Accepting the harsh realities is one thing while living with it is a whole different aspect that requires some fortitude. Ultimately succumbing to the pain to finally ending up in despair isn’t what any cancer patient should be doing. Several patients tend to submit themselves to the impersonal medical treatments due to the desperation. On the other hand, many others take the courage to face it positively and educate themselves about every vital detail. They empower themselves by controlling the therapies and providing themselves with all information that is otherwise fed to them through the doctors.
Cancer patients are now widely adopting this method that this trend has been accepted even in mainstream medicine. When the patients feel that they have nothing more to hope for, a few simple steps and decisions in life can help them lead healthier lives. Here are a few tips for developing the right strategies for living through the illness and getting adequate personal support.
1. What to Do First?
You could feel like the world around is crumbling when the diagnosis turns out to be positive. The period that you are affected by cancer is indeed hard to endure, but some fortitude can surely take you through the struggles to the light at the end of that tunnel. When you find the result to be positive, the first thing you need to do is to find the best doctor in your town for the disease. Travel long distances if necessary, and get opinions of different doctors and finalize on the doctor that you feel would give you the best treatment. Make sure to design a proper healing plan by changing the lifestyle and creating a good support system. The most crucial point is not to forget to live; take that ride to the park and enjoy the conversations, and forget about the illness.
2. You Must Know the Questions
Studies have proven that cancer patients who were equipped with sufficient knowledge about the fight were able to come out of it faster. You should know what answers you need to the pain that you are going through, and ask the questions accordingly. Here are a few questions that you must include in that list to ask a doctor.
- Causes for your type of cancer
- Risk factors and genetic effects
- Changes in lifestyle required
- The activities to avoid
- What stage of cancer
- Chances for the disease to go to remission
- Recommended treatment
- If your cancer has spread
- Where to find the right emotional support
- Whether you can contact him/her after office hours
3. Best Chance to Beat the Cancer
The five-year survival rate is the scale that is used to measure the success of treatments. It is the number of patients who managed to live through the disease for five years after being diagnosed. Each type of cancer will have a different five-year survival rate, in which prostate has the highest with about 99% and pancreas cancer the least with 5%.
