Feelings of a cancer patient.

 I cannot begin to imagine what kind of emotional and physical strain that the brave people I met last week go through on a daily basis when battling with their respective cancers. However, after talking for a while with a couple of patients, nurses and the doctors that know them about their experiences, I have begun to grasp some of the common hardships that are felt between patients with vastly different cancer types. Understandably some of them feel vulnerable, some feel lonely, some feel helpless. Some of them feel positive, others do not. The transition between an active, independent lifestyle to a nearly bed-bound state for many of the in patients can be upsetting. Even something as simple as washing yourself becomes a debacle when you need a stranger to scrub you down, which, although the nurses are exceptionally caring and understanding in their approach, it is understandable that some patients found it demeaning. It is something so simple that I had previously taken for granted, a registrar pointed out to me as we were doing a ward round that most people haven't been washed by someone else since they were a baby, and to return to such a state after a lifetime is often demoralising.

The registrar also voiced the fact that when you're in hospital, a doctor will walk in on a patient using the commode and apologise, only to have the patient, according to the registrar, say "It's alright, come on in." In everyday life for most of us this would not happen. Of course, the doctor-patient professional relationship is in place for a reason, as the doctors and nurses alike need to be able to asses the wellbeing of the patient and provide treatment, and this is often only possible by doctor and patient shelving their everyday attitudes regarding personal care, and proceeding with the best patient care possible.

Furthermore, I received a first hand account of how a patient can feel objectified. An in patient, who we'll call Mr Cox* told us how he felt as if he has become a list of symptoms to his doctor. Not all the time, he was keen to stress, but sometimes, and it was understandably very draining. The "endless" questioning he was subjected to about his final wishes, and his condition, Mr Cox told us, made him very depressed. Even though the doctors were asking ultimately for his benefit, he did not like repeating himself up to five times a day, particularly as he could rarely report  back any good news.

Despite this, during our conversation Mr Cox was quietly optimistic and good-humoured, even though he had decided to give up on the chemotherapy and live his life at home from now on, and he was looking forward to seeing his dogs every morning.

The moving conversation that we had with Mr Cox showed me how ignorant I was of what strains the patients are subjected to, completely aside from the vicious effects of the chemotherapy. It broke my heart to hear it, but I believe that Mr Cox is one of the bravest individuals I have ever met, I felt humbled and privileged to speak with such an inspiring man.

*All names on this blog have been changed to respect patient confidentiality.

I wish him all the best for the future, thank you for reading.

What would you do?

Patients have, quite rightly, a lot of choice in their treatment and their view is generally held above everyone else's. However, I've noticed in my brief time at the hospital that, quite understandably, the patients just want the safest-sounding option for their treatment. Although the facts and figures help in their decision making, ultimately to some patients they are just numbers, and they rely on their doctor for some straight talking advice. All they want to know is, if it were you doctor, what would you do?

Can a Daily Dose of Aspirin Reduce Cancer Risk?

Skeletal Structure of Aspirin, featuring skeletal representations of the benzene ring, double bonds and OH group.

Today the front page of the BBC News' Health section proclaimed that "Daily dose of aspirin can prevent or even treat cancer". Along with many others I'm sure, I excitedly began reading the article, as surely anything even suggesting a "cure" for cancer is very engrossing news indeed, even in early research stages. I recommend reading the article in full, and if you're interested take a look over the three new research papers published by the medical journal The Lancet. Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) has been used for many years as a painkiller. It can be antipyretic (reduces fever), anti-inflammatory (reduces inflammation) and analgesic (relieves pain). However leading the headline of the BBC article is, it does not hide the harmful side effects (which you can see in full here) of taking aspirin on a regular basis, which include internal bleeding.

It seems that the crucial advice one can take from this news is that whoever is thinking of taking a daily aspirin should talk it over with their GP due to the risk of the side effects. Likewise, critics of the study have pointed out that some of the doses given in the study were much higher than the 75mg dose typically given in the UK. Also, some very large US studies looking at aspirin use were not included in the analysis. The researchers acknowledge both of these points in their published papers.

While I too am excited by the prospect of the new evidence and more studies to follow, I hope that the article on the front page of the BBC News Health section does not prompt anyone to rush out to buy and self-administer daily aspirin without first consulting their GP and talking it over with the health professional who knows them best.

Thank you for reading!

Talking About Cancer

Today at school our year group listened to a talk on cancer, given by a representative from Macmillan Cancer Support, which is a UK-based charity that strives to improve the lives of people living with cancer (link to their website is below). It was an informative and hard-hitting talk that elaborated upon what knowledge we already had of cancer and the symptoms associated with it. Primarily the talk focused upon emphasizing the need for people to know their bodies well and "know what's normal" biologically. This included demonstrations of checking for lumps in breasts and testicles, where an uncannily lifelike collection props was used by the speaker.

The most valuable piece of information that I took from the talk was that cancer affects everyone, whether they are diagnosed with cancer or they know a loved one who has been. I undertook some personal research and found that in 2008, it was estimated that there are just over two million people living with or beyond cancer in the UK who had previously been diagnosed, and this is predicted to rise by more than 3% a year. These figures were taken from Cancer Research UK, (link also below).
I was heartened to learn about the groundbreaking work that Macmillan does, and other charities like them, and I was touched by the sincerity and bravery of all the survivors of cancer that the charity represents. I recommend taking a look at their page, supporting their cause and getting more people talking about cancer.




http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Home.aspx
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/incidence/