YOUR CANCER YOUR LIFE – RIGHT TO TREATMENT BY EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONERS (EXAMLE)

Every year, medical diagnosis and treatment become more and more complicated. No one doctor can possibly know everything about the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.-For this reason doctors specialise. Whenever you consider having any specialised diagnostic or treatment method you have the right to insist on referral to someone who is qualified and experienced in the use of that method.

For example, say you have a shadow in your lung which looks like cancer. You may be advised that, to make a diagnosis, a specimen must be taken with a needle passed through the skin and lung guided by X-rays. Make sure this is done by someone who has had plenty of experience with the method. An experienced person is more likely to succeed in getting a good specimen without puncturing your lung or causing undue pain.

You may have a cancer of the lower bowel and be advised to have this removed, leaving you with a colostomy (bowel ending in an opening on the abdominal wall). Ask to be referred to a surgeon who has done a lot of these operations. A well placed and well constructed colostomy is quite easy to look after, a poorly placed and badly constructed colostomy is a nightmare.

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CANCER-FIGHTING AND HEALING RECIPES: SALAD DRESSINGS

Antioxidant Dressing

125 ml low-fat acidophilus yogurt

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons apple concentrate

50 grams cottage cheese

1 tomato

1 small red onion

1/2 red capsicum

3 cloves garlic

5 ml lime or lemon juice (fresh)

1 pinch of chilli powder

1 teaspoon flaxseed or linseed oil

Combine the yogurt, mustard, vinegar, apple concentrate and cottage cheese in a food processor. Blend until it forms a smooth mayonnaise texture. Peel and de-seed the tomato. Dice the flesh. Dice the onion and capsicum, and crush the garlic. Add all of the ingredients to the yogurt mayonnaise, together with lemon juice and chilli powder. Mix well and serve with salad.

Garlic Dressing

1 cup apple cider vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded

2-3 cloves garlic

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend for 1 minute. Place in a sealed jar and store in the refrigerator until needed.

Lemon Tahini Dressing

1 tablespoon tahini

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, crushed Pinch of sea salt

1/2 teaspoon apple juice or pear juice concentrate

Mix all ingredients together. Pour over salad.

Vitality Dressing

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil or organic flaxseed oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

If desired, chopped herbs for flavouring

1/2 lemon, squeezed

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or food processor. Pour over salad.

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AFTER CANCER: MORE HANDLES HELPING TO GET NEW LIFE

Cancer victims and cancer survivors are people in the same situation with a different frame of mind.

Focus on what you still have and what you have gained, not on what you have lost. Focus on what you can do, not on what you cannot do. Two people in the same situation can experience their lives completely differently, depending on how they focus. How you experience your life depends on your state of mind.

Control is an illusion.

Having cancer and undergoing cancer treatment make you painfully aware of how little control you have over important things in your life. Checkups, posttreatment medical problems, and social problems can be unwelcome reminders of your vulnerability. Remember that complete control is an illusion. Your” cancer did not create a loss of control; it revealed the lack of control. If anything, the tools and strengths that you can gain through your cancer experience will allow you to exercise more control over your life after cancer.

Pursue things that help; avoid things that do not.

You can shape your environment by choosing the tools you use to cope. The more tools you have, the more flexibility you will have for coping well with different situations. Support groups, helping others, reading, long discussions, private time, and exercise will be helpful or harmful depending on the circumstances and your feelings at the moment. Be willing to try varied activities and approaches over and over in order to find what works best for you at the time.

Learn to control your reaction to bad thoughts or feelings.

Isolated thoughts do not cause cancer recurrence. Everyone has unpleasant or pessimistic thoughts. Recognize these thoughts, accept them as normal phenomena, and then shift to more constructive, optimistic thoughts. You cannot always stop bad thoughts, but you can control your reaction to them. If you are troubled by frequent, persistent negative thoughts, counseling will help you sort out the source of these thoughts, find healthy ways to react, and thus gain control over them.

AFTER CANCER: TALKING ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE AND SEXUAL FUNCTIONS WITH DOCTOR

What If I Am Reluctant to Talk about Ну Sexual Function with Ну Oncologist?

Many people are reluctant to mention sexual concerns to their oncologists. This may be because you

• are embarrassed or ashamed of your loss of sexual function •see your oncologist as someone who deals with life-and-death

decisions, making your concern about sexual function appear petty

•are grateful to have survived and do not want to appear ungrateful by complaining

• do not want to deal with any more medical issues

Your ability to function sexually at a level that is satisfactory to you and your partner is an important factor in your overall quality of life.

What If I Have Tried to Talk with My Oncologist about Sexual Difficulties But Obtained No Satisfactory Answers or Advice?

If you tried to communicate your concerns about sexual function but were too uncomfortable to deal with it or if your doctor seemed uncomfortable or unable to deal with the topic, look for help elsewhere. Professionals who are well trained and comfortable dealing with issues of sexuality include

• gynecologists

• urologists

• psychologists specializing in sexual dysfunction

You can obtain information about sex counselors with experience in problems resulting from physical illness by calling the Cancer Information Service.

(for men) Has My Treatment Affected My Ability to Father Children?

Radiation therapy to the testicles can cause sterility. Whether or not it is permanent depends on

• your age when treated

• the total dose of radiation received

•use of concomitant chemotherapy

Chemotherapy can also cause temporary or permanent sterility. Sterility is the more likely and has a greater chance of being permanent,

• the older you are when treated

• the higher the total dose of chemotherapeutic agents known to cause sterility

• the longer the duration of exposure to chemotherapeutic agents known to cause sterility

• the larger the number of drugs used that are known to cause sterility

Is Posttreatment Sterility Ever Reversible?

Yes. Men and women have been known to regain fertility twelve to sixty months following completion of cancer treatment.

