What is counselling for cancer patients like me?
Counseling is working with a mental health professional to cope with the challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis. Counseling can help you understand your feelings and reactions, and it provides a safe place to talk about your worries. A counselor cannot always solve your problems.
How can counseling help me?
When these feelings affect your daily life or when they last a long time, finding a counselor to talk to can help. Counseling can also help when you are dealing with uncertainty or in a period of transition, such as when a person begins or completes cancer treatment.
How should I care for a woman with breast cancer?
Rationale: Throughout interactions with a woman with breast cancer, you should be aware of the extensive psychologic impact of the disease. Effective care includes sensitivity to the woman's efforts to cope with a life-threatening disease. You should provide a safe environment for the expression of the full range of feelings.
When should you seek counseling?
You might feel stressed, angry, or sad. When these feelings affect your daily life or when they last a long time, finding a counselor to talk to can help. Counseling can also help when you are dealing with uncertainty or in a period of transition, such as when a person begins or completes cancer treatment.
How do you make a cancer treatment decision?
Understand your diagnosis. ... Know your options. ... Understand the goals of treatment. ... Ask about the side effects of each treatment option. ... Consider the risks and benefits of each treatment option. ... Get a second opinion. ... Find help managing the cost of cancer care. ... Consult guidelines or other decision-making tools.More items...
What main factors do doctors consider when deciding on the cancer treatment options?
Some aspects you'll want to consider for each treatment include:Side effects. Take time to review the side effects of each treatment and decide whether they'll be worth enduring or too much to handle. ... How treatment affects your life. ... The financial costs of treatment. ... Your health in general.
What is the main principle supporting the goals for treating cancer?
When the diagnosis of cancer is first made, the main goal of treatment is to remove the cancer completely if possible (through a single treatment or through a combination of surgery. It is the most effective in eliminating most types of cancer before it has spread to lymph nodes or distant sites (metastasized).
What are the 4 goals of cancer treatment?
There are four main goals for chemotherapy:Curative therapy to kill all cancer cells.Adjuvant therapy which targets cells left after surgery to prevent recurrences.Neoadjuvant therapy to shrink tumors before surgery.Palliative therapy to give relief when not possible to remove all tumor cells.
What should a doctor consider before deciding on a treatment option?
When making any treatment decision, you should consider the risks, benefits, and supporting evidence for the treatment. In addition, you should consider if the treatment is compatible with your personal values and preferences and if it is accessible at a reasonable cost.
What factors determine the treatment plan an oncologist chooses for a particular patient?
The seven factors were their age at the time of decision, having a partner, having children, inability to work due to side-effects of the treatment, the nature of the side-effects, disease-related life expectancy and baseline QOL.
What are the two goals of cancer treatment?
First, it can prolong survival and the time to development of symptoms. Second, it can alleviate symptoms such as pain, ascites forma- tion, and weight loss. Finally, such treatment may be associated with long-term disease-free survival and "cure," although fewer than one third of treated patients achieve this goal.
Which of the following approaches are used for the treatment of cancer?
Some are "local" treatments like surgery and radiation therapy, which are used to treat a specific tumor or area of the body. Drug treatments (such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy) are often called "systemic" treatments because they can affect the entire body.
What is meant by choosing a first line of treatment in cancer therapy?
The first drug or combination of drugs a patient takes is called “first-line” treatment, which may be followed by “second-line” and “third-line” treatment. No specific treatment or combination of treatments works for every patient.
What are the 3 goals of cancer treatment?
The goals of cancer treatment include eradicating known tumors entirely, preventing the recurrence or spread of the primary cancer, and relieving symptoms if all reasonable curative approaches have been exhausted.
What are the three main goals of chemotherapy?
To control the cancer: Chemo may be used to keep cancer from spreading, slow its growth, or destroy cancer cells that have spread to other parts of the body.
Which cancer is known as silent killer?
Pancreatic cancer is often called the silent killer, and with good reason – most patients don't experience symptoms until the cancer is big enough to impact the surrounding organs.
How do chemotherapies block cancer?
They block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules within the cancer cells. Traditional chemotherapeutic agents damage cell DNA of cancer cells as well as normal cells. Targeted therapies do not directly kill or damage cancer cells or prevent metastasis.
