5 Tips for Patients Recently Diagnosed with Cancer
The news of a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming and shocking. A Dana-Farber doctor offers five tips on what patients and caregivers can do after that diagnosis.
Search Results for: psychosocial oncology
Can Anxiety or Depression Be a Sign of Cancer?
Medically reviewed by Fremonta L. Meyer, MD and Patrick Y. Wen, MD Many people experience anxiety or depression, or both, after a cancer diagnosis, studies show. But in rare cases, anxiety and depression can be an early symptom of a tumor in the brain. Doctors point out that anxiety and depression are among the most … Read more
The Relationship Between Cancer Treatment and Opioid Medication
For many cancer patients, treatment comes with its own unique challenges — a common one being the management of pain through medication and other therapies. So when do cancer clinicians treat pain with opioid medication? And more importantly, how do they optimize the drug’s ability to increase a patient’s quality of life while also minimizing … Read more
How This Osteosarcoma Patient Deals with the Ups and Downs of the Cancer Journey
By Lyndsay McCaffery Two months. That’s how long I knew I had cancer before it was gone. I was a patient, and then a survivor, all before I had time to process what was happening to me. It has been almost five years and I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I’m … Read more
Deciding to Make a Change in Cancer Treatment
The first treatment a patient receives for cancer is generally the one his or her oncologist believes has the best chance of curing the disease or holding it in check. But the time may come when it may be appropriate to make a change in the therapy. In the best case scenario, a patient’s cancer … Read more
Cancer Mythbusters Episode #6 – Is Palliative Care Only for End-of-Life Patients?
Palliative care is an often misunderstood specialty, focused on providing support and pain management strategies to cancer patients throughout all stages of their illness. This approach, which can be blended into curative cancer therapy, focuses on care for the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. Read More: Oncology and Palliative Care Team Up to Benefit … Read more
Transforming End of Life Care through Communication
Justin Sanders’ path to Dana-Farber’s Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care department has meandered across the world. He grew up in Utah, studied art history in Pennsylvania, medicine in Vermont, and, as a Fulbright scholar, medical anthropology in London before he trained and worked as a family doctor in the Bronx and then as a hospitalist … Read more
A Day in the Life: Dana-Farber Social Workers
For clinical social workers Annette Quinn, MSW, LICSW, and Sara Nemitz, MSW, LICSW, each day is unique. Part of Dana-Farber’s department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Quinn and Nemitz work closely with patients and their families to provide support during treatment, addressing the new anxieties and concerns many patients face after a cancer diagnosis. … Read more
Tips for Starting Difficult Conversations with Your Care Team
By James Tulsky, MD James Tulsky, MD, is chair of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at Dana-Farber, with a longstanding research interest in clinician-patient communication and quality of life for patients with serious illnesses. He is also founding director of VitalTalk, a non-profit with a mission to nurture healthier connections between clinicians and patients through … Read more
Does Having a Certain Personality Type Affect Cancer Risk?
It was once thought that people with certain personality traits were particularly susceptible to cancer. Neurotic people and introverts, in particular, were believed to be especially at risk for developing the disease. Personality type was also thought to play a role in whether people stricken with cancer would die of it. In the early 1960s, … Read more
Tips for Sharing a Child’s Cancer Diagnosis with Others
No one is prepared to tell a loved one they have cancer. But the conversation becomes even more difficult when it’s your child who is diagnosed. How should parents and patients tell family members and friends, and who should be taking the lead? While there are some universal recommendations, much depends on the child’s age … Read more
Can Marijuana Benefit Cancer Patients?
Early research has shown cannabis may be helpful for patients experiencing side effects from chemotherapy and other types of cancer treatment, such as nausea and vomiting. But there are also risk associated with using cannabis, and the persisting social stigma and legal questions surrounding its use complicate how it is approached in a clinical setting. … Read more
Managing Behavior When Your Child Has Cancer
When you learn your child has cancer, the natural response is to do anything possible to make them happy. However, it is important to balance this desire to comfort with an understanding of what is in your son or daughter’s best interest. This is especially true when your child with cancer exhibits difficult behaviors. “Even … Read more
Coping with a Pediatric Brain Tumor Diagnosis: Tips for Families
Childhood cancer is never easy for a family, and pediatric brain tumors can present a particularly difficult set of medical, cognitive, and physical challenges. Patients may face hearing and vision loss, seizures, learning disabilities, and more. Long after the disease is gone, these issues – and related emotional and social struggles – often remain. It … Read more
Young Neuroblastoma Patient and Family Make New Home at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s
Bridgette West sparkled last fall in the “Fight Song” music video created by patients at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. But before the 2-year-old became a social media standout with her dancing, she and her family faced challenges that went far beyond a cancer diagnosis. In the summer of 2015, after struggling for … Read more
Depression and Cancer: What You Need to Know
A cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment can come with many different emotions: anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, and sadness. For some patients, that sadness can become a serious issue; approximately one quarter of cancer patients become depressed during or after treatment. “Patients will have feelings of sadness and a lack of energy from time to time … Read more
A Better Way to Care for Seriously Ill Children and Their Families
This post originally appeared on WBUR’s Cognoscenti blog. By Joanne Wolfe, MD, MPH How is it that, in this day and age, a talented teenager treated for lymphoma emerges cured but with a life-threatening eating disorder? How is it that, in our nation’s capital, a boy dying at home from neuroblastoma experiences excruciating pain in his final moments? … Read more
Post-Traumatic Stress and Cancer
Many associate post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, with veterans returning home from war, or those involved in similarly violent scenarios. But PTSD can occur after any life-threatening traumatic event – including a serious illness like cancer. “It’s common for cancer patients, even if they don’t have full-blown PTSD, to have some of the symptoms of … Read more
‘Chemobrain’ Added to Cancer Survivorship Guidelines
Cognitive dysfunction is a common and frustrating side effect for many patients who undergo chemotherapy. The condition – also called “chemobrain” – can create problems with memory, attention and concentration, information processing, and mental skills used for organizing and scheduling. For many years, medical professionals were skeptical that these cognitive issues were a real side effect of … Read more
How to Discuss Difficult Medical Decisions with Your Family
As a palliative care physician, part of my job is to help foster communication among family members making difficult health care decisions. This often relates to end-of-life matters, a topic I’ve grown comfortable with. In the department of psychosocial oncology and palliative care at Dana-Farber, my colleagues and I describe health care proxies and power of … Read more