of diagnosis. As with Type 1 Diabetes in Children, researchers at the University of Calgary crafted the content into an intriguing and informative educational product through the use of video, audio and cartoon graphics.

  Understanding Childhood Cancer: A Passport To Knowledge has been helping children understand cancer diseases, including leukemia, tumors, blastoma, sarcoma, and Hodgkin's Disease. Experts from a wide variety of professional disciplines have contributed valuable information, knowledge and expertise that is useful in helping people make more informed decisions about care and management of childhood cancer.

Includes:

• Answers 200 commonly-asked questions, answered in everyday language, with full color illustrations
• A drug database which lists the names of all chemotherapy drugs, pain control drugs, and anti-nausea drugs, including both their brand and pharmaceutical names, a description of their intended effects, administration, and side effects, listed by severity and frequency
• A glossary of cancer-related terms
• A cartoon character database that allows children to visualize the processes occurring inside their bodies
• Video interviews, with parents whose children have had cancer, to provide encouragement and sound advice to help families through the difficult days ahead
• On-line help

Following are just a few of the many questions answered in "Understanding Childhood Cancer".

About Cancer

• What is cancer?
• How do cancer cells and tumors form?
• Could I have done anything to cause or to prevent my child's cancer?
• What types of cancer are there?

• How is cancer discovered?
• Was an earlier diagnosis possible?
• What tests are there for cancer?

• Is there a cure for cancer?
• Who decides on my child's treatment?
• How long will treatment last
• What kinds of treatments are there?

• How do I monitor for illness and side effects?
• When should I seek medical assistance?
• What should we watch for at home?

• What do I tell my child?
• How can I help my child cope with typical problems?
• What should I say to friends and relatives?

• What fears did other parents have?
• How protective were other parents of their child?
• How did other parents cope with the stress?

  In essence, Understanding Childhood Cancer is a mini-encyclopedia, containing categorized information presented in a comprehensive question and answer format. Throughout the program, friendly cartoon characters weave a story detailing how cancer affects a child's life, what goes on inside their body, and its effects on daily life and activities. All information is presented in basic language, easily understood by parents and most children. In addition, its large well-labelled buttons make it easy to navigate at any age. The program also features candid interviews with parents discussing their personal experiences and offering helpful advice to parents with children newly diagnosed with cancer. To facilitate comprehension of initial consultations, a comprehensive glossary, with audio capability explains the many new technical words encountered by families suddenly thrust into a world they know little about - the frightening world of cancer.

  Understanding Childhood Cancer helps reduce the anxiety and fear at diagnosis. It prepares the parent and child for the road ahead and eases the transition in developing a good rapport with the medical team, critically important in the treatment decision process. Understanding Childhood Cancer has received favourable reviews and recommendations from both professionals and "patient families" including:

• Canadian Cancer Society
• University of California, San Francisco
• Candlelighters Canada