3 Things To Do After Your Cancer Diagnosis

Posted on: 22 January 2015

When you find out you have cancer, you may feel stunned and concerned about what lies ahead for you. It can be hard to know what steps you should take, but making the right decisions after your diagnosis can put you in a better position to cope with your disease. Here are a few things to do after you are diagnosed with cancer.

Find Out More about Your Disease

Your doctor probably gave you a lot of information after you were diagnosed with cancer. However, you may not have been able to retain or remember everything you were told. It is important that you understand your disease, so that you can better make decisions and know what to expect going forward. Write down any questions you have, including: 

  • What is my prognosis?
  • What stage cancer do I have? What does that mean?
  • What activities should I stop doing?
  • What should my diet be like?
  • What happens during the treatments I'm scheduled for?
  • What signs should I be looking for, so I know whether things are getting worse?

Bring these questions to your primary care doctor or your oncologist, so that you can learn as much as possible about your disease.

Find a Support System

Your friends and family will want to help you during this difficult time, and allowing them to do so will make them and you feel better. However, sometimes the people who can best understand what you're going through are people who have also lived with cancer. Many hospitals and communities have cancer support groups; head to a meeting to see if they can be of help to you. These groups can give you ideas about dealing with pain, information about treatment to try and you can also get the emotional support that is important at this time.

You can also find support groups and message boards online for those with cancer. These can be more convenient than offline groups in terms of scheduling, and you may find that you are more able to be honest when you don't have to be face-to-face with others.

Set Up a Palliative Care Plan

Palliative care is for people who have chronic diseases, or those that last longer than six months or so. When you set up a palliative care plan at places like Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care, you are going to be dealing with a number of health and care providers whose aim is to keep you comfortable and free from pain while you're dealing with chemotherapy and other treatments. Palliative care is also holistic, so you may also include spiritual advisers to help you as well. Setting up this kind of plan right away will help you throughout the entire process.

To set up a palliative care plan, start with your oncologist. Your oncologist will tell you what treatments you are eligible for, and what kind of pain relief you may expect. You can then branch out to alternative medical care providers if you want, such as acupuncturists. It is important that you keep all of your health care providers aware of what you're doing, so that you can stay as healthy as possible and not put your health at risk. Keep track of all medications, vitamins and treatments; share them at every appointment.

Now that you have some ideas about how to proceed after getting your cancer diagnosis, you can get started. Dealing with cancer can be challenging, but when you use the tips above, you can be better prepared for the experience ahead.

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