Lynda Peterson knows first hand what it's like to go through the stressful world of cancer diagnosis and treatment and wants to help others navigate the health care system.
A two-time cancer survivor, Peterson has put together a book aimed at giving cancer patients the tools they need to get through the process. The Healing Journal: Taking Control of Your Journey Through Cancer provides tips on how to handle the diagnosis of the disease and gives ample room for patients to record information of their own story.
The impetus for the book came from Peterson's first experience with cancer when she felt she needed something like a journal to help take control of her treatment.
"I want patients to be able to feel empowered," the Whitehorse resident said. "When you take all these details that suddenly become important in your life and you manage them, you realize you can stop worrying about the details."
The book is divided into practical sections like medical history, so patients can have it at the ready when a new specialists asks for the information, and a treatment journal where people can keep track of any side effects and report them back to their physicians. Other sections include places to keep track of appointments, travel arrangements and important contacts.
The front cover includes a photo pocket where the patient can put a picture of a loved one for inspiration and a file pocket in the back cover gives room to keep prescription forms or other important documents.
"Once you start to keep track of all these things, and you know they are in one location and you can access the information any time you need, you're actually able to free you mind of what I call the 'mental clutter' and concentrate on healing," Peterson said, adding her goal was to make the book both comprehensive and easy to carry to appointments.
The first part of the book documents Peterson's personal journey. She gave a raw account of her struggles coming to terms with her diagnosis, detailing the emotions she felt including anger and guilt. Writing the section was difficult as she had to re-live her experience, but she also described it a cathartic experience.
Peterson was first diagnosed with lymphoma in 2006 which required six rounds of full chemotherapy to treat and eight more rounds of maintenance chemotherapy. After more than two years, she was in remission - but that only lasted five months as another node was found, this time a faster-growing form of lymphoma. Three more rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant later, Peterson's prognosis is once again positive.
"I'm in remission again, thank God," Peterson said. "I don't know how long I have, but I refuse to spend the time I have worrying about the time I may not have."
Peterson's book is available at Books and Company in Prince George and half of all proceeds from local sales will be donated to the Kordyban Lodge, a place where cancer patients and their caregivers can stay in Prince George when receiving treatment. She also hopes to sell the book at the lodge, located next to the new B.C. Cancer Agency Centre for the North, when it opens in the new year.
The decision to choose the Kordyban Lodge as a charity was easy for Peterson, who had to travel for her treatments. Although most of them took place in Vancouver where she had family to stay with, Peterson met with many people who stayed in the Canadian Cancer Society lodge in the Lower Mainland and was impressed with the level of service they received.
"They were so appreciative of the fact they had a place where they could go, where they were treated with such dignity and such respect and cared for with such genuine love by the staff, I thought, 'wow, this is a fantastic resource for families,' " she said.
