The cancer patient's interpretation of the doctor's advice

I came upon this article by a surgeon who has partnered with some cancer patients to come up with this advice when you are blindsided by cancer. While I agree with it overall, of course I have a few comments.

His advice is summarized as:

• Take a breath, seriously
• Own your cancer
• Don't run to the internet
• Select your physician partners
• Understand two critical features of your cancer

I agree with to take a breath and try to relax.  You are not going to die tomorrow (unless the bus doesn't miss). You have time to breathe and try to figure out what is right for you. You can take the time to absorb with what you have just learned. Go home, sit down and think about what you have learned and what you want to know. Then you can get back with your doctor for more information and options.

Own your cancer and your life. Don't just give up. Keep ownership of your life and take ownership of your cancer. Be a participant in the decision making process. Get a cancer buddy/caregiver to help you through this and hold your hand, bring your bowls of ice cream, and glasses of wine.

I think you should go to the internet for information with the caveat that you find out the good places to go for information on your cancer. Do not wildly Google your cancer and the words 'death rates' - you will only stress yourself out. But if you have information to direct you to where the information is about your cancer where you can learn the right kind of information which is not a pack of lies, aka a pile of hooey. My tip, if you do not know where to start, always start with the American Cancer Society.

I never really have selected my 'physician partners'. What I have done, is ditched any which I did not like. But I have never physician shopped or second opinion hopped.

Two critical features about your cancer are:

"First, you must learn how your specific type of cancer behaves, as each (breast, prostate, whatever) is unique. Second, you must understand your specific cancer stage."

This will help you greatly to understand where you are and what are your options. You are putting a name on it. Which leads me to my personal requirement:

You cannot have an ailment or take a medication without knowing how to both spell and say it properly. This is another way you take ownership of your cancer and learn more about it.

Okay, so the patient came through with agreements and disagreements but I think we both can agree that cancer should not take you over. You are still you.

The Ups and Downs of Blogging

If you have a blog you will understand what I am talking about. There are lots of ups and downs of blogging. When I first started blogging I was concerned about my privacy and what if people knew who I really was? OMG, I am not going on stage in any sense of the word.

But blogging has been a great way to cope with my medical madness (say that three times fast - and then try to live it). I write about my thoughts, pains, hopes, dreams, medical (mis)adventures, and more. I also have 'met' hundreds or even thousands of people around the world who blog or otherwise have an online presence. They have become my friends. We support each other. We read each other's blogs and leave comments and thoughts. We live through each other's medical ups and downs. If someone doesn't post in their normal time frame, we wonder if they are okay.

People who we don't know and aren't going through medical stuff find our blogs and leave us messages. Sometimes they leave us spam in broken English, claiming to have the cure for cancer, or could I send them $10,000 so they could get their money from the estate of their Nigerian relative and will then share it with me. I also get links to purchase Viagra and other drugs online, as well as links to other shall we say 'interesting' websites. (Blogger has an antispam filter on its comments so those never get posted.) And I can always delete any comment I find offensive - its my blog so I have the power.

Sometimes I write about non medical things or things that are slightly medical related - like Broccoli last week or Betty Ford over the weekend. But usually I write about what has ticked me off, interested me, confused me (not hard to do), or my avoidance of my latest medical (mis)adventure. The only requirement that a blog topic must meet is that it interests me.

I also get people requesting to put feeds of my blog in different places. You can find my excerpts of my blog on Opposing Views in the Health Conditions section (Cancer subsection) and you can find it on Before Its News. Sometimes I even get it to import to my Facebook Notes but that doesn't always work thanks to advances in technology that broke that system last spring. I think it pops up in other places as well.

I even get people who want to write a guest post for me - um, no, this is my blog and I write it all. If there is a day when I don't write it, that would be a 'bad' thing. I would be medically incapacitated and my husband would be writing things for me which would only be bad news. So we will pretend that day will never come. This is often how cancer blogs end, the spouse or family member posts funeral arrangements or links to online obituaries.

I get people requesting me to write about a specific topic - I only do this if I am truly interested which I rarely am. I am not going to write about a cure for cancer that the pharmaceutical industry is trying to keep off the market so they can continue to make money. I am not going to write about a medical center far away. These have no interest to me and do not impact my medical roller coaster.

However, recently I was contacted and requested to blog about an upcoming documentary. I did give it some thought and will write about it. But not until tomorrow. You have to come back and find out what intrigued me enough to write about.