Friday, April 29, 2011
When I was growing up, cancer was almost always a terminal diagnosis. Thankfully today, according to the National Cancer Institute, more than 60 percent of people diagnosed with cancer will be alive in five years. That is certainly good news. However, the bad news is that one in fiv...
Anyone who survives cancer is a surviver, but people want to thrive, not just survive. Doctors need to realize that chronic pain becomes an illness in itself, denying a person of enjoying and living a full life. Those who suffer from chronic pain following cancer, or any other type of surgery, should pursue pain relief from other sources than their primary doctor if he/she is unwilling to help them. It took me a year to find help for my chronic pain from several surgeries, although thankfully not cancer. I used the Internet to help me find a caring doctor. Hopefully the day will come when doctors freely recognize that chronic pain following cancer
treatment is a continuing part of cancer treatment.