The first few days following a cancer diagnosis are like riding on top of a speeding train. You're hanging on for dear life and can't quite see what's ahead. In this book, author Bob Riter helps people sort out many of the issues involved with a cancer diagnosis, with a particular focus on conversations about cancer with friends, family, and doctors.

When Your Life Is Touched by Cancer gently and insightfully addresses the issues that accompany a cancer diagnosis, especially those we think about, but hesitate to bring up. Is it OK to refuse treatment? How old is too old to treat cancer? Is alternative medicine worth pursuing? It is important for those with cancer to figure out what makes sense for them and then to communicate those wishes to loved ones and physicians.

The advice in this book is practical and accessible and Bob Riter is careful never to be pushy, because he knows that the best path through cancer is different for each individual. 1.6 million individuals are diagnosed with cancer each year, and there are 12 million people alive today who have been diagnosed with cancer and each of them has dealt with the disease in his or her own personal way. Bob won't tell you what the best path is, but he will teach you how to find it for yourself. He found his own path through cancer, and he's supported countless others on their paths. The stories, experiences, tips, and advice collected in this book are grounded in the author’s personal experiences as a cancer survivor and his work as the Executive Director of the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes where he’s worked with thousands of people affected by cancer.

The book began as a popular column in the Ithaca Journal. Readers regularly reported clipping the columns to send to loved ones across the country or to post on their own refrigerators as a starting point for conversations at their dinner tables. Now, for the first time, these refreshingly brief and readily accessible pieces are available all together, perfect for browsing, organized into sections that follow the cancer-patient experience.

When Your Life Is Touched by Cancer is also a resource for everyone who cares about or for a cancer patient and wants to learn more ways to support (and respect the wishes of) their loved ones while dealing with their own complex emotions. The book covers advocating for a loved one, talking about hospice care, and survivor's guilt. And doctors can also benefit from reading this advice, gaining another perspective on the cancer experience and thoughtful insight on doctor-patient interactions.

When Your Life Is Touched by Cancer is the perfect place to turn to in a moment of crisis. It provides both comfort in the moment and tools to move forward. It will help you figure out what you want and empower you to go get it.
Proceeds from the book are being donated to the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes.

Bob Riter will be signing books at the Medical Library Association Exhibition, May 2014, Chicago IL at the TRS Booth.