HOW TO LIVE: Although knowledge of available treatments is helpful, how do you know where to turn when you receive a cancer diagnosis? Amy Abernethy, M.D., an oncologist at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C., helps patients dealing with cancer every day. She says one of the most important steps you can take when dealing with your own diagnosis is to find a doctor you're comfortable with. "It needs to be someone you can trust," Dr. Abernethy told Ivanhoe. "This is a person who you can talk to, who you can have a real conversation with, even when you're scared and you don't know what else to do." She also advises gathering a group of medical professionals together to talk to you about your case. Developing a long-term treatment plan is also a good idea. The plan should account for the possibility of things not going as expected. Another good tip is to ask your doctor about clinical trials for your particular type of cancer. "If you've got a rare kind of cancer, a cancer that hasn't been shown to be previously responsive to chemotherapy or radiation, then a clinical trial may be the best plan up front," Dr. Abernethy said. If you need to prepare for the worst, don't be afraid to make the plans surrounding death and caring for your family thereafter. Dr. Abernethy says doing things like arranging your funeral, taking care of your will and doing financial planning for your family are often a positive experience. "One of the special things about people with cancer is that often, in a very loving way, they're taking care of the people around them as much as the people around them are taking care of the person with cancer," she said.
For More Information, Contact:
The American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org
The American Society of Clinical Oncology
http://www.asco.org
The National Institutes of Health
http://www.cancer.gov
