Receiving a cancer diagnosis often triggers a strong emotional response. Some people experience shock, anger, and disbelief while others may feel intense sadness, fear and a sense of loss. Even the most supportive family members and friends cannot understand exactly how it feels to have cancer thus leading to a sense of loneliness and isolation in the patient.
Support groups decrease some level of stress as group members can share feelings and experiences that may seem too strange or too difficult to share with family and friends. Additionally, group dynamics create a sense of belonging that helps each person feel more understood and less alone.
Support group members may also discuss practical information like what to expect during treatment, how to manage pain and other side effects of treatment, how to communicate with health care providers and family members. While many studies have shown that support groups help people with cancer feel less depressed and anxious, support groups are not the right fit for everyone. Some people may benefit from other sources of support. Internet support groups have become increasingly popular in recent years and are a good option for those in remote areas who don’t have easy access to transportation or don’t feel comfortable sharing their experiences in person. They also allow people with rare types of cancer to communicate with others who have the same type of cancer through discussion groups, message boards, or bulletin boards that allow people to post a message and others can reply to it by typing messages back and forth.
The Greek work ‘Oncos’ described a benign swelling while a malignant swelling was called ‘Carcinos’ leading to the Latin word ‘Cancer’ attributed to Hippocrates
Understanding Cancer
Cancer, a word surrounded by much fear and plenty of uncertainty, refers to an uncontrolled
growth of cells that invade and damage normal tissue. These cells may form a mass called
‘tumor’ which could be malignant or benign. A malignant tumour grows and spreads to other
parts of the body while a benign tumor could grow but won’t spread.
Those who care for the patient are Caregivers and they have many roles. These roles change as the patient’s needs change during and after cancer treatment. In many cases, the caregiver is the one person who knows everything that’s going on with the patient as they will be involved in giving drugs, managing side effects, reporting problems, shopping for and preparing food, cleaning the house and doing the laundry, paying bills, etc.
Depending on the type and stage of cancer, cancer treatment could include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy, usually in some combination. While surgery and radiation remove, kill, or damage cancer cells, chemotherapy can kill cancer cells that have spread (metastasized) to parts of the body far away from the original (primary) tumor.
Immunotherapy – A recent advancement and hope in cancer therapy
According to National Cancer Institute Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that boosts immune system to fight cancer. The immune system helps your body fight infections and other diseases. Immunotherapy is a form of biological therapy. Biological therapy is a
type of treatment that utilizes substances derived directly from living organisms to treat cancer.
An assortment of some yummy Cancer friendly recipes that are healthy and are a delight to eat. Here we bring you easy and quick recipe tricks and tips, which are easy and quick to cook.
