Be Prepared: The Complete Financial, Legal, and Practical Guide to Living with Cancer, HIV, and Other Life-Challenging Conditions

by David Landay

Be Prepared offers the most comprehensive and accessible guidebook ever assembled to help people with a life-challenging condition, as well as their families and friends, cope with the financial, legal, and practical issues of illness, disability, and death.

If you are confronting a life-threatening condition and facing challenges to your finances, work, and future, you no longer need to struggle alone. In Be Prepared,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312253745
• ISBN13: 9780312253745
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Truely a great resource for those in need.

Before I start my review let me just say I read the previous reviews for this book and I don't understand the ranting of Betty Burk's review. It is very clear that she has not read this book and is on some personal vendetta against the gay culture. It's amazing how she speaks out about name calling from "bullies" on the internet but has no problem with singling out young gay men as being "evil." I hope Betty is judged as she judges others. At age 34, I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that has metasized to my liver. At the time of my surgery to remove a large tumor from my colon, my oncologist gave me a 50% chance of living another two years. Today, I've survived over a year and a half of chemotherapy and still going strong. My wife discovered this book one day at our oncology clinic at a time where we where struggling with a lifetime cap on my health insurance and monthly bills from the hospital that would burn up the cap in a year. This book, though a little bit dated with the recent drug plans offered by Medicare, covers pretty much everything you should be thinking about when dealing with a life challenging condition. From dealing with your employer, your rights as a person with a disability, to private insurance and disability, and of course your options for long term care, social security, Medicare and Medicaid. It also encourages you as well as gives you hints on how you can take action as your own advocate. I highly recommend anyone facing a life challenging illness or disability to read at least the first chapter of this book. The chapters are well listed and you can skip very easily to the places you are most interested in. I'd also encourage family members to read it as well. Overall, it's a wealth of information written in "grandma's english" which makes it very easy to understand. I thank David Landay for providing us with this great resource.

Extremely thorough guide

Be Prepared seems to have been written for people with AIDS and cancer, but its recommendations apply to anyone facing health problems and any kind of financial difficulty. The author guides you through getting disability, maintaining health insurance, getting other benefits that may be available to you and getting all your papers and affairs in order.These steps help you keep control of your life when health problems could otherwise overwhelm you. As Landay says, "preparing for the worst allows you to expect the best." I followed his recommendations in coping with multiple sclerosis and applied some of them in my book The Art of Getting Well.It's not always the easiest read; it's long and packed with info and resources. But I consider it a vital reference; I don't know of an equal one on the topic.David Spero RN www.davidsperoRN.com

Everyone Should Have This Book

Be Prepared is an incredible compilation of useful and practical information for anyone dealing with serious illness. When my mother was diagnosed with Liver Disease, I had no idea where to turn to get answers to a number of our questions regarding insurance and financial matters - our family attorney didn't even have all the information compiled here. I am grateful that a friend gave me a copy of Be Prepared... Not only did it provide me with the tools to evaluate our situation realistically, it also pointed me in the right direction to deal with issues that hadn't even crossed our minds. I highly recommend Be Prepared to anyone facing the challenges of a serious illness.

A much needed life saver

Living with a life challenging condition is incredibly difficult. Help in negotiating the maze of applying for help is a wonderful gift.

This book is exactly as titled and promised.

This is the information I wish I had had when diagnosed with cancer 11 years ago. I told my oncologist not to give a malignancy diagnosis without also giving the patient this book.The author's philosophy of expecting the best while also being prepared for the worst is right on the money.