Archive for 'Cancer'
YOUR CANCER YOUR LIFE – RIGHT TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS (DIFFICULTIES IN EXERCISING YOUR RIGHT TO DECIDE – CONCLUSION)
Posted on May 12, 2009, under Cancer.
Having made your decision on treatment, another major difficulty may arise. The practitioner you prefer may not be able or willing to supervise the treatment of your choice. As a general rule, it is best if your treatment is supervised by a practitioner experienced in its use. Very sophisticated treatments such as radiotherapy can be given only by certain highly-qualified medical specialists (this is legally enforced). Any practitioner is entitled to refuse to supervise a treatment that he or she believes to be useless or unacceptably toxic, or significantly worse than another treatment. Thus, the practitioner with whom you feel most comfortable may not be able to supervise your chosen treatment. You may take this factor into account in making your choice, or a compromise such as I suggested earlier may work—you may be able to get the treatment from one practitioner and the emotional support and effective communication from another, such as your local doctor.
*19/40/1*
CANCER-FIGHTING AND HEALING RECIPES: LUSCIOUS SOUPS
Posted on April 22, 2009, under Cancer.
Beetroot soup
1 litre water
3 fresh beetroot, chopped
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon tamari
Boil the water and add chopped beetroot. Cook until the beetroot is soft and water has turned a beautiful pink colour. Add chopped onions, garlic and tamari. Add sea salt for flavour.
Chicken Lime Soup
1 litre vegetable stock
200 grams chicken breasts, skinless
100 grams tomatoes, chopped
100 grams onions, diced
2 chillies to flavour
125 ml fresh lime juice
1 handful green beans
Bring the vegetable stock to the boil and gently poach the chicken breasts in the stock until they are tender. Remove chicken from the stock, allow to cool slightly and then shred it. Add the shredded chicken to the stock, together with diced tomatoes, onions, chillies, lime juice, beans and snow peas. Bring the liquid to the boil and simmer until vegetables are tender. Serve hot.
Chicken Vegetable Soup
800 ml vegetable stock
100 grams organic chicken thighs, skinless and shredded (do not throw away the chicken bones)
6 shitake mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
Pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon tamari
1 teaspoon corn flour
1 zucchini, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
1 handful basil, chopped
Bring the vegetable stock to the boil and add shredded chicken, chicken bones, shitake mushrooms, chopped garlic and chopped spring onions. Season the stock with sea salt (pinch) and tamari, and simmer for 3 minutes. Thicken the soup with corn flour. Add the sliced zucchini and carrot. Cook until the carrot is tender and then remove from the heat. Remove the chicken bones. Garnish with basil and serve. The minerals from the chicken bones will boost your body’s immune system and help fight colds and the flu.
*223/34/5*
AFTER CANCER: HOW CAN I START TO RE-CREATE MY FUTURE?
Posted on March 12, 2009, under Cancer.
Figure out how much time you feel safe thinking about and stick to that time frame. If you feel fairly confident that you will be at least as healthy tomorrow as you are today, make plans to do something tomorrow—have lunch with someone, visit a park, or talk to a friend on the phone. When tomorrow comes, carry out your plans. As you feel better and get involved with non-cancer-related activities, you will feel safer about greater periods of your future. It takes time without medical problems to help you feel safe about the future.
Remember that people who have never had cancer usually focus most of their energies on the present and on the immediate future, and only occasionally on the distant future. Parents with very small children spend little time picturing their children as teenagers or young adults concerned about career and family life. Active, middle-aged people spend little time wondering or worrying about what event or illness will precipitate their death. Even very elderly people who are active and involved in the world around them focus on the immediate future.
When you catch yourself imagining bad outcomes to plans for the future, consciously adjust the picture in your mind to a good outcome. If you cannot do this, turn it off. You are not ready to deal with the future. Counseling may help you to sort out what fears are making it difficult for you to picture the future and to learn how to tame those fears.
