How to Live a Full Life with Cancer

​One of the worst illnesses of today is cancer. This malignant illness is actually a spectrum of different illnesses attacking different organs and body parts. When it comes to women, breast cancer is the most prevalent type with an estimated quarter of a million of newly discovered cases in the USA alone, as reported here https://www.odonate.com/breast-cancer by Odonate Therapeutics.

However difficult and terrible this illness is, a cancer diagnosis is not immediately a death sentence. Fortunately, as medicine evolves, so does our ability to spot problems early on and fix them before they escalate.

Even though we are advancing in great strides, there is still a long way to go before we beat cancer for good. So, what can you do if you or a loved one are diagnosed with this vicious condition? Read on to learn some techniques which can make your life with cancer more agreeable.

Coming to Terms with the Diagnosis

The first thing you need to do is accept the situation as it is because only a sound basis can result in a happy and fulfilled life. Sadly, cancer is an illness which typically lasts for a long time, so you must learn to accept it lest it consumes your life. Your oncologist is trained to give difficult news, but if you are unable to process this information, you may consider visiting a psychologist.

Finding Suitable Treatment

Once you’ve come to terms with the situation, your next step needs to be combating the illness. There are numerous types of cancer treatments, both traditional and experimental. Here are some of those and how they can help.

Surgery

The best option for cancer treatment is probably surgery. The simplest form of surgery would be extracting the entire cancerous growth, but sometimes it is not possible. Sometimes, you can only excise a part of it, and continue the treatment in some other ways.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is probably the most notorious cancer treatment. Images which come to mind are nausea and hair loss. It consists of administering a cocktail of strong drugs into the organism in hopes of killing cancer cells. The downside of this treatment is that it is not exactly selective. It attacks both healthy and cancerous cells.

Radiotherapy

Chemo is commonly paired with radiation therapy. Radiotherapy is targeted radioactivity directed at the tumor. Radiation destroys cancerous cells, but it can damage healthy ones as well. However, your regular cells will regenerate, while cancerous cells cannot.

Experimental therapies

There are numerous other, experimental, cancer treatments. These are less used because they are either expensive, untested or produce unreliable results. Things like gene therapy, immunotherapy, and stem cells are probably the best known, but there are other options, such as hyperthermia or photodynamic therapy. Your oncologist will recommend the best course of action for your type and intensity of cancer.

Positive Outlook

What you need to do for yourself is to stay positive. Even though this seems like your life is crumbling around you, you must try to continue living your life as normally as you can. One of the most important things is keeping your interests and hobbies. These seemingly small and insignificant things keep you feeling like everything is OK. It is known that positive thinking can help medical treatments, through phenomena such as the placebo effect.

Nutrition Options

If you want to help your body fight off this nasty illness, you may consider changing your diet. In the modern world, the majority of food we eat is processed somehow. Try to avoid these kinds of foods and substitute them for fresh produce. It may be more expensive, but the nutritional benefit will improve the quality of your life and may help your cancer therapy as well.