It can be hard to think about anything else when a doctor gives you a diagnosis of cancer. Suddenly you're hearing a whole new language of medical terms, and it can be very confusing and frightening. Everything that has been said can leave your head when you walk out of the room. However, your appointments are a vital opportunity to get information from those who are treating you. This information can help allay your fears and concerns.
We receive many calls to the Cancer Council Helpline asking what to ask the doctor when you've been diagnosed with cancer. The helpline has a brochure to help you make the most out of your consultations.
We recommend people take a friend or family member to appointments. They can take notes and write down everything you and the doctor say during the appointment.
It's also useful to write a letter with all your questions, which you may send to the specialist ahead of time. Take two copies of the letter with you to the appointment, give one copy to the specialist and keep one yourself. This way, you can use every minute of the consultation usefully, getting answers to your questions. You may also like to take a tape recorder to record the consultation (ask the doctor if this is okay first). There is a lot of information to absorb and it can be hard to write it all down.
It's very helpful to have a record of everything which was discussed at your visit. Here are some questions which you may find helpful:
For more, see our section About cancer
The Cancer Council does not run a skin clinic, it provides information and support to all Victorians. If you are concerned about your skin spots it is best to seek the advice of your local doctor who will refer you to a skin specialist for further investigation if required.
Our website also has information on early detection of skin cancer which you may find useful to read.
If you have any other questions or concerns please contact the Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8pm, and speak with a cancer nurse.
Kind Regards,
Anne
Cancer Nurse
The information on The Cancer Council Victoria website and provided in related emails from cancer nurses is for general information only. It is not intended as medical advice, and is not a substitute for seeing a qualified doctor who can determine your individual medical needs.
Through our Cancer Connect program we connect people with cancer with trained volunteers who have experienced a similar type of cancer, who offer telephone support and are able to share the story of how they coped. We offer this service to people with many different types of cancer. We can also link you with cancer support groups in your local area.
More information about Cancer Connect
More information about finding a support group
Much of the responsibility for day-to-day emotional support and care of cancer patients falls to their partners, family and friends. But many of these relatives and friends don't identify themselves as a carer. They hear the word and think of health care professionals and don't see what they are doing as anything extraordinary.
Being able to talk to someone who understands the physical and emotional demands facing carers can lessen feelings of fear and isolation. Not only are there the practical sides of care to worry about but also the fear that the person you are caring for may die.
Caring for someone with cancer is hard work physically and mentally and may wear the strongest person down. Our trained volunteers have been there and can provide support, advice or even just listen.
A recent study by researchers at the University of Western Sydney found 21% of cancer carers suffer severe anxiety and about the same number are depressed. That's a higher figure than in cancer patients themselves.
If you are caring for a partner, family member or friend, call the Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20 to be put in touch with a trained Cancer Connect volunteer.
We can also help with details about respite care and other services available in your local community through the Cancer Council Helpline.
Our annual Cancer Services Directory lists all organisations which assist and support people with cancer in Victoria. Your hospital's oncology social worker can often refer you to financial assistance. We can link your children in with telephone counselling. Many schools provide counselling for children whose parents have cancer.
Please refer to the booklet, Cancer: legal rights and responsibilities, for information about employment, wills, power of attorney, and other issues.
People who survive a cancer diagnosis change; they see life differently and have to adjust to a ‘new normal'. They might appreciate each day more, slow down, and do things they have always wanted to do. Their emotions are changed forever.
Cancer survivors have faced their own death and this puts them in a different group from those around them. Such a change can be difficult for family and friends to accept. The person they knew before cancer is now different.
Cancer can lead to a change in relationships. For a cancer survivor who has lost a body part through treatment, it can be hard adjusting to a new body image. They might feel their partner does not find them attractive any more. Relationships might grow stronger, or they might end.
Cancer survivors might find people view them differently or that they might be seen to have a ‘special power' that enabled them to beat cancer. People may ask what the secret is and expect the survivor to have the answer to overcoming cancer.
For the survivor, facing the new normal can be scary. After months or years of treatment and follow-up visits to their doctor, they are now on their own. There may be a lingering fear that the cancer might return and the worry that no one is carrying out regular check-ups anymore.
