The fever starts after midnight. Your usual clinic has closed, and someone asks where you keep the after-hours number. Could your household find it before worry takes over? A cancer emergency plan gives you a place to put the answers before you need them. It covers urgent symptoms, interrupted treatment, and the ordinary needs that…
Read moreCategory: Articles on cancer and other life-threatening diseases
There Is Something Unusual About Those Words
There Is Something Unusual About Those Words When my doctor called my cancer manageable, I felt relief. The word sounded like a door opening, a sign that treatment was working and life might soon return to what it had been. Then I rode home and began to understand what manageable meant for me. It did…
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Fatigue Is Not Just Feeling Tired
Fatigue Is Not Just Feeling Tired It was 2 p.m. on a Tuesday. Dirty dishes still sat in the sink. A letter on the kitchen table needed finishing. The mailbox was about 40 steps from my front door. None of these things required much. I had washed thousands of dishes and written many letters. I…
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Preparing for a Cancer Treatment Decision Meeting
The appointment is on your calendar. Your questions are on scraps of paper, in your phone, and perhaps nowhere you can find them. How do you prepare for a cancer treatment decision meeting when you’re still trying to absorb the diagnosis? You don’t need to arrive with a choice already made. Bring what you know,…
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Driving During Cancer Treatment: Questions to Ask Before You Go
The car keys are on the counter. Your appointment is on the calendar. Can you drive yourself home afterward? Driving during cancer treatment depends on more than whether you feel well enough to get there. Treatment, medicines, and symptoms can change how safely you drive, sometimes after an appointment has ended. The kindest plan gives…
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