The web Directory of Information Materials for People Affected by Cancer is regularly updated and currently has details of over 1,900 booklets, leaflets, books and audiovisual materials for people affected by cancer. Most have been published in the last five years but we have included some older ones that are still useful.
Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group
Illustrated, colour booklet for children following the story of Will, who has radiotherapy to his brain, and Sophie, who has radiotherapy to her stomach.
NHS Health Scotland
This leaflet describes cervical screening tests after treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). It explains what CIN is, what happens after treatment, and why women are now tested for HPV six months after treatment for CIN.
Colostomy UK
Details of support organisations for people living with a stoma.
Colostomy UK
Guidance for colostomates on wind, ballooning and odour. Describes what may cause wind, foods to avoid, tips to help reduce wind, what to do if the bag keeps ballooning, and what to do about odour.
Department of Health
Main NHS Smokefree guide to helping smokers quit for good. Features an interactive planner that takes smokers through the four key steps to quitting smoking: Think; Prepare; Quit; Stop for good.
Debbie Paton Publishing
Storm in a D Cup! is a blow-by-blow account of Debbie Paton's journey through breast cancer. It is a candid account of the year between her initial diagnosis and her full recovery. When she was first diagnosed, Debbie wrote notes in a diary, but her daughter Georgia dragged her into the 21st century by convincing her to write a blog that could be shared with a wider audience. The blog soon became Debbie's cathartic writing. It gave her the freedom to express the rollercoaster of emotions as they happened, the good, the bad and the irrational. She shared her entries on social media for her friends and family to follow – it took the pressure off endless update phone calls! This is a no holds barred account of the mix of emotions, the highs and lows of the journey. It is not about doom and gloom, but rather the realities of the journey and the experiences Debbie had along the way. It is at times poignant and highly sensitive, at others, filled with laughter and fun. It was a year that shaped her life into something different. It is Debbie’s hope that her experiences can help others by alleviating some of the fear surrounding a breast cancer diagnosis. If she could have read a similar blog before starting her own journey, Debbie feels certain she would’ve been far less fearful of what lay ahead. Yes, everyone's path is different, but there are elements of her experience that will resonate with others in the same position. (Publisher)
NHS Health Scotland
This leaflet explains what breast screening is, who is offered screening, the benefits and disadvantages of screening, what happens before, during, and after screening, and what it means to be called back. Includes breast awareness advice. Concludes with answers to questions that women may ask.
Colostomy UK
Guidance on obtaining prescription supplies from the supply company, chemist or GP.
Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group
An illustrated, colour booklet for children who are having a stem cell transplant. It describes the bone marrow, the stem cell nurses, the harvest machine, and what happens on the day that the cells are harvested and on the day that they are returned.
NHS Health Scotland
This leaflet describes cervical screening tests after treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). It explains what CIN is, what happens after treatment, and why women are now tested for HPV six months after treatment for CIN.
Trapeze (Orion)
Renowned as a much-loved and highly respected BBC journalist, Victoria Derbyshire has spent 20 years finding the human story behind the headlines. In 2015 she found herself at the heart of the news, with a devastating breast cancer diagnosis. With honesty and openness, she decided to live out her treatment and recovery in the spotlight in a series of video diaries that encouraged thousands to seek diagnosis and help. Victoria has kept a diary since she was nine years old and in DEAR CANCER, LOVE VICTORIA she shares her day to day experiences of life following her diagnosis and coming to terms with a future that wasn't planned. From the moment she woke up to find her right breast had collapsed, to telling her partner and children, through to mastectomy and chemotherapy. From wearing a wig to work and hiding it from her colleagues, to the relief and joy of finishing treatment before immediately flying to Glasgow to present a debate on the European Referendum. By sharing her story, she became the person that mums, daughters, sisters, husbands, boyfriends and family members contacted to thank as they tried to find ways to cope with their own and their loved ones' prognosis, and needed to know that they were not alone. Victoria's story is an affecting and at times heart-breaking one but it is so often laugh-out-loud too. Moving, wonderfully heartwarming and ultimately uplifting, this is a powerful account of a brave struggle told with honesty, courage and emotion that gives strength to anyone touched by cancer. (Publisher)
Piatkus (Little, Brown Book Group)
The ultimate resource to looking your best during and after cancer treatment, from a veteran beauty industry insider. Like many women who receive the shattering diagnosis of cancer, Caitlin Kiernan was concerned about her health and her future, but also about how the treatment would affect how she felt and looked - would she lose her hair? Would she lose her nails? How would she look after a double mastectomy? But unlike other women who battle cancer, Kiernan has spent her entire career as a beauty editor, beauty director (most recently for Life & Style Weekly), and now beauty producer. As someone who works in the public eye and in the fashion industry, Kiernan had to quickly learn how to look her best even when she was feeling her worst. So she called on her list of extensive contacts and beauty insiders - from hair professionals to top medical doctors (at institutions like Memorial Sloan Kettering and Mt Sinai Hospital) to style mavens and even celebrities (including Wendy Williams and Hoda Kotb) - to gather the best and most useful beauty tips for cancer treatment. The result is Pretty Sick: the ultimate guide to beauty during (and after) cancer treatment, covering skin care, hair care (and wig shopping), nail care, makeup, an explanation of breast cancer surgical options, style advice for life post mastectomy, and much, much more. Illustrated with charming line drawings and peppered with advice from celebrities and cancer survivors, Pretty Sick will be a welcome and trusted resource during treatment, helping women to look their best even when they don't feel their best. (Publisher)
Prostate Scotland
This leaflet describes the pelvic floor muscles and the exercises that men can use to strengthen them.
