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It has been stated that one in three people will develop a form of Cancer at some point within their lives, making it one of the most prolific diseases that we are now seeing. Due to this doctors have to be highly aware of the possibility of Cancer when making a diagnosis.

The importance of an early diagnosis when it comes to Cancer cannot be emphasised enough; in many cases an early diagnosis is the difference between life and death. An early diagnosis is also the deciding factor on your life expectancy. Early diagnosis is crucial regardless of what type of Cancer you have; this is especially true in the case of lung, ovarian and stomach Cancer as they have a much lower mortality rate if they receive a prompt diagnosis.

Sadly some people aren’t treated as early as they should be. There are many reasons for this such as a patient didn’t think anything of their symptoms and dismissed them as something else so they didn’t bother going and seeing their doctor. Also many people go to their doctor with symptoms but these symptoms are similar to another disease with the same symptoms so they could easily be dismissed. All of these are common human error but it is important that a doctor goes down all avenues when they are diagnosing you.

An example of why it is so important to catch any form of cancer early is people who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the earliest stage they have a 92% to 93% of a five year survival but this can quickly be reduced to 11% or 12% if the cancer has seriously advanced.

An example of when a diagnosis goes beyond simple human error is if a smoker goes to see a doctor with a cough and the doctor merely puts it down to the fact that they smoke. This is completely unacceptable as a cough is one symptom of lung cancer. In a case such as this the doctor should have examined the matter further and investigated the possibility of lung cancer, if for nothing else than to rule it out.

There are many different types of cancer so in order to make an accurate diagnosis you need a medical professional to correctly interpret your symptoms and by looking at your test results thoroughly. Failure to accurately diagnose allows the cancer to spread and grow, which can be at an alarming rate depending on where the cancer is and how advanced or aggressive it is.

If a cancer diagnosis is failed to be made then your correct treatment will be delayed, which will increase your chance of dying from the disease; however this problem can also be turned around, which basically means that if a doctor makes a diagnosis of cancer and there is no cancer present then this can cause a person a lot of unnecessary emotional suffering and shock and it may even lead to them receiving the incorrect treatment. Any situation such as this will be viewed as a form of medical negligence.

If you feel that you have suffered from medical negligence in the past three years due to actions that were taken or actions that were failed to be taken when it comes to your Cancer diagnosis then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

Thousands of men and women across the UK have already claimed the compensation that they deserve after being involved in some form of a medical negligence claim, now it’s your turn so get in touch with a legal team today to find out where you stand with making a claim for compensation.

Helen is the web master of Accident Consult, specialists in all aspects of Medical Negligence Compensation Claims.

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Cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in the Western world.

Although Cancer is primarily a disease of the elderly with more than 60% of deaths from cancer occurring in those over the age of 65, cancer can strike even the youngest of children.

Cancer appears to occur when the growth of cells in the body is out of control and cells divide too rapidly. Carcinomas can develop in almost any organ or tissue, such as the lung, colon, breast, skin, bones, or nerve tissue.

Most common sites are:

Prostrate 24%

Breast 13%

Lung 13%

Colon and Rectum 9%

Bladder 3%

Uterus 2.5%

The cause of Cancer is believed to be a combination of genetic factors and outside carcinogens such as tobacco, viruses, infection, asbestos, vinyl chloride, inappropriate diet.

Cancer often has no specific symptoms, so it is important that you limit your risk factors and undergo appropriate cancer screening. The signs and symptoms will depend on where the cancer is, the size of the tumor, and how much it affects the nearby organs or structures.

If a cancer spreads (metastasizes), then symptoms may appear in different parts of the body. As a tumour grows, it begins to push on nearby organs, blood vessels, and nerves. If the cancer is in a critical area, such as certain parts of the brain, even the smallest tumor can cause early symptoms.

But sometimes cancers start in places where it does not cause any symptoms until the cancer has grown quite large. Pancreatic cancers, for example, do not usually grow large enough to be felt from the outside of the body.

By the time a pancreatic cancer causes these signs or symptoms, it has usually reached an advanced stage.

A cancer may also cause symptoms common to many other problems, such as; fever, fatigue and weight loss. This may be because the cancer uses up much of the body’s energy or it may cause the release of substances which affect metabolism.

Some lung cancers make hormone-like substances that affect blood calcium levels, affecting nerves and muscles and causing weakness and dizziness.

It is important to know what some of the general (non-specific) signs and symptoms of cancer are, but remember that having any of these does not mean that you have cancer.

Most cancers can be treated and some cured, depending on the specific type, location, and stage. The earlier tumors are found, the better the prognosis.

