Jessie Gruman - AfterShock: What to Do When the Doctor Gives You--Or Someone You Love--a Devastating Diagnosis

"Anyone with a scary diagnosis would do him/herself a favor by reading this book without delay. AfterShock is wise, sensitive, practical, readable, and helpful in the extreme."

Betty Rollin, author of First,

You Cry and Here's the Bright Side

"This is an extraordinary guide based on solid research and depth of expertise. It is infused with clarity, wit, wisdom, compassion, and most of all, hope."

Vartan Gregorian, President,

Carnegie Corporation of New York

"Each of us, or one of our loved ones, is likely to receive a diagnosis of devastating illness. That is why this perceptive, comforting, and practical book belongs on every family's shelf."

Joseph A. Califano Jr., Chairman and President,

the National Center on Addiction and

Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia

University, and former U.S. Secretary of

Health, Education and Welfare, 1977-1979

"In this period of bewildering complexity in our fragmented health system, Jessie Gruman's book is a quiet, reassuring refuge from the challenge of receiving shocking medical newsempowering to the patient and to his/her family, helping them to become active participants in the planning and the delivery of their health care and health maintenance. AfterShock is an invaluable medical resource and supportive companion."

Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., President

Emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine,

and U.S. Secretary of Health and

Human Services, 1989-1993

"This is a book about life. The poignant stories attest to the enduring value of friends and familyas well as medical professionalsin helping find a path through the painful first shock and wrenching turmoil of a life-changing diagnosis. Everyone can benefit from this book. Don't wait until you think you need it. Read it now."

Mary O'Neil Mundinger, Dr. P.H., R.N.,

Dean and Centennial Professor in Health

Policy, Columbia University School of Nursing

"When someone close to you is diagnosed with a serious illness, do them a big favorgive them this book. Dr. Gruman has written a compelling and comprehensive guide to making use of the best available evidence to respond to a bad diagnosis."

John W. Rowe, M.D.,

Executive Chairman, Aetna

"Jessie Gruman knows of what she speaks. If you or a loved one has received a devastating diagnosis, AfterShock sympathetically lays out what to do and how to do it. Gruman's book is clear, concise, wide-ranging, elegantly composed, richly illustrated by personal reflections, deeply informed, and highly practical. This is a work I will want to share with family and friends."

Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D.,

President, Institute of Medicine

"For patients and families faced with bad diagnostic news, it would be hard to find a more useful and dependable support. Jessie Gruman is wise, practical, and authoritativeand she's been there."

Jeremiah Barondess, M.D.,

President, New York Academy of Medicine

"If someone you love has ever had a frightening diagnosis, they surely could have used Jessie Gruman's book. By assuring you that your initial state of shock is normal, then by guiding you through the ways to make the tough choices, AfterShock helps restore the sense of control you probably lost. A how-to on getting the best care, the book is both reassuring and empowering."

Lesley Stahl,

correspondent on 60 Minutes, CBS

"No doctor can tell you everything you need to know about how to respond to a devastating diagnosis. AfterShock can help you make good choices about all the elements of your new and challenging situation. Jessie Gruman is a great friend of seriously ill patients. If you let her help youshe will."

David Nathan, M.D.,

President Emeritus, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

"The discovery of a medical problem causes a crisis not only for the patient but also for the family. The author, having been through these unsettling problems several times and having shown remarkable resilience, lays out practical suggestions on what to do and also how to relieve the stress."

Aaron T. Beck, M.D.,

University Professor of Psychiatry,

University of Pennsylvania, and

Lasker Award recipient

"This is a splendid example of turning one's recurrent frightening situation into a positive gift for others. I think the book will be most helpful to people who seek more information. They will be able to return to the book repeatedly as their need for different information and their readiness to use it change as they adapt to their devastating diagnosis. This book, like its characterization of many nurses, is 'pure gold.'"

Martha N. Hill, Ph.D., R.N.,

Dean, Johns Hopkins University

School of Nursing

"The medical community owes Dr. Gruman a huge thanks for writing this courageous book. Anyone confronting some of the frightening diseases that it is our great misfortune to suffer can be comforted and guided by this wonderful volume."

Kenneth L. Davis, M.D.,

President and CEO,

Mount Sinai Medical Center

"Reading this gorgeously written book is both an emotional and intellectual experience. It is a 'must have' for anyone touched by a devastating illness either directly or through a loved one. Any health professional not deeply moved by the contents should find another line of work."

Claire Fagin, Ph.D., R.N.,

Dean Emerita, University of

Pennsylvania School of Nursing

"After the shock of a devastating diagnosis comes the 'aftershock,' when a person must learn the topography of a strange and frightening terrain. Written with unpretentious authority, AfterShock is a humane and immensely important book about coping with a catastrophic illness."

Robert M. Butler, M.D.,

President and CEO,

International Longevity Center, USA

"AfterShock is an amazing guide for the overwhelmed person or family member asking 'What do I do next?' It is filled with practical advice which is mixedin a most pleasantly readable stylewith the observations of someone who has 'been there, done that' but who also knows the psychological terrain of illness. Gruman recognized the gap in information for this period and has filled it beautifully."

Jimmie C. Holland, M.D.,

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral

Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

AfterShock

What to Do When the Doctor Gives You
or Someone You Love
a Devastating Diagnosis

Jessie Gruman, Ph.D.