By Mayo Clinic Staff — 2021
Here are five steps to guide you in becoming a partner with your doctor in determining and guiding your cancer treatment.
Read on www.mayoclinic.org
CLEAR ALL
For the first time in forever, Nathan Adrian truly has no idea if he’ll have a strong swim Friday. And at this point, it doesn’t really matter to the five-time Olympic gold medalist. He’s simply elated to be back.
‘Skin cancer worked its way into my lymph nodes. I was devastated.’
1
Nothing can prepare you for the immense number of complicated, sometimes life-or-death decisions the disease forces you to make about your own treatment.
I had just learned I carry a genetic mutation that puts me at an incredibly high risk for a rare stomach cancer.
A sage piece of advice I’d gotten once was to never make any big life decision in an emotional state. Always give yourself time. But what happens when you don’t have time? No person with cancer has the luxury of time. I sure didn’t. So what happens then?
Your cancer care team will teach you about your treatment options. But, there’s lots of information about cancer treatments available from other sources, too. There’s also a lot of misinformation out there.
While some may say cancer does not discriminate, certain demographic groups bear a disproportionate burden as it relates to incidence, prevalence, mortality, survivorship, outcomes, and other cancer-related measures.
Information and conversation are key to facing the challenges of care
We each have the power within ourselves to make this diagnosis seem like a gift. Use it to weed out the toxic relationships and reinforce the positive support squad you deserve.
2
You not calling, as a friend, can actually compound the grief and loss they are feeling. Just pick up the phone, even if you get it wrong, just have a conversation and do your best. Your friend with cancer is still the same person they were before.