NHS Health Scotland
This leaflet describes cervical screening tests after treatment for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). It explains what CIN is, what happens after treatment, and why women are now tested for HPV six months after treatment for CIN.
AMEND (Association for Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Disorders)
This booklet aims to give employers and employees the tools to better manage planning for long-term sick leave, returning to work and applying for a new job.
Colostomy UK
Details of companies that supply seat belt protection and extenders.
Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group
Written to accompany 'Children and young people with cancer: A parent's guide', this factsheet explains what a brain tumour is, and describes the signs and symptoms, tests and treatment options.
Bowel Cancer UK
This easy read booklet tells you how to keep your bowel healthy and decide whether to have the NHS bowel scope test.
Action Cancer
This leaflet describes when and how to check the breasts for changes and what to look for. It briefly explains what a mammogram is. Contains information on local services and describes the work of Action Cancer in Northern Ireland.
Target Ovarian Cancer
Information about abdominal and pelvic ultrasound scans for women whose GP has referred them for these tests.
Colostomy UK
Teaching a person with dementia how to care for their stoma is not possible in all cases, but where it is possible, attempts should be made to encourage them. The level of independence achievable will vary. A person with dementia may benefit from extra time and repetition of the tips in this booklet, which were suggested by healthcare professionals who have been actively involved in the care of ostomates with dementia.
Women's Health Concern
This factsheet has been designed to help women understand more about their breasts and describes regular self-examination, the breast awareness five point code, breast pain, and nipple changes. It also has brief information on breast lumps, breast cancer, and breast screening.
Bloodwise
Large granular lymphocytic leukaemia (LGLL) is a type of blood cancer and a rare form of leukaemia. This factsheet describes the causes, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment.
Target Ovarian Cancer
This factsheet describes the CA125 blood test: what it is; why it is being carried out; what the results mean.
Bloodwise
Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a condition that occurs when your plasma cells develop in an unusual way in your bone marrow. MGUS itself is generally a harmless blood condition, however a small number of people with MGUS go on to develop blood cancer.
Bowel Cancer UK
Carers can play an important role in helping people make the best choices about their health. This booklet will help you talk with the person or people you support, about keeping their bowel healthy and getting their bowel checked.
Johns Hopkins University Press
The prospect of entering treatment is overwhelming for anyone facing a diagnosis of cancer. While patients have access to a vast amount of medical information online, this advice is often unreliable or confusing. In Living with Cancer, Drs. Vicki A. Jackson and David P. Ryan have crafted the first step-by-step guide aimed at helping people with this life-defining disease grasp what’s happening to them while coping physically and emotionally with cancer treatment. An empathetic resource full of relatable patient stories, this book teaches patients and caregivers how to ask the right questions to get the best possible care―beginning at the moment of diagnosis. Drs. Jackson and Ryan explain how to work with a team of doctors and nurse practitioners to minimize symptoms and side effects while living as fully as possible in the face of cancer. They relay important information about understanding prognosis, and they translate what doctors mean when they describe tests, treatments, and medical procedures. Finally, they discuss hospice care and answer questions about continuing treatment and managing the final phase of life. Based on new research and a groundbreaking program in which patients are treated with palliative care―along with the best cancer care―during the course of their illness, this honest and caring book provides the right advice to use at the right time throughout a journey with cancer. It allows a person with cancer to concentrate on living the best life possible, despite an uncertain future. Patients at every stage will find Living with Cancer a comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible guide for navigating the illness and its treatment. (Publisher)
Bowel Cancer UK
An easy read booklet on bowel health and the bowel test kit in Scotland.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet has detailed information about chronic myeloid leukaemia, its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments. It also covers issues such as fertility and feelings, and includes details of useful organisations, and websites.
