The words “You have cancer” have just landed in your head and there’s an instant hum or buzz that’s taken over. You’re watching your doctor’s lips keep moving, but not a word is landing in the lobe where thinking and processing was so easy just a few minutes ago. Your brain has shut off.
The switch has been flipped, at least for a while.
When you come back around to the new reality that is now your life, my guess is your care giver who heard those same words has suggested it’s time to take a walk through the internet and find out what all those words, your doctor used, really means.
Tread lightly is all I can tell you. There should be a cancer glossary that comes with every type of cancer, so when you dive into the internet in search of answers, there’s a stock of words with meanings attached, to make it a little more understandable.
Blood draw and red and white count, chemotherapy, radiation, those are all pretty commonly known these days, but if you’re headed for a clinical trial and your research nurse is talking about phases, or placebo’s or blind studies, you really need that glossary.
Cancer is a complicated disease. The words that go with it can make it a real challenge.
So before you start to read up on treatments, and descriptions of what’s going on in your body, stop and ask your medical team to explain the words they’ll be using first. When you grow your vocabulary in cancer world, you’re way ahead of the game.
May 5, 2016 @ 9:28 am
I am still here and reading….just don’t post often. I am still supporting my friends who are in the fight. Some newly diagnosed..bladder and prostate cancer while one friend is a melanoma warrior personified. Melanoma has invaded lots of her organs, her brain over the years but she has fought mightily and has succeeded in holding it at bay. New treatments come along and offer HOPE and in many cases, results, to return them to NED. The vocabulary of cancer has evolved to keep pace with treatments, tests, measures, etc. Some of the most important words will never change….HOPE, Faith, Trust, Belief, NED. Perhaps there are others but these come to mind for me.
April 27, 2016 @ 6:27 pm
You are so right. This has long been one of the frustrations our family has experienced with bystanders who hear you have cancer…and they have the cure! There are hundreds of cancers, not one. Each patient reacts differently to each treatment. How the cancer has behaved up to the present time affects the efficacy of a treatment. Treatments given in the past affect the current treatment. Are there genetic mutations? Has it metastasized? So many questions, and the only sure answers come with time. Thankfully, researchers are learning more and doctors can make educated guesses, but it really is a wait and see approach no matter what point you are at. Getting diagnosed? Wait and see. Trying a new treatment? Wait and see? Is it still working? Wait and see. NED? For how long? Wait and see. Can we plan that vacation? Wait and see.