April is national cancer control month. According, to medical news today, the 5 goals of the program of national cancer control month:
- Cancer prevention
- Early detection
- Improving treatments
- Increasing survival rates
- Improving quality of life
Learn more by visiting the ACS the national cancer the national foundation for cancer research have also created a free cancer prevention kit.
Have you ever heard those words? Those words of we need to check this out; or we need to recheck; or we have found… These are words that none of us are ready for or happy to hear. I work in health care, I have to give these talks to patients. I monitor and do several follow up tests for things that are questionable. One of the worst conversations that you can have with the patient, is any conversation that starts with the above.
It’s very hard as a medical provider to tell a patient that there is a concerning nodule, that there’s some lab result that is not quite right. Saying it, being empathetic, and knowing they are scared and worried. Always, trying to make sure that you give good information. Giving the information that is clear and in terms they can understand. Along, with being very conscious of getting them their results as soon as possible. Has to be high on any providers list.
Please as a patient also be proactive, if you haven’t heard results in 48 to 72 hours after you have finished with a test, call your provider. Leave a message if you need. Let them know that you wish to know the results. There are occasions, where it takes longer to get results back, but your provider should let you know this time period. They should tell you “we should know something in a week” or “we should know something in 2 weeks”. Again, if you have not heard. Call your provider and ask for the results.
There are many screening tools and test out there. Many that look for cancers to try to control cancers. Control I mean try to catch them early, so that we can do as much as possible to keep them from metastasizing or spreading to other parts of the body. Please see my blog on health care screenings for MEN and Women.
We have made great strides in treating cancers but more importantly we’ve made great strides in early detection, over the last several years. We have noticed that in doing more screenings, we have had more false, positives than in the past. However, even with more false positives, we are catching more true positives, therefore treating earlier. Having more success in treating.
We also have made great strides in quality of life and more days. As time goes on the screenings and treatments continue to advance. Getting the word out and continuing to do our part is very important. I recommend getting your screenings. Be proactive. Live your best life!! Please share my blog with your friends. Sign up for our emails so you know when a new post comes out, and/or join us on our Facebook page.
This is not to be used as medical advice but to be used as knowledge to help you in your family or those you share with in your health care journey.