She Writes Press
Antoinette Martin believed herself to be a healthy and sturdy woman--that is, until she received a Stage 1 breast cancer diagnosis. Cancer is scary enough for the brave, but for a wimp like Martin, it was downright terrifying. Martin had to swallow waves of nausea at the thought of her body being poisoned, and frequently fainted during blood draws and infusions. To add to her terror, cancer suddenly seemed to be all around her. In the months following her diagnosis, a colleague succumbed to cancer, and five of her friends were also diagnosed. Though tempted, Martin knew she could not hide in bed for ten months. She had a devoted husband, daughters, and a tribe of friends and relations. Along with work responsibilities, there were graduations, anniversaries, and roller derby bouts to attend, not to mention a house to sell and a summer of beach-bumming to enjoy. In order to harness support without scaring herself or anyone else, she journaled her experiences and began to e-mail the people who loved her--the people she called My Everyone. She kept them informed and reminded all to 'hug everyone you know' at every opportunity. Reading the responses became her calming strategy. Ultimately, with the help of her community, Martin found the courage within herself to face cancer with perseverance and humor. (Publisher)
Independently published
On Thursday, 10th of March 2016, I returned home from a hospital appointment and broke the news to my wife and children. I had throat cancer. Stage four. Inoperable. Desperately needing some way to make sense of my situation, I set up a blog to chart my battle against the disease. I hoped it would allow me to understand more about this thing inside me, and what I would have to go through in terms of treatment to try to eradicate it. I also thought it might help other people who found themselves in similar circumstances. I made a promise to my readers to be open and honest all the way. I wouldn't hold anything back, no matter how unpleasant. Now, over a year later, I have adapted that blog into this book. It details my journey from when I first realised that something was wrong, through the intense courses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, to where I am today. To say that journey was difficult is a vast understatement. The side effects of my treatment utterly kicked my arse, causing me to lose over half my bodyweight and fall seriously ill with double pneumonia and sepsis. Totally unresponsive, I was rushed into intensive care where the doctors told my family that, if they couldn't stabilise me, I had approximately two hours left to live. One option was to put me into a medically induced coma, although the chances were high that I would never emerge from it. Imagine someone telling you that about your loved one as they lie there, unconscious and struggling to breathe. Cancer is an invader that affects more than just the patient. Everyone suffers - spouses, siblings, children, extended family, friends. Even, as I was to discover, strangers from all over the world. I was overwhelmed with the love and kindness of almost everyone who contacted me, but I also suffered terrible abuse at the hands of online trolls. I should warn you that parts of this book do not make for easy reading. I kept my promise to be honest, and wrote many of the blog entries when I was depressed and scared, certain I wouldn't live to see another dawn. I convinced myself that I would quickly perish, leaving my wife and two sons - then aged 9 and 17 - alone, and with no-one to protect them or provide for them. I wouldn't get to see them grow up, develop into young men, and eventually have children of their own. The prospect terrified me. For those of you who followed my blog and read the posts as I uploaded them, you haven't seen everything. This book c
Macmillan Cancer Support
Denosumab is a targeted therapy used to treat secondary bone cancer. It is also given to people with certain cancers (breast cancer, prostate cancer) to strengthen their bones. This factsheet describes what denosumab is, how it works, how it is given, and the possible side effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Cisplatin is a chemotherapy drug used to treat testicular, ovarian, bladder, head and neck, and non-small cell lung cancer. This factsheet describes what it is, how it is given, and possible side effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Vinorelbine and cisplatin may be used to treat non-small-cell lung cancer. This factsheet describes what it is, how the drugs are given and the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Paclitaxel is most commonly used to treat breast, ovarian and non-small-cell lung cancer. This factsheet describes how it is given and the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Paclitaxel is most commonly used to treat breast, ovarian and non-small-cell lung cancer. This factsheet describes how it is given and the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Paclitaxel is most commonly used to treat breast, ovarian and non-small-cell lung cancer. This factsheet describes how it is given and the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Paclitaxel (Taxol®) and carboplatin is a combination chemotherapy regime used to treat cancer of the ovary and cancer of the lung. This factsheet describes the drugs, how they are given and the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Information from the Macmillan Cancer Support website translated into Spanish. Chemoembolisation is a treatment used for cancer that starts in the liver, or cancer that has spread to the liver from somewhere else in the body. This factsheet describes how it is given, and possible side effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
A translation of selected pages from Macmillan Cancer Support’s booklet “The building up diet”.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This information from the Macmillan Cancer Support website has been translated into Punjabi. BEAM is a combination chemotherapy treatment used to treat Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It is given before a stem cell transplant. It may also be used to treat other cancers. This factsheet describes what it is, how it is given, and possible side effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Information from the Macmillan Cancer Support website translated into Thai. Temozolomide is a chemotherapy drug used to treat gliomas. It can also be used to treat anaplastic astrocytoma in young people. It describes temozolomide, how it is given and the possible side effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Trastuzumab (Herceptin®) may be used to treat breast cancer and stomach cancer. It may also be used to treat other cancers as part of a research trial. This factsheet explains how it works, how it is given, and possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
FEC is a combination chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. This factsheet describes the drugs, how they are given and some of the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Ipilimumab is a targeted therapy drug used to treat advanced melanoma. This describes how it works, how it is given, and some of the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Imatinib is a cancer growth inhibitor. This factsheet describes how it works, how it is given, and possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This information describes the FEC-T chemotherapy regimen, which is used to treat breast cancer. It describes the drugs used, how treatment is given, and some of the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
A translation of the pages on chemotherapy from the Macmillan Cancer Support booklet “Understanding Hodgkin lymphoma”.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This information describes the FEC-T chemotherapy regimen, which is used to treat breast cancer. It describes the drugs used, how treatment is given, and some of the possible side-effects.
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