To the newly diagnosed
Empower yourself
So … you, or someone close to you, has just been diagnosed
with cancer.
You feel your world has been turned upside down.
You have been dragged into this seemingly unending treadmill of consultations, tests, scans, reports, hope and despair. You are called on to make decisions, but you struggle to even understand the questions. You feel unempowered, bewildered.
This website is designed to show that you have time, you have options and there are resources available to help you find your way. This is important. There is an emerging revolution in the treatment of cancer, and there are new opportunities you may wish to explore with your doctors.
The decisions you are about to take may well affect the rest of your life;
Take control, empower yourself … know your enemy.
And more than anything, try to keep these things in mind:
There
is hope
Cancer is not an automatic death sentence. Cancer is far
more treatable than it used to be. There are a number of new treatment options
available that simply did not exist a decade or two ago. We show this in our
book.
You have options
Do not panic. Unless your doctor
specifically instructs you otherwise, you are under no obligation or pressure
to start treatment immediately. There will be time for you to consider your
options. For example, this is what the American Cancer Society recommends for
the newly diagnosed.
“Treatment decisions should be made after you have
learned all you can about your diagnosis, prognosis, and available treatment
options. This can take time, depending on the type of cancer you have. In a few
cancers, there are some treatment decisions that must be made right away. But
usually, you can take some time to think about them, and you should think about
them. If you are concerned about waiting to start treatment, you should talk to
your doctor.”
Arm yourself with knowledge
Remember that this is a battle. Get to know your enemy. Each
incidence of cancer has uniqueness, including yours. And, if your cancer is
more advanced or progresses, it will start changing and evolving. Your battle
may well become a war. Your struggle may become long, go through many different
treatments and indeed through many different doctors as well. You will be the
primary constant throughout this journey.
You can thus empower yourself through knowledge about your
specific and unique cancer. This will enable you to partner with your doctors
in choosing from the many different options along the way.
Don't hesitate to ask for help
If you are not in the habit of gathering information or
reading up about cancer or you might even be too ill or despondent for the task
– we implore you to try to get a close acquaintance to help guide you through
this.
How to use this website
This site is directed at people who have been diagnosed with
cancer. It is designed to help people understand their cancer so that they can then
participate meaningfully with their doctors in working through treatment
options and decisions. It can be used in one of two ways.
If you have recently been diagnosed
For the newly diagnosed, it will help you to navigate the
immediate maelstrom that has hit you. This is not the time to get involved in
lengthy books and scientific arguments. You rather want guidelines as to what
questions to ask, what information to seek and what decisions to make.
For you we have developed a Know Thy Enemy page.
This will help you to understand:
- What cancer is
- The three main classes of cancer from a
treatment point of view
- How to position your particular cancer and its key features, and hence - The main issues you should be discussing with your doctor.
For those facing a longer yourney
The second purpose is to support those who are embarking on
a longer journey with an advanced cancer, which, as we will see, is a wily,
evolving, and ever-changing enemy.
For you, we have written a book to help you build a firm
foundation of knowledge about cancer and treatment options. This will help
empower you to research your particular cancer and to participate in
decision-making with your doctors throughout the long journey you are quite
likely facing with your disease.
This document is best read when you download it in PDF-format