Planning for the future does not control the future. It helps you live today and tomorrow. Planning to watch a special show on television or visit with a friend allows you the pleasure of anticipation and gives you a little foothold on the future. If it does not come to pass, little is lost.
Many survivors help diminish their anxiety about the future by consciously making plans. One woman buys a new outfit at end-of-the-season sales. She knows that she will not be able to wear it this year, but the purchase is her statement to herself that she plans to be around next year to wear it. One man renews his magazine subscriptions for three years at a time as his way of demonstrating his desire and will to be here. Instead of allowing his anxiety about his future to control him, he challenges his fear, giving him some sense of control.
Making plans for the future, even if the future is merely a few hours from now, is a way to validate and energize your present. Living in the present requires thoughts and actions that take you into the future.
*178/32/5*
AFTER CANCER: AFTEREFFECTS INVOLVING THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM (HORMONES)
Posted on March 12, 2009, under Cancer.
Am I at Risk for Low Thyroid (Hypothyroidism)?
Hypothyroidism is a fairly common medical condition independently of cancer. Your routine comprehensive exam by your internist or general practitioner includes evaluation of your thyroid. You are at an increased risk for developing low thyroid if you
• received radiation to the neck
• received radiation or surgery to the pituitary
• are on interferon
• are over fifty
If I Have Diabetes, and It Has Gotten out of Control, Why?
Diabetes can be affected adversely by
• weight gain or weight loss
• changes in absorption of food
• changes in absorption of diabetes medicine
• effects of cancer or cancer therapy
• effects of medications, such as steroids
Am I at Increased Risk for Developing Diabetes?
Your general medical exam includes an evaluation for diabetes. Diabetes is a common disease independently of cancer. Your treatment may have had no effect on your risk of developing diabetes, and you will or will not develop diabetes just as if you had never had cancer. On the other hand, your cancer treatment may have caused changes in your body that cause you to develop diabetes sooner than you would have otherwise.
Some people develop diabetes, temporarily or permanently, from their treatment, people who probably would never have developed diabetes otherwise. Your doctor can tell you whether any of your treatments increased your chance of developing diabetes.
What Are Symptoms of Diabetes?
Diabetes is marked by a loss of normal control of blood sugar. High blood sugar can cause such symptoms as
• increased thirst
• increased urination
• increased appetite •weight loss
• blurred vision
• poor wound healing
*84/32/5*
AFTER CANCER: AFTEREFFECTS. CANCER TREATMENT (QUESTIONS ABOUT COMPLICATIONS, LATE EFFECTS)
Posted on March 12, 2009, under Cancer.
If Cancer Treatment Causes Complications and Late Effects, Why Don’t Doctors Give Lower Doses of Treatment?
All cancer treatment seeks to strike the best balance between the cure or control of the original cancer and the prevention of complications from the therapy.
If too little cancer therapy is administered in the hope of sparing patients late effects, too many people will die from treatable or curable cancer because of undertreatment. Giving high-dose cancer therapy to everyone in the hope of avoiding undertreatment for the original cancer runs the risk that too many people will die from their treatment or survive with an unacceptably compromised quality of life.
Finding the optimal treatment for each individual patient is like walking a tightrope. Too little cancer treatment for the individual may mean dealing with persistent or recurrent cancer. Too much treatment may mean dealing with debilitating or life-threatening complications. Finding the right amount of treatment to maximize control or cure of your cancer and minimize treatment-related risks is a delicate balancing act.
Was My Treatment Worse Than My Original Disease?
No. If left untreated, most cancers will grow and cause symptoms such as pain, nausea, shortness of breath, and weakness. Uncontrolled cancer causes problems, such as bleeding, respiratory distress, bowel obstruction, infection, and malnutrition, that lead to death. No matter how difficult your cancer treatment, and no matter how many short- and long-term aftereffects you suffer from your treatment, your original cancer, if left untreated, would have become worse than your treatment.
