Tomorrow is the World Cancer Day (http://www.worldcancerday.org/about). Wear purple to raise awareness about all kind of cancers. Last year, a dear friend posted on her Facebook wall on February 4th that she was wearing purple on World Cancer Day in my honor. I did not know it was the World Cancer Day. Before getting diagnosed with cancer myself, cancer was something I did not want to deal with. I felt saddened for those who got cancer but it was something I did not want to know about. You could call that denial. You could call that a chosen oblivion. I did not want to learn more about cancer nor did I want to think about it. A breast cancer survivor friend told me last year, "Welcome to learning about stuff you did not want to learn... but you need to."
When I saw that Facebook post by my friend on the morning of February 4th, I decided to put on a purple shirt. I still did not know much about cancer, let alone my own cancer. The lesson I learned from February 4, 2015 is that knowledge is gained through your own pursuits. Knowledge is not a given. You are absolutely in charge. On February 4th, I was frustrated that I still had so many unanswered questions. And that answers had to be obtained from the medical experts. I am a die-hard researcher and I like to search for answers on my own. I was ready to investigate online upon learning my type of cancer: "Invasive well differentiated endometrioid type adenocarcinoma FIGO Grade 1". Many people advised me not to research online because there were a lot of scary information online. True. I avoided Google the first few days and then started. I came across scary information. I saw a YouTube video by an extremist organization against hysterectomies that explains that a hysterectomy would take away the woman's ability to feel emotions such as love and tenderness. Now that I have had the hysterectomy, this seems ridiculous. Still, I was very vulnerable and swimming through the land of unknown at that time so anything seemed possible. I read some horror stories about women whose hysterectomies went wrong and their vaginas were defective permanently. I decided to give up on the Internet. I did not want to research and come across those horror stories that kept on making me burst into tears and feeling like I would rather let the cancer win. It was difficult to filter through the search results. I decided to consult the medical experts. The first oncologist did not give me much to work with other than the general statement that they knew I had endometrial cancer and that she wanted to put me under the knife to remove everything. The second oncologist, who I met with on February 4th, did not give me anything. This experience made me wonder what cancer patients are to do if they are advised to avoid the Internet and do not have oncologists who do not take the time to go into great detail about their type of cancer, prognosis, and treatment options. It took me 2.5 weeks to swim in my own despair of not knowing anything before I decided to find a different oncologist. I researched online for the best cancer centers in the country and decided on Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I am forever grateful because my oncologist took the time to explain everything to me, including drawing pictures and sharing the latest research on treatment options for my type of cancer. Nurses routinely answered all my questions via email. Social workers offered countless resources. Sadly, many people do not have that option. They are usually stuck with the oncologists available to them who do not supply them with enough knowledge to help them make the right choices for their treatment. Then there's the big, bad Internet which contain some false information. What are cancer patients to do to arm themselves with the right information? I am not sure. My strategy was to keep on shopping for the right oncologist and fortunately, that worked out for me. I believe that we need to know more about cancer, even if we don't have cancer. We need to know where to go to for the right kind of information, not the type that are designed to scare people. How do we begin? I have started by talking with newly diagnosed cancer patients, telling them I do get it. And I try my best to give them the information and resources they should know. I offer to answer any questions they may have. I am no expert but I put in an effort because I do not want them to breakdown like I did last year, with wrong information. If you do not feel you have the right information, encourage them to talk with others who may be able to help. I have told people that I am happy to talk with others. The bottom line... the more we know, the better we can support those who are dealing with cancer.
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