Childhood Brain & Spinal Cord Tumors: A Guide for Families, Friends & Caregivers

Childhood Brain & Spinal Cord Tumors, the most complete parent guide available, includes detailed and precise medical information about both benign and malignant brain and spinal cord tumors that strike children and adolescents. In addition, it offers day-to-day practical advice on how to cope with procedures, hospitalization, family and friends, school, social and financial issues, communication, feelings, and, if therapy is not successful, the difficult issues of death and bereavement.

Woven among the medical details and the practical advice are the voices of parents and children who have lived with cancer and its treatments. As many parents have already found, advice from "veteran" parents can be a lifeline.

Obtaining a basic understanding of topics such as medical terminology, how drugs work, common side effects of chemotherapy, and how to work more effectively with medical personnel can only improve the quality of life for the whole family suffering along with their child. Having parents describe their own emotional ups and downs, how they coped, and how they molded their family life around hospitalizations can be a tremendous comfort. Just knowing that there are other kids on chemotherapy who refuse to eat anything but tacos or who have frequent rages can make one feel less alone.

Parents who read this book will encounter medical facts simply explained, advice to ease their daily life, and tools to be a strong advocate for their child. Includes extensive resources and a pull-out medical record-keeper.

Maria Sansalone has a Bachelor's in English from American International College, and an Associate's in Science degree. She has worked in the past in hospital settings in the area of health information management, and for the last ten years as a Cross Reference editor for Merriam-Webster, Inc., the dictionary and reference publishers. Her position allows her access to information from almost every field. But, nothing, she says, prepared her for her son's diagnosis of an optic glioma. "It was a completely shocking and shattering experience, and it's taken many years to find a balance. Listening to families relate their own experiences for this book was immensely influential. I think it helped to bring things back full circle."

Patsy Cullen received her BSN in nursing from the University of California, her MS from the University of Kansas, and her pediatric nurse practitioner training from the University of Colorado. She has worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner in Pediatric Oncology for more than 20 years and is currently a member of the staff of Childhood Hematology-Oncology Associates and the Rocky Mountain Children's Cancer Center in Denver, Colorado. She has published extensively in the areas of general pediatric oncology, radiation oncology and neuro-oncology. She has been a member of the Children's Cancer Group for twenty years, has served on the Nursing Discipline committee as Vice-Chair and now chairs the clinical trials subcommittee. Additionally, Patsy is now a Principal Investigator in the Children's Oncology Group, administratively heading the program at Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and was recently elected to serve on the group's Nominating Committee. She has held nursing appointments on many national pediatric CNS tumor trials and is currently on the CNS Tumor Steering Committee for the Children's Oncology Group.

Tania Shiminski-Maher received her BSN and MS in pediatric primary care from Columbia University. She is a certified as a pediatric nurse practitioner, clinical neuroscience registered nurse, and pediatric oncology nurse. She has worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner in pediatric neurosurgery and pediatric neuro-oncology for the past fifteen years. She has published extensively in the area of pediatric brain tumors, hydrocephalus and multidisciplinary team communication. She has been a member of the nursing committee of the Children's Cancer Group for the past fifteen years and a member of the nursing steering committee for ten years. She holds academic appointments to the faculty of New York University School of Nursing and Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing.