Fighting Cancer inspires patients to feel in control at a time when they may feel powerless. The many topics the book discusses include:

• What cancer is and how it spreads

• How to reconcile emotional needs alongside medical treatment

• Why particular treatment strategies are chosen and how they work

• How patients can visualize treatments at work in the body and why this is helpful

You can order a copy of the book here, or through Amazon.com.

We also encourage you to visit Dr. Frank’s Fighting Cancer blog.

Traditional care has focused mainly on treating cancer as a medical condition in which emotional concerns and issues resulting from the diagnosis are often downplayed or not addressed at all. This is changing, as more and more oncologists and other health care providers acknowledge the integral role of counseling and emotional support for patients, their families, and caregivers.

Oncology social workers provide critical support to patients, notes CancerCare’s Win Boerckel, who is quoted in the article;  they can “help people normalize the experience of having cancer, so they can answer questions from their children or get to their next chemo appointment.”

Read the article, “Surviving the First 100 Days,” in the debut issue of LIVESTRONG Quarterly , beginning on page 22.

Aside from the physcial concerns, a person newly diagnosed with cancer experiences many, and often conflicting emotions, such as  fear, anxiety and uncertainty about the future.

An interdisciplinary approach by the patient’s healthcare team is key to treating the newly diagnosed person with cancer and should include addressing the patient’s emotional and practical concerns, says Carolyn Messner, DSW, director of education and training for CancerCare, in an interview appearing in the February 2010 edition of  The Oncology Nurse.

“Cancer is a complicated disease, and it requires a team of health professionals to refer back and forth to each other so that we can direct patients to the people who can best help them,” Messner notes.

“Social workers are trained to talk to people systemically about their concerns and issues they confront. Many are employed in the hospital or community center setting. In my own experience, oncology nurses and oncology social workers work very well together. That is the best model [in patient care].” 

CancerCare has a full-time staff of professional oncology social workers who can help a person find effective ways to cope with a cancer diagnosis. Start by visiting the CancerCare website, or call 1-800-813-HOPE (4673).

The stories she shares reveal, in her words, “how difficult it can be to lose your hair as a by-product of saving your own life.” Of course, each patient reacts to treatment-related hair loss in their own personal way, as reader’s comments on the blog illustrate:

“I had chemo last year and loved being bald. My son and I went together to have our heads shaved and our local paper made a video of it,” says one woman. Another writes, “I lost my hair twice due to different treatment regimens and each time there were emotions associated that I did not expect.”

CancerCare social workers offer the following tips to individuals coping with hair loss:

• Buy a wig before all of your hair falls out. This way, you will have a good match to your own hair color.
• Get a professional fitting. There are full-service wig salons that fit and style wigs.
• Find out if your health insurance company covers the cost of wigs. If so, remember to save your receipt.

For additional tips, read CancerCare’s fact sheet, “Tips for Managing Hair Loss.”

One commentator to the “Well” blog offers the following helpful advice to parents with cancer who are contemplating going bald:

“Parents with school aged children should talk to their kids and set expectations with them. Our kids were fine with their Mom being bald AT HOME, but when she was at school they requested that she wear a wig so she would look normal.”

Do you have some tips of your own? We invite you to share them with our readers by leaving a comment on this page.

Continued developments in targeted therapy are leading more oncology researchers to investigate personalized treatments for lung cancer. It’s important to note that lung cancer was one of the first cancers in which targeted therapy was found to help a segment of people dealing with late-stage lung cancer. Today’s newer targeted therapies offer the promise of improved treatment outcomes for many more types of lung cancer. For more information, read CancerCare’s free publications,  A New Class of Drugs: Targeted Treatments for Cancer, Progress in the Treatment of Lung Cancer, and Your Guide to the Latest Cancer Research and Treatments (Lung Cancer).

Unfortunately, people coping with lung cancer are still saddled with a significant emotional burden arising from the stigma of the diagnosis, which can have a negative impact on the views of even the professionals themselves who treat lung cancer patients. The stigma also exacerbates emotional stress among family members of the lung cancer patient, especially when that person has a smoking history. And, patients themselves often react with guilt and shame to their lung cancer diagnosis which may interfere with their doing all they can to comply with their treatment. 

A great deal of work needs to be done to address the social stigma of lung cancer so that the diagnosis, like all other cancers, can finally be acknowledged as a “no fault” medical event for patients. Because the simple fact is, no one deserves lung cancer.

Learn more about CancerCare’s free, professional support services for lung cancer patients and their loved ones.

Participants in the program stand to benefit not just themselves, but also future cancer survivors, as the program is being evaluated for its effectiveness in teaching skills needed for day-to-day management of life after cancer.

Cancer survivors anywhere in the United States, with any level of computer experience, can sign up for this study at the Thriving and Surviving website.

The CancerCare for Kids Program offers bereavement counseling and local workshops for children and teens who have lost a parent or other loved one to cancer.

Find out more about our bereavement services – call 1-800-813-HOPE (4673).

CancerCare offers free individual counseling and support groups for people with cancer, and all services are provided by professional oncology social workers. These services are available in person, over the phone and online.

The mission of CancerCare is to provide the support that is necessary in addition to the medical treatment, and this includes individual counseling, support groups, financial assistance, and educational materials and workshops. To learn more about these services, call 800-813-HOPE (4673) to speak with an oncology social worker.