The social impact of cancer

I’d like to take this moment and speak to the issue of cancer, but not about diagnosing or the treatment of cancer. We’ll leave that for another time. Rather, let’s talk for a moment about the social impact of cancer.

How many in your audience are dealing with cancer treatment, living with cancer, taking care of someone with cancer or shaping their life after cancer?

Given one in three people will be diagnosed with some type of cancer in their lifetime, nearly everyone of us will be touched in some way by these dreaded diseases, which include the likes of breast, colon, prostate, lymphoma and leukemia.

These diseases are not only an economic burden but they create tremendous social challenges. Questions arise such as, “how will i take care of my family while I am in treatment,” to “how am I going to take care of my partner while they are in treatment,” and concerns arise such as “I’m scared I’ll to lose my parent” or “How do I support my friend in need?”

In Seattle this past week, I was fortunate to attend an awards luncheon for Cancer Lifeline, an organization dedicated to, and I quote: “optimizing the quality of life for people living with cancer, including patients, survivors, their families, co-workers and friends.” End quote.

Pam and Rochelle, it was a blessed event, honoring a diverse group of people who have given of their time and energy to provide a literal “lifeline” for anyone desiring direction or support when confronted with cancer.

It was also an educational experience for this physician, one which I feel is important to pass on to your listeners as well as to my colleagues. We as doctors are fairly good at diagnosing and treating. In fact, many treatments are now proving to be very successful. However, we often lack the knowledge to help people cope with the other components of life.

I learned CancerLifeline has developed the tools and resources which provide support from the tiniest question to the more complex challenges, and I will suggest that if your listeners find themselves asking the how, when or why questions, use this lifeline and contact CancerLifeline. They can be found in seattle at www.cancerlifeline.org.

To your good health!