Diary 23: Advising Cancer Patient

Here is another email received on 3 February 2010.

“By the way, my colleague's breast cancer is at Stage 2. She refused to go for mastectomy, chemo & radiation, She wants to concentrate solely on alternate therapy. As at now, according to her, she has changed her diet & doing some qi gong exercises. I am pretty worried though because when I spoke to my boss about it, he was of the opinion that I should not confuse her and that she should think it through before she decides on alternate therapy especially when she is at stage 2.

I am confused myself, may I ask, what are the chances of recovery for such conditions with the alternate therapy? How about the chances of recurrence? I am very sorry to take up your time, but it is just pretty hurting to see this happening to people. My ex-colleague (a man) also passed away of nasal cancer back in 2001. I saw the sufferings he went through & it was 2nd recurrence for him but I salute as he was a great fighter until the very last moment.

Hope to hear from you soon & thank you very much again.”

Perhaps we need to see health and illness in totality. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, it is no more confined to her or his physical health. Health in totality involves body, mental and spiritual aspects. To face cancer is a positive way, we have to find the solutions in totality.

Secondly, before we advise others what to do, make sure that we have the knowledge and relevant experience. Hence, if the patient wishes to discuss with you the problems, provide options to think about, not advice on what to do.

Thirdly, every patient knows her or his conditions best: financial situation, family support… He or she should know best what to do. Respect their decisions.

Fourthly, perhaps it is important for patients to know that it is essential to do things that they have confidence. Do not do things based on hearsay, rumours and baseless claims. For example, if you are taking an apple, make sure that it is an apple. If you are not sure of what you are taking, think again whether you should take it. Your health is in your hands.

Finally, let’s learn something from friends and relatives diagnosed with cancer. Let’s take care of our health and not to become the next victims.