For more on being a cancer survivor, see Life after cancer: for survivors
The Cancer Council Helpline's nurse counsellors can give callers up-to-date information on treatment and management of cancer and professional support, but our Cancer Connect volunteers are people who have experienced cancer. They are at least two years past treatment and have been specially trained to provide peer support by telephone to newly diagnosed patients.
One caller said she found it wonderful that she did not have to wash her face or clean her house before being able to access one-to-one support to help her cope with her diagnosis! Men have been using Cancer Connect to speak with other men and find out about their experience of laryngeal, prostate or bowel cancer and strategies to help them cope.
We also have Cancer Connect programs for carers of people with cancer and for parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer. All offer important peer support at a stressful, difficult time for those who are dealing with a new cancer diagnosis.
The cancer nurses on the helpline can put callers in touch with a volunteer from one of our Cancer Connect programs.
If you have already been diagnosed with cancer, we suggest that you talk to the oncology dietitians at your treating hospital. Oncology dietitians can advise you on the appropriate diet for your needs. If you want more information about this service, meals on wheels, or our booklet Nutrition and exercise for people with cancer or other literature on the topic please call us on 13 11 20.
We receive many calls from children who are caring for parents with cancer. Our cancer nurses offer information and support to assist people in the stressful role of caring for someone with cancer. We advise people that when they are a carer, they must build in some time for themselves and do something they enjoy at least every other day. This way, they can retain an enjoyable part of their own lives and reserve energy to help them cope with any difficulties. Our Carers Cancer Connect program means carers can talk about their experiences to trained volunteers who have also been carers.
Embarrassment about sexuality and cancer is common for patients and health professionals, and a barrier to providing holistic care. One way to address this is through skills training, which helps people learn how to discuss intimacy at a time when quality of life is really important. Sexuality is usually a taboo subject. But when the subject is raised appropriately, people are open to learning ways of enjoying intimacy, despite the challenge of cancer, which can make a tremendous difference to a patient and their partner's quality of life.
Cancer and the side effects of treatment often affect a person's sexuality. A health professional can provide information which enables people to relax together and relate to each other even in limited ways at a difficult time. This helps to ease and comfort both. Often just massaging each other's feet while watching TV is a way of showing affection and providing comfort.
Speak with a cancer nurse at the Cancer Council Helpline
Cancer Connect has a parents connect component and we have specially trained parents of children who have experienced cancer and are now doing well. Call 13 11 20 to be linked with another parent who can share ways that they coped and ways that siblings can be reassured and helped.
Dear Kristy,
Thank you for your question, which has come through The Cancer Council Victoria's Ask a Cancer Nurse site. Congratulations on becoming a Mum. I am sure that your little one is keeping you very happy and busy! It is great that you are thinking of sun protection for your baby so early on in their life. It is so important and a great habit to get in whilst they are young.
We don't recommend any particular brand of sunscreen. However, it is always best to keep babies and toddlers out of the sun or well-protected using clothing, hats and shade rather than using a sunscreen. Only use sunscreen on skin that can't be covered by other methods. Many brands of sunscreen have special baby or toddler sunscreens, which are much gentler on the skin. Ask your local chemist which ones they stock that will be suitable for a small baby. Test the sunscreen on a small area of the baby or toddler's skin before using it to make sure there won't be any reaction.
If you would prefer you can buy sunscreen from us. You can view the sunscreens that we sell in our shop at the following link http://www.cancervic.org.au/store/catalogues/summer05_sunscreen1. If you are interested in any of these products you can contact our retail outlet and ask them to send it to you if you are too far away to come into the store. The contact details for our shop are at the following link
http://www.cancervic.org.au/store/contact.asp.
Our website also has information on sun protection (www.sunsmart.com.au) which you may find useful to read.
If you have any other questions or concerns please contact the Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8pm, and speak with a cancer nurse.
I wish you all the very best with mother hood.
Kind Regards,
Annie - Cancer Nurse
The information on The Cancer Council Victoria website and provided in related emails from cancer nurses is for general information only. It is not intended as medical advice, and is not a substitute for seeing a qualified doctor who can determine your individual medical needs.
