For cancer patients, diagnosis and treatment may pose the biggest challenge of their lives. That’s why a close relationship with their doctor is critical to surviving and thriving after a cancer diagnosis. But sometimes, patients feel isolated and find it hard to communicate their deepest feelings, fears and hopes to their family, friends and even their own doctor.
Recently, our online community, Cancer Fighters, which unites people who are fighting the disease, asked cancer patients: If you could tell your doctor one thing about life with cancer, what would it be?
This article shares six key takeaways:
- Help me keep a positive mental attitude
- My past life is gone, my new life is tough
- Treatment and side effects are as difficult as the cancer itself
- Cancer does not define me
- The battle doesn’t end when treatment is over
- Teamwork is the best way forward
If you or a loved one is concerned about possible signs or symptoms of cancer and would like an initial appointment or a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 877-460-4673.
Help Me Keep a Positive Mental Attitude
One of the biggest challenges for some cancer patients is not to give in to despair or give up on hope for the future. After a diagnosis, it’s normal and natural to be fearful and anxious. And treatment itself poses challenges.
Cancer patients want their doctors to know that it’s not easy to stay positive, and they themselves shouldn’t give in to fear and anxiety, even though they know it’s essential to maintaining a high quality of life — for themselves and their loved ones. And doctors may be in the best position to help by offering support, advice, resources and expert suggestions on how to address those challenges.
As one Cancer Fighters member said: “I’m a six-time colon cancer survivor, and now I have a mass on the left side of my throat…but my best thing that I have to tell everyone (is maintain) a positive mental attitude! No matter what, I just keep looking at the future."
“A positive outlook is important not only for individual patient emotional wellness but also to help patients optimally deal with the potential side effects of a treatment program,” says Maurie Markman, M.D., president of medicine and science at City of Hope® Cancer Centers in Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix.
My Past Life Is Gone, My New Life Is Tough
For many cancer patients, a diagnosis will forever divide their lives into before and after they got the news — and they want doctors to know surviving cancer means building an entirely new life and that they may need their provider’s help in putting one foot in front of the other.
One Cancer Fighters member put it this way: “My life before cancer is gone, and my new life as a cancer survivor is very tough.”
Said another: “Survivorship is hard.”
Treatment and Side Effects Are as Difficult as the Cancer Itself
Cancer treatment poses its own set of challenges — including side effects from surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or other treatments and the physical, and mental, difficulties that come with recovery.
“Treatment is a continuous battle all by itself,” said one Cancer Fighters member who has had to deal with lymphedema from her therapy, in addition to her cancer.
Added another: “The side effects left after chemotherapy are just as bad as the cancer was. I will never be able to do anything again. The severe bone pain, neuropathy, chemo brain, lung damage on oxygen 24/7…. It is very hard.”
Some suggested doctors spend more energy helping their patients balance the risk and benefits of treatment with quality-of-life considerations.
“We don’t want a prescription for everything we experience,” said one Cancer Fighters member. “Is a pill always the best way to go?”
Cancer Does Not Define Me
The transition from cancer patient to cancer survivor is a critical bridge to a new life after a cancer diagnosis. But patients also want their doctors to know that “cancer patient” is not the definition of who they are. Treating them as individuals with personal, often heroic, stories to share — and not just “disease cases” — is important.
“The cancer is not what defined who I am,” said one Cancer Fighters member. “I had a disease. I am still me. You and God helped me become not just a cancer survivor, but a thriver. I have a story, and it may help others become thrivers as well.”
The Battle Doesn’t End When Treatment is Over
Even after a patient is declared cancer-free, the fight to maintain a high quality of life and positive outlook is a lifelong struggle, several Cancer Fighters members said. Doctors need to know their patients don’t simply resume normal lives after undergoing even successful cancer treatment — as if nothing ever happened to them. Survivorship itself is a challenge, and patients need support from their health care providers, sometimes for life.
As one Cancer Fighters member put it: “We no longer feel safe in our own bodies, and when we leave active treatment, we feel abandoned.”
Surviving cancer is like recovering from any other life trauma, and patients want their doctors to know successful cancer treatment involves more than just medicine, surgery or radiation therapy. Quality-of-life issues must be taken into account, from diagnosis through treatment and beyond.
Teamwork Is the Best Way Forward
Several Cancer Fighters members said promoting a sense of teamwork — before, during and after treatment — is perhaps the most important thing cancer doctors may do for their patients.
Some patients may feel they are waging their battles alone, and that few people are able to understand what they’re going through. That’s why it’s important for doctors to know how much their patients value having them in their corner for the fight of their lives.
Said one Cancer Fighters member: “I am so glad you all were there to fight with me.”
Added another: “I’m so glad you’re on my side.”
Several Cancer Fighters members suggested the best way to foster that sense of teamwork is for doctors to be candid about the challenges but also make clear they’ll be with their patients every step of the way.
Doctors should continually remind their patients that cancer treatment and survivorship is a journey, not a destination. As two Cancer Fighter members said, doctors should urge every patient to “put one foot in front of the other” and say: “It is what it is; let’s do this!”
If you or a loved one is concerned about possible signs or symptoms of cancer and would like an initial appointment or a second opinion, call us 24/7 at 877-460-4673.