What does a nurse do when a client has a genetic mutation?
A nurse cares for a client who has a genetic mutation that increases the risk for colon cancer. The client states that he does not want any family to know about this result.
What is secondary prevention for cervical cancer?
Breast examinations and screening for cervical cancer are secondary prevention methods. A client receiving intravenous chemotherapy asks the nurse the reason for wearing a mask, gloves, and gown while administering drugs to the client.
What does a medical-surgical nurse do?
The medical-surgical nurse can assess the client's response to the test results, discuss potential risks for other family members, encourage genetic counseling, and assist the client to make a plan for prevention, risk reduction, and early detection.
Can chemotherapy affect your health?
Even at low doses, chronic exposure to chemotherapy drugs can affect health. The Oncology Nursing Society and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have specific guidelines for using caution and wearing protective clothing whenever preparing, giving, or disposing of chemotherapy drugs.
Is it ethical for a nurse to tell family members about cancer?
The nurse may consider it ethically correct for the client to tell family members so that they can take action to prevent the development of cancer, but the nurse must respect the client's decision. A nurse cares for a client who recently completed genetic testing that revealed that she has a BRCA1 gene mutation.
Does combination therapy shorten the time needed for chemotherapy?
Combination therapy allows cell kill in all phases of the cell cycle. Combination therapy does not shorten the length of time chemotherapy is needed. The nurse is teaching a patient who will begin receiving targeted therapy for cancer. The patient asks how targeted therapy differs from other types of chemotherapies.
Why is family counseling important?
Because family counseling sessions can become emotionally charged, the effective family counselor tends to be: More active and directive, yet flexible in structuring treatment plans. Power in the family is directly related to: The hierarchy, boundaries, and coalitions within the family.
What is a ______________ research paradigm?
______________research is a paradigm which involves using scientific methods applied in the natural science. The researcher begins with a theory, develops a hypothesis that can be tested, conducts a controlled experiment and uses statistical procedures to evaluate our hypothesis.
Why is it important to care for someone with cancer?
If you’re caring for someone with cancer, you have an important role in helping him or her cope mentally and emotionally.
How does cancer help you?
Helping Cancer Patients and Survivors Stay Mentally and Emotionally Healthy. Cancer support groups may have many benefits. People with cancer may feel stressed and overwhelmed. It’s normal for them to feel anxious, afraid, angry, or depressed. Cancer treatments also can cause them to have trouble concentrating or remembering things.
When to use counseling for cancer?
Counseling can also help when you are dealing with uncertainty or in a period of transition, such as when a person begins or completes cancer treatment. Even if you would not describe your feelings as severe, counseling can be helpful. Living with a cancer diagnosis or caring for someone with cancer is a challenge for everyone.
How to cope with cancer diagnosis?
Talking with a counselor can help you: Learn how to cope with a cancer diagnosis. Feel less overwhelmed and more in control. Manage anxiety and depression. Cope with symptoms and side effects, such as pain and fatigue. Deal with emotional concerns about self-image, body image, and intimacy and sex.
What is an oncology social worker?
Oncology social workers also have a master's degree. They provide specialized counseling, education, and referrals for people with cancer and their families. Your oncology social worker might also help you talk with your health care team and navigate the health care system.
What are the different types of counseling?
Types of counseling include: Individual counseling . During individual counseling, you meet 1-on-1 with a counselor to talk about events, thoughts, and feelings. The counselor will listen closely, express caring concern, ask questions, and offer feedback. Couples or family counseling.
Why do people need counseling?
Counseling can help you understand your feelings and reactions, and it provides a safe place to talk about your worries. A counselor cannot always solve your problems. But they can provide a helpful, outside viewpoint and they are trained to help you deal with difficult situations.
How can a counselor help you?
A counselor can also help you talk with the people around you. For example, they can help you: Communicate clearly with your health care team. Talk with family and friends and adjust to changes. Find resources and help you deal with changes to your work, career, and finances. Make important decisions.
What is group counseling?
Group counseling. You meet with a group of people who have similar concerns. For example, you might go to a support group for people who have the same type of cancer as you. A counselor leads and guides the discussion and provides support. Group members can learn from the counselor and each other.
