The Challenges of Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment - Research Paper Example

What are the challenges cancer diagnosis and treatment present to individuals, families, or communities? Does gender, ethnicity, or economic status complicate or intensify these challenges? Thesis: The relatives who stay to provide care to cancer patients have to deal with numerous challenges both emotionally and physically. The factors that influence these challenges include their relation to the patients, the income and education levels of the relatives as well as that of the patients. Furthermore, the amount of information they receive regarding the treatment also brings them a myriad of challenges (Ronda, Talley, McCorkle and Baile). I. Intro Cancer is a deadly disease that kills patients. This is because it is incurable, especially if not identified in good time. However, it is possible to treat and cure cancer when discovered during its early stages through chemotherapy. This scientific process uses radioactive rays to kill the cancerous tumors that form part of the cancer. There are several types of cancer; these include breast cancer, prostate cancer, and vaginal cancer. Nowadays cancer has become the most deadly disease in the world, attributed to causing deaths of several notable figures in the world, e.g. Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple Company. II. Various challenges The relatives of these people suffer from various challenges. This is because the thought of their suffering relative really paints a negative impact in their physical, emotional, and mental status, thereby causing them a lot of pain (Ronda, Talley, McCorkle and Baile). Physical requirements of patient The patient requires total attention from their relatives. This is because the cancerous cells usually eat up his body and mind leaving him weak both physically and psychologically. Therefore, the relatives have to come around to fill this void by being there for their sick relative. They have to spend a lot of time attending to them. This means they must shelve all their other engagements in order to be with the patient at the hour of need. This is in itself suffering because it denies them an opportunity to pursue other matters. In addition to being there for the patients, the relatives may sometimes lack sleep because they have to stay awake to keep the Patient Company especially if they have no sleep due to extreme pain or extreme depression. (Ronda, Talley, McCorkle and Baile). Furthermore, since they cannot nurse their patient away from home, they have to complete all scheduled work outside their homes. This is to allow them ample time to attend to the patient when they get back home. . Emotional pain (Brobäck) The emotional pain they encounter comes from their desire to satisfy the patient, who in most cases has lost all the hope in life. They have to make him feel important and loved so that they can give him a little strength to fight for his life and overcome the disease. The helplessness that they go through for failure to satisfy the patients leads to more trauma as it makes them feel useless and unimportant to the sick relative. This increases their pain as it makes it more difficult to see their loved one suffering and in pain, with little hope for the future (Ronda, Talley, McCorkle and Baile). Mental pain The mental pain that these relatives suffer results from the feelings of guilt, reflection, thwarted expectations, and the value of life. They feel uncomfortable or even guilty to enjoy life while their relative is suffering. III. Coping Positive and negative (McLean) There are several means in which to cope in this situation and reduce the suffering of patients. One of the methods is the use of positive and negative prose. In this case, doctors balance between giving the patients hope and information about their medical condition. Hope (McLean) Hope is one of the positive mechanisms that the relatives use in order to cope with the disease of their relative. They live in hope that they will someday get better after responding well to the treatment. This is a positive defense mechanism. It gives the patients desire to fight more for their lives, and thus motivates the relatives to devote more of their time to them. Faith is another way in which they use to cope. They have faith that the treatment will work and that their relative will get well someday. This helps them maintain a fighting spirit, and motivate them to fight even harder for their condition to get well (Ronda, Talley, McCorkle and Baile). Denial (McLean) The relatives can also resort to denial especially where the condition of their relative is extreme and past the point of hope. This usually impedes decision making and cause negative effects on the patient. Impact of others on patient (Mitchell) The patients usually look for hope in their spouses and close family relatives. Furthermore, discussing their conditions with other patients and outside helpers can also help in increasing their hope to overcome the disease. IV. Avoiding Pain The best way of avoiding pain is by communicating openly with the patient about the effect of the disease. This is crucial in helping them to cope. The proximity of the spouse during counseling sessions is also mandatory. The caregiver should be open about the needs of the cancer patient. The family should involve itself fully in the care process of the patient, and can even adapt family schedules to give time to the patient. They can as well involve professional care in offering help to the patients. The caregiver offers better care when they feel more valued in discharging their duties. V. Factors Affecting Challenges Several factors affect the challenges that the relatives face. These include the relationship of the patient. Close family members suffer more than those who are distant, e.g. the spouse and children suffer a lot more than external relatives do. Younger family members have more difficulty in coping since they rarely understand what is going on. Families with low incomes suffer more since they cannot afford to pay medical bills for their relatives. The lower the educational level of caregivers the higher the burden. In addition, the type of cancer greatly affects the challenges. VI. Closing Cancer is a terminal illness. However, the way one handles it in the proximity of his family is what makes them overcome the disease and reduce the suffering that caregivers undergo. Works Cited Ronda C. Talley, Ruth McCorkle and Walter F. Baile, Cancer care giving in the United States [electronic resource]: research, practice, policy. New York: Springer, 2012. Read More