Updated April 28, 2015.

Bottom Line

Rob Harris is married to the love of his life - Cindy. When pain in her knee turns out to be cancer, he becomes her caregiver. This is a love story that travels through hospital rooms, chemotherapy infusion clinics, radiation bunkers, and doctors' consulting rooms, without losing a sense of humor, a jot of honesty, or the special glow between two people that really love each other. As Rob tells their story, he highlights the lessons he learned and passes along his tips for caregivers.

His strategies will prove useful to many ordinary people who become family caregivers - no matter what the disease or condition may be. Rob and Cindy are transformed through her two bouts with cancer as they learn ways to enjoy each day, even when times are rough.

Book Description

• Author: Rob Harris
• Publisher: Visual Impressions Publishing
• ISBN-13: 978-0984663248
• Publication date: May 25, 2012
• List Price: $ 19.95
• Ebook available for Kindle, $7.99
• Book Details: Paperback, 6x9", 284 pages

Quick Look

Pros

• Many practical tips for caregivers in all situations - not only cancer.
• The story covers a 30-year marriage with kids, careers, cancer, and friends.
• This is a very well told, easy to read, accessible story.
• Emotionally honest from good to bad - nothing candy-coated here.

Cons

• Few tips on how to deal with finances and insurance
• No photos of the family

Guide Review -- We're In This Together - A Caregiver's Story

Rob and Cindy Harris had a busy life, raising two young boys, and enjoying a new home. After having surgery on a painful knee, Cindy called Rob while he was away on a business trip and said, "Rob, I'm scared.

I need you." Together they plunged into a battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma - a fight that threatened to take her leg and her life. Rob became immersed in his wife's care, and was gradually transformed into her patient advocate, caregiver, record-keeper, nutritionist, and constant champion. He documents their mutual journey into the world of cancer treatment, and shares how he developed ways to make her life easier and safer during that first fight. Years later, when a rare sarcoma develops in the area that was radiated for lymphoma, they must fight again and make very tough decisions.

All through this moving and very personal story, Rob Harris plants his practical tips, advice, and thoughts for caregivers. Each tip is formatted so it is easy to find within the storyline - and the reader will see how each word of advice is based on experience. Caregivers will find many ideas for dealing with hospital stays, cranky doctors and crabby nurses, a patient who won't eat, a woman who is losing her hair or a significant body part, and ways to cope with the side effects of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. He also talks about how to work through your own feelings while staying honest with your loved one.

This isn't a breast cancer story, although Cindy's mother was in treatment for breast cancer and passed away while Rob and Cindy were stuck in the hospital. Cindy's mother was as supportive as she could be, given her health situation. Rob's family provided most of the hands-on support that was needed, helping with the home and the children - especially when they were young. This is a story of enduring love that provided the basis for strength to face the fight with cancer.

Who Should Buy

We're In This Together will be useful to anybody who is now, or soon may be, a caregiver. Rob Harris sows his hard-earned words of advice throughout this book and makes them easy to find. The tips, techniques, and advice are based on his personal experience of 20 years of caring for his wife. This book will be useful to caregivers who are helping a cancer patient, but I found that many of the tips and tricks would be useful to those who are caring for elderly parents with dementia, people with chronic diseases, or even patients who are recovering from injuries or significant surgeries.

About the author

Rob Harris has made a career of working as an accredited Human Resources professional. He has been the caregiver for his beloved wife Cindy for 20 years, through two bouts of cancer. He is working on a second book, which will be a Caregiver's Guide. The Harrises have two sons who are currently serving in the United Stated Army, with one son deployed in Afghanistan.