Dancing in Limbo

Life After Cancer

I immediately wanted to recommAnd this book to my patients. [It]will serve as a roadmap to help cancer patients anticipate feelingsand stages of the coping process. It will help demystify thecomplex and often baffling set of experiences on the uncertain pathof cancer survivorship.
--Elisabeth Targ, M.D., Geraldine Brush Cancer Research Institute,California Pacific Medical Center

An intimate and inspiring account of the authors' real-lifeexperiences of surviving cancer. The authors provide astraightforward account of what life is like after the whirlwind ofdoctors' visits and radical treatments comes to an And. Breaking the Silence.

Waking Up in Limbo.

Why Me?

Taking the First Steps: Fears of Recurrence.

Beginning to Dance: Grieving Our Losses.

Side-Stepping the Dance: The Illusion of Control.

Social Dancing After Cancer.

Making Sense of Life. "Dancing in Limbo is filled with deeply moving, personal insightsinto the hopes, fears, and triumphs of cancer survivors who havetransformed the threat of imminent death into a celebration of life... must reading for all cancer patients, their families, friAnds,and health care providers." (Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier, author ofSound Mind, Sound Body and Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer)

"This is fabulous and very brave writing. Everyone with alife-threatening illness should read this. Everyone who lovessomeone with a life-threatening illness should read this. Actually,come to think of it, everyone who wants to be more fully presentfor their life should read itafter all, we're all terminal on thisbus." (Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird and OperatingInstructions)

"I immediately wanted to recommAnd this book to my patients. [It]will serve as a roadmap to help cancer patients to anticipatefeelings and stages of the coping process. It will help demystifythe complex and often baffling set of experiences on the uncertainpath of cancer survivorship." (Elisabeth Targ, M.D., GeraldineBrush Cancer Research Institute, California Pacific MedicalCenter)

"Here's a book that finally tells the truth about living in limbo.For those who are surviving cancer, it provides validation,support, and guidance in coping with the threat of recurrence ... aprocess that stretches into the years following a cancer diagnosis.For families, friAnds, and health professionals, it eloquently andpowerfully portrays the emotional experience of life aftercancer--helping us to better understand, admire, and learn fromthose who have had to confront their mortality and are foreverchanged by this experience." (Andrew W. Kneier, Ph.D., clinicalpsychologist, UCSF/Mount Zion Cancer Center)

"Dancing in Limbo leads readers through the dark morass of griefover so many losses to the new, positive identity of a survivor.The authors, Glenna and Lisa, quickly become companion travelers,offering wise counselor and helpful insights that guide the readerthrough what otherwise would remain an agonizing worry anddarkness." (Neil Fiore, Ph.D., author of The Road Back to Health:Coping with the Emotional Aspects of Cancer (1990)) GLENNA HALVORSON-BOYD is a national consultant to health care organizations and has a doctorate in Human Development. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband. She survived oral cancer over ten years ago. LISA K. HUNTER is a partner in Health and Education Communication Consultants, Berkeley, California. She earned her doctorate in Human Development. She lives in Healdsburg, California. She is a three-year survivor of melanoma. Dancing in Limbo is the intimate and inspiring account of authors Glenna Halvorson-Boyd and Lisa K. Hunter's real-life experiences of surviving cancer. They are straightforward about what life is like after the whirlwind of doctors' visits and radical treatments comes to an And. In the aftermath of this intensely focused period, survivors are often unprepared for their feelings of confusion and disorientation. Questions such as "If I am one of the lucky ones, why am I feeling so blue?" are surprisingly common. As this thoughtful book reveals, for those who survive cancer, life is never the same again.Dancing in Limbo weaves the authors' stories with those of other survivors who tackle the difficult question of what it means to really live. To recreate lives of meaning and purpose, survivors face a myriad of emotional issues. The book shows how survivors deal with loss, fear, anger, hope, and grief. Using personal examples, the authors offer down-to-earth advice on topics including:

• Loneliness of survival.
• How to live with uncertainty without going crazy.
• Fears of reoccurrence and the wisdom of those worries.
• The losses that must be grieved in order to move forward.
• The courage to live with fear and uncertainty without falling into despair.
• The effect of survivor issues on our most intimate relationships.
• and much more.

Dancing in Limbo is written for the more than eight million people who have survived cancer, their families, friAnds, and caregivers. Dancing in Limbo is the intimate and inspiring account of authors Glenna Halvorson-Boyd and Lisa K. Hunter's real-life experiences of surviving cancer. They are straightforward about what life is like after the whirlwind of doctors' visits and radical treatments comes to an end. In the aftermath of this intensely focused period, survivors are often unprepared for their feelings of confusion and disorientation. Questions such as "If I am one of the lucky ones, why am I feeling so blue?" are surprisingly common. As this thoughtful book reveals, for those who survive cancer, life is never the same again.
Dancing in Limbo weaves the authors' stories with those of other survivors who tackle the difficult question of what it means to really live. To recreate lives of meaning and purpose, survivors face a myriad of emotional issues. The book shows how survivors deal with loss, fear, anger, hope, and grief. Using personal examples, the authors offer down-to-earth advice on topics including:

• Loneliness of survival.
  
• How to live with uncertainty without going crazy.
  
• Fears of reoccurrence and the wisdom of those worries.
  
• The losses that must be grieved in order to move forward.
  
• The courage to live with fear and uncertainty without falling into despair.
  
• The effect of survivor issues on our most intimate relationships.
  
• and much more.

Dancing in Limbo is written for the more than eight million people who have survived cancer, their families, friends, and caregivers.