At Home With Cancer; At Home With Heart Disease

Ronald J. Pion, M.D. is the on-camera host for these two programs in the "Aftercare Video" series targeted toward individuals who are coping with cancer treatment and post-heart surgery. In At Home With Cancer, viewers are given some positive psychology concerning self-image and relationships with others, before examining the various treatments which cancer patients may undergo: surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or some combination of the above. Interviews with both patients and nurses offer professional advice as well as personal testaments concerning different situations cancer patients are likely to face. The program concludes on an upbeat note with a section entitled: "Worthy of Every Moment." The general nature of much of the material in this program becomes evident upon watching At Home With Heart Disease, where several chunks of narration are transferred whole from the At Home With Cancer program. Here, there is greater attention paid to medicines--those commonly used for coronary diseases, both their functions and a listing of possible side effects. The second half of the program examines lifestyle, demonstrating how to monitor blood pressure, offering suggestions for exercise, and advising patients in recovery to eliminate those factors (smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, stress) which may have contributed to their heart problems originally. Both of the programs are medically sound, and contain enough useable information to be of some practical use, without overloading viewers with specifics which may or may not apply in their cases. As much inspirational as instructional, these programs are recommended and affordable for public libraries. The other program available in the series is At Home With Diabetes. (Available from: AftaCare Communications Inc., 610 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660; 1-800-762-2698.)