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AFTER CANCER: WHAT TO DO IF FATIGUE IS INTERFERING WITH SEXUAL FUNCTION?

Explore the various causes of diminished sexual function, and address those that apply to you. You cannot force sexual function to return quickly, but you can facilitate its return by

• seeing the change as one of the many aftereffects of your cancer experience

• aiming to develop a sexual balance with your partner that may, of necessity, be different from the earlier balance

• accepting the reality that things will be different for a while, if not forever

• trying to be patient

• developing new ways to express affection and sexuality that do not deplete your energy reserves

Remember that your partner, too, has to adjust to the changes brought on by your illness and recovery. He or she may be dealing with many of the factors that are bothering you, such as grief, anxiety, depression, anger, and depleted emotional and physical reserves. Moreover, a solution or balance that works for you may be unacceptable to your partner. Simple caressing may satisfy your needs, but not your partner’s. Anytime that two people’s needs and goals get out of synchrony, honest and caring dialogue helps them approach a mutually acceptable solution.

Before blaming any sexual difficulties on fatigue or the cancer experience, reflect on how things were going prior to your illness. Current difficulties may merely be the continuation or reappearance of old problems. If you had sexual difficulties before, chances are that the stress of your treatment and recovery has not helped (although some people do settle problems and attain a new level of intimacy during the cancer treatment phase). Apply the insights and tools gained during your treatment and recovery to any current difficulties; long-standing problems may, at last, be resolved.

Sexuality can be difficult to discuss with your partner under the best of circumstances. Encourage a sharing of feelings and concerns. If you cannot figure out how to broach the subject with your loved one, or if you have tried unsuccessfully, ask your doctor or nurse for referral to someone skilled in dealing with the effects of illness on relationships. Time alone is often a great healer. But why wait? Quality counseling may enable you and your partner to reach a new equilibrium faster. This not only prevents or minimizes the added stress of sexual difficulties; it also gives you the benefit of the psychological lift and emotional comfort of resumed relations.

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AFTER CANCER: WHAT IF I FEEL LESS FAMILIAR WITH OR LESS SURE ABOUT НУ BODY?

As you grow up, you learn the strengths and weaknesses of your body. By the time you are an adult, you know whether you are double-jointed or inflexible, a sprinter or a long-distance runner, resistant or susceptible to infections, mellow or hyper-excitable, a heavy or a light sleeper, a pessimist or an optimist “by nature,” sensitive to foods or able to eat anything that doesn’t walk, and so on.

Cancer and cancer therapy can upset patterns that have been set for a long time and have come to feel comfortable in identifying “you.” Being different in a few or many ways is unsettling, especially if unexpected and undesired. You do not know what to expect of your body or emotions, so you do not know what the rules are any more. You have become unfamiliar with the body and emotions you always knew best—your own.

If before your episode with cancer all sore throats, coughs, headaches, stomachaches, or backaches cleared up by themselves if left alone, you learned that these things did not need medical attention or intervention. Now that you have had cancer and cancer therapy, some of these symptoms may signal a problem for you that need early intervention to prevent a more serious illness. The same symptoms that you had before your cancer now have different implications. Depending on your type of cancer, your type of treatment, your medical condition before cancer, and your style of dealing with symptoms, you may need to become reacquainted with your body and learn a new style for dealing with its signals.

Bodily changes happen to all people as they get older, but they happen over decades. Gradual changes allow gradual acceptance and adaptation. Cancer and its treatment cause enormous changes practically overnight. Unfortunately, the acceptance and adaptation still take a long time. There is a disparity between how quickly the changes occurred and affected your life and how quickly you can absorb the changes and adjust. This disparity causes a sense of unfamiliarity and stress.

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AFTER CANCER: DEALING WITH CHILDREN

What Do I Tell My Children about My Health after My Treatment Is Completed?

What you tell your children will depend on what you have told them so far, how they are dealing with your illness, how old and mature they are, and what the specifics of your circumstances are.

In general, it is best to tell them the truth about all aspects of y₀ur health that affect them. Inform them whether you have any _cancer left, whether you need any further treatments, and what to expect over the next few weeks to months (as much as you can predict). Everything should be said in a hopeful and optimistic way-Be prepared to repeat yourself over the next few months and years. Your children will hear only what they are ready to hear. As they mature, even week to week, they become ready to absorb more information.

Do I Need to Tell Them Everything?

Absolutely not. You need to talk to them only about things that affect their world. You do not have to tell them every time you go for a checkup. However, if you have to take your children with you, or if you are going to come home with Band-Aids in your elbow creases, then they must be told. If you leave it to their imagination to figure out why you were at the doctor, they will very likely come up with a more frightening reason than your routine cancer follow-up.

You do not need to report every symptom you have. However, if you suffer headaches or irritability from your medication, or if you have pain that makes it difficult to walk long distances, tell them. Otherwise, you leave it open for your children to conclude that you are irritable because you are unhappy or angry with them, or that you do not want to go to the park, because you do not want to be with them. They may not be happy about your limitations, but they will understand.

Children should be protected from the anxiety of waiting for test results and from the ups and downs of evaluating potential problems. Your children do not need to know that your blood tests indicate a slight elevation of liver enzymes and that your doctor is going to recheck it in two weeks. When you know something definite that will change the circumstances at home, let your children in on it.

Try to avoid telling them about problems about which they cannot do anything. They cannot appreciate, let alone affect, your concerns about the medical bills. If your medical expenses necessitate a noticeable change in lifestyle, you can present it as a fact of life that your treatments are expensive. You would pay for treatments for any member of the family, and you are glad that the treatments are available. Feeling sorry for your children tells them to feel sorry for themselves. Adjusting to the change in financial status teaches your children about sacrifice as well as about facing challenge and loss.

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