Gillian Ryan, Lung Cancer Patient Advocate at White Ribbon for Lung Cancer, shared on LinkedIn:
“We are treating the cancer, but we’re not treating the person.
What do I mean by that?
If someone has cancer in their body, the medical team will do everything they can to treat it: to remove it, destroy it, shrink it, and ultimately make the body healthy again.
That is brilliant. That is the aim. That is what we desperately want.
But cancer is so much more than a tumour.
A diagnosis can bring with it a whole host of other things that can completely change a person’s life:
Fear, Anxiety, Depression, Loss of Income, Loss of Freedom, Loss of independence Guilt, Shame, Blame, Isolation
A loss of the person you were before cancer.
So why are we not treating all of it?
When you are told you have cancer, it can feel like being pushed up against a wall, standing in front of a firing squad, knowing the guns are loaded, and desperately hoping that every bullet they fire will be a blank.
That is what living with cancer can feel like. I know because I am living it.
Treat the tumour. Treat the body.
But please, treat the person too.”
Other articles featuring Gillian Ryan on OncoDaily.