You were treated aggressively to prevent your cancer from becoming a threat to your health and life. If you were diagnosed before you had any significant symptoms or problems, your treatment may have been worse than your early cancer. But it was not worse than the problems your cancer would have caused if it had not been arrested. Compare your treatment-related problems with those that would have developed with untreated cancer.
Why Did I Receive a Treatment That Has Known Late Effects?
Your cancer was a clear and present danger to your health and life. The treatment you received was felt to offer you the best chance of life, with an acceptable risk of future problems, given the treatment options available at the time you were diagnosed.
Your cancer treatments were given to you to protect you from the health- and life-threatening effects of untreated cancer.
Cancer treatments are improving daily. When you see better a safer treatments become available, remind yourself that they
•were not options for you at the time you were treated
• will be available for you if you ever need them in the future
• can be used to treat other people with your type of cancer
Your treatment decisions were based on the best information about the available choices. You did your best.
*57/32/2*
AFTER CANCER: WHAT IF I AM HIGHLY EMOTIONAL DURING THE HOLIDAYS?
Posted on March 12, 2009, under Cancer.
Holidays mark time and serve as the backdrop for important memories. They also provide an opportunity to express feelings that we are usually too busy or too self-conscious to share. Therefore it is not surprising that holidays may precipitate strong emotions after completion of cancer treatment.
During the holidays you are bombarded by clichés and sayings found in greeting cards and in holiday songs. After your cancer experience sentiments like “Being with you is all that matters” or “I am happy to have today” trigger strong emotions, because they are meaningful and personal in a new way.
Thoughts about how the holiday might have been had your cancer not responded to treatment may be mixed with thoughts of how it might have been had you never gotten cancer in the first place. You may wonder how many holidays you have left to celebrate. You grieve for what you did lose, what you could have lost, and what you may still lose.
Although the treatment period may have been a blur, you can probably remember how your cancer affected this holiday during your treatment and thus be reminded of a time that you might prefer to forget.
Expect strong emotions on holidays. Let every holiday be a celebration of your life and what you do have.
*144/32/5*
AFTER CANCER: MONEY
Posted on March 12, 2009, under Cancer.
What If Money Is a Difficult Topic to Think about and Discuss?
Cancer treatment is expensive. For most people, cancer treatment strains financial resources and security because of
• the cost of the treatments
• the cost of the follow-ups
• the cost of extra help required
• the cost of accessories (wig, hospital bed, new clothes, or walking aids to accommodate physical changes)
• the lost income of the cancer survivor
• the lost income of the support person who may have taken time off to help
Cancer survivors worry about money because they worry about
• their future medical expenses
• paying their current outstanding bills (this may be the first time that they have expenses greater than their means)
• future family financial security
• difficulty in getting or keeping a job
• future financial needs from crises not related to cancer
Cancer survivors feel guilty about money because
• their cancer consumed financial resources and makes future resources uncertain
• they are often unable to contribute to the financial recovery for a while
• the topic of money, often taboo under normal circumstances, can be especially so under the strained circumstances of recovery
• they may sense resentment by others at the hardship •people feel they are supposed to be “above” worrying about money when health is at stake
What If I Am Feeling Guilty and Worried about Money?
Find out which of your concerns are real and which imaginary. Share your concerns and feelings about your money situation with your family. Shared feelings are always more manageable. You may find out that some of your concerns were unfounded, that you are in better financial shape than you thought, or that your family truly does not resent or worry about your expenses.
If the subject of money has created genuine tensions in your family, they need to be addressed. Share your thoughts and concerns with support people and counselors if need be. Figuring out the sources of the tensions and finding workable solutions to practical and emotional issues will minimize the added strain of worry over finances.
Find out what you can do to ease your financial burdens. Get advice from financial counselors, social workers, and support groups (call the Cancer Information Service on 131120 for contact details).
Deal with your present financial concerns, and let go of distant future financial concerns for now. If you have young children at home, the year after completion of cancer treatment is not the time to worry about their university education.
*117/32/5*