Thank you for your question regarding skin cancers. Our website does have pictures of different types of skin cancers and information about early detection, prevention and treatment. If you have any concerns it would be advisable to see your GP, who will be able to do an assessment of your skin and any follow up required. Download How to check for skin cancers.
Read more information about skin cancer.
If you have any other questions or concerns please contact your doctor or call the Cancer Council Helpline, Monday - Friday 8.30am to 8pm, and ask to speak with a cancer nurse.
Screening is one way to help prevent cancer. It can detect changes to cells that may mean cancer is beginning. Women should make sure that they access both mammography and Pap (cervical) screening programs. A good system is to attach the appointment time to an important date in your life, such as your birthday or wedding anniversary, then it is easier to remember to make an appointment. Men and women can now have regular checks for early signs of bowel cancer.
Many people are cured of their cancers - but unfortunately some are not. There are three factors which affect the chance of having a cure:
There are many different types of cancer and each of these different types has different chances of cure. For example, cures are very common in conditions like early breast cancer, bowel cancer, testicular cancer, skin cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma, but they are much less common in cancers of the lung, pancreas and stomach.
For any one type of cancer, a tumour that is diagnosed when it is small and has not spread to any other parts of the body will always have a better chance of a cure than one that is only discovered when it is more advanced, and has grown to a large size and has grown in other parts of the body. However, there are also cancers that are very sensitive to treatment, such as Hodgkin lymphoma or testicular cancer and most people can still be cured even when the cancer has spread to and developed in other parts of the body.
It is important to mention that modern cancer treatments are also improving cure rates. Many kinds of cancer that were almost always incurable fifty years ago are now able to be cured by current treatments.
Thank you for your question regarding treatment for bowel cancer. The main treatment for bowel cancer is surgery which aims to remove the cancer and nearby tissue that may also be affected by cancer. This is a major operation and so does require a stay in hospital. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy can also be used.
Your doctor will advise you on the best treatment for you if you have cancer. This will depend on the type of cancer you have, where it is and how far it has spread, your general health, and what you want.
Our website has information about bowel cancer and early detection which you may find useful to read.
The Cancer Council of Victoria recommends that you see your GP to have your skin assessed. Your GP can examine your skin and advise you of appropriate care and management. GPs are well trained in diagnosing and treating skin cancers, which may include minor procedures. If you have an unusual spot on your skin, your GP may treat it, or refer you to a dermatologist - also known as a skin specialist. A dermatologist is a doctor who has completed additional training to specialise in diagnosing and treating skin diseases, including skin cancer. To see a dermatologist you should have a referral from a GP. You can see a dermatologist without a GP referral but under Medicare your rebate will be smaller than if you had a referral. Most of the major public hospitals also have skin clinics covered by medicare, but they also require a referral from your GP to attend.
If you have any other questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact the Cancer Helpline on 13 11 20, Monday to Friday 8.30am - 8.00pm, and ask to speak to a cancer nurse.
Kind Regards
Anne
Cancer Nurse
We recommend that people eat a varied, wholesome diet that includes lots of fruit and vegetables. Eating plenty of vegetables and fruits is likely to reduce the risk of some cancers including stomach and bowel cancer. Red meat, particularly processed meat, may increase the risk of bowel cancer. No more than three to four serves a week of cooked red meat is recommended. While there is no link between fat intake and cancer, a high fat diet may cause obesity, which is a risk factor for several cancers. A high-salt diet has been linked with stomach cancer in countries where salt is used to preserve foods. Choose foods low in salt. While there has been a lot of research into the link between a high fibre diet and a decrease in bowel cancer risk, the link does not appear to be as strong as once thought. Nonetheless, we recommend eating plenty of breads and cereals as part of a healthy diet.
There has been a lot of discussion about vitamin D recently and some people are confused about how much sun exposure one needs to fulfil vitamin D requirements. One needs very little sun exposure to fulfil these requirements. If you call the Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20, we can provide a vitamin D fact sheet.
Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer and exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun during childhood is a major risk factor, so as we approach summer, stock up on sunscreen, hats and protective clothing.
If you are out in the sun for long enough, even though you may use lots of sunscreen, you will eventually bake. Wearing light, loose, comfortable clothing plus a broad-brimmed hat is essential to protect your skin.
