Let’s now stop assuming that you have plentiful supplies of any painkiller and get onto the most common obstacle to good pain relief. As I have already indicated, the usual reason for people suffering from poorly controlled cancer pain is that their doctor fails to prescribe enough of a strong enough painkiller. Because all strong [...]

Potentially curative treatment, or treatment with curative intent, are truthful expressions that are sometimes incorrectly shortened to ‘curative treatment’. This last term wrongly implies that all patients having the treatment will be cured. Potentially curative treatment is treatment that is capable of completely and permanently curing a cancer. Some potentially curative treatments actually do cure [...]

Why Did I Get Cancer in the First Place? Our bodies are made up of millions of cells that grow, divide, and die in an orderly, controlled manner. This dynamic balance allows us to grow hair and skin, maintain a healthy lining to our digestive tract and airway, respond to physical stresses, and repair injuries. [...]

What Can I Do to Prevent Other Kinds of Cancer? This is an area of intense interest and research. At this time the most important recommendations are to •avoid sun exposure •eat cruciferous (cabbage family) vegetables •avoid obesity •eat a low-fat diet •include fiber in your diet •avoid excessive alcohol •minimize salt-cured, smoked, and nitrite-cured [...]

Why Doesn’t Everyone Participate in Clinical Trials? There are practical reasons why many people do not participate in clinical trials: •People are unaware of the availability and benefits of trials. •Trials have limited participation; there may be no space in ongoing trials for a person’s particular cancer situation. •People may not qualify for trials applicable [...]

If Ну Checkup and Blood Work Are Okay, Can I Be Sure I Have No Cancer? No. There is a limit to what tests and scans show. A cancer can be too small to be detected with current techniques, or it can be in a place that escapes current methods of detection. Your doctor will [...]

Gathering and sorting information, and trying to make life-and-death decisions, is an emotionally draining process that consumes enormous amounts of time and energy. Your reserves are depleted at the end of treatment. Wanting to avoid stress, you may be tempted to hurry the closure of your cancer experience. Rest assured that the short-term disadvantages of [...]