A good example of the importance of finding cancer early is melanoma skin cancer. Skin cancer can be easy to remove if it has not grown deep into the skin, and the 5-year survival rate (percentage of people living at least 5 years after diagnosis) at this stage is nearly100%.

Screening for breast cancer with mammograms has been shown to reduce the average stage of diagnosis of breast cancer in a population.

Colorectal cancer can be detected through fecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy, which reduces both colon cancer incidence and mortality, presumably through the detection and removal of pre-malignant polyps.

Similarly, cervical cytology testing (using the Pap smear) leads to the identification and excision of precancerous lesions.

Testicular self-examination is recommended for men beginning at the age of 15 years to detect testicular cancer.

SIGNS and SYMPTOMS

Pain may be an early symptom with some cancers such as bone cancers or testicular cancer.

Long-term constipation, diarrhea, or a change in the size of the stool may be a sign of colon cancer.

Pain with urination, blood in the urine, or a change in bladder function (such as more frequent or less frequent urination) could be related to bladder or prostate cancer.

Skin cancers may bleed and look like sores that do not heal.

A long-lasting sore in the mouth could be an oral cancer and should be dealt with right away, especially in patients who smoke, chew tobacco, or frequently drink alcohol.

Sores on the penis or vagina may either be signs of infection or an early cancer, and should not be overlooked.

Unusual bleeding can happen in either early or advanced cancer.

Blood in the sputum (phlegm) may be a sign of lung cancer.

Blood in the stool (or a dark or black stool) could be a sign of colon or rectal cancer.

Blood in the urine may be a sign of bladder or kidney cancer.

A bloody discharge from the nipple may be a sign of breast cancer.

Many cancers can be felt through the skin, mostly in the breast, testicle, lymph nodes (glands), and the soft tissues of the body. A lump or thickening may be an early or late sign of cancer. Self examination is an important diagnostic measure, particularly for breast tumors.

While they commonly have other causes, indigestion or swallowing problems may be a sign of cancer of the esophagus, stomach, or pharynx (throat).

A cough that does not go away may be a sign of lung cancer.

A tumor may be suspected for a variety of reasons, but the definitive diagnosis of most malignancies must be confirmed by histological examination of the cancerous cells by a pathologist.

TREATMENT

Once diagnosed, cancer is usually treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Radiation therapy may be used to treat almost every type of solid tumor, including cancers of the brain, breast, cervix, larynx, lung, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, uterus, or soft tissue sarcomas.

Most forms of chemotherapy target all rapidly dividing cells and are not specific for cancer cells, although some degree of specificity may come from the inability of many cancer cells to repair DNA damage, while normal cells generally can.

Contemporary methods for generating an immune response against tumours include intravesical BCG immunotherapy for superficial bladder cancer, and use of interferons and other cytokines to induce an immune response in renal cell carcinoma and melanoma patients.

Pain medication, such as morphine and oxycodone, and anti-emetics, drugs to suppress nausea and vomiting, are very commonly used in patients with cancer-related symptoms. transmission and disease.

Advances in cancer research have made a vaccine designed to prevent cancer available. The vaccine protects against four HPV types, which together cause 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts.

The consensus on diet and cancer is that obesity increases the risk of developing cancer. The cancer-fighting components of food are also proving to be more numerous and varied than previously understood, so patients are increasingly being advised to consume fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables for maximal health benefits.

Dick Aronson has been involved in the healthcare industry for 35 years. He has written numerous articles on the subject and runs a number of informative websites, viz: Go to Cancer Information-online , Go to Prostate Information-online and for unique health products Go to Health Innovations

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Learning to fully live during tough times…

“Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ken’s asleep now. It’s been a big couple of days. Seems like a life time has come and gone; perhaps it has. Surgery for the new melanoma was Wednesday morning—early. Ten hours later, it was over. Four hours later he was out of recovery and into the next phase of life, learning to survive cancer. My work with the men at the Oregon State Correctional Institution gave me gave me an appreciation for freedom. Ken’s rollercoaster ride with cancer has given me a whole new appreciation for life and a deep understanding of the preciousness of each of life’s moments.

I know now why people close down and create walls around themselves for protection. Being open is painful when what is present is filled with sadness and suffering, but that is my commitment, to not close down in any way so here I sit wide open, allowing it all to be what it is, without story, without running or hiding. The love of everyone is so present here too. One would miss that if they closed down. You have to accept it all, to remain open to it all, or you miss the joy inherent in the sorrow, you miss the deep connection that lies amidst the pain.

The natural instinct of self-preservation creates walls easily, automatically, lending itself well to fight or flight, and misses the opportunity of being present. It would be nice if we could partition off the good from the bad and experience only happiness and joy, but we can’t. When we partition off the unacceptable, we partition ourselves off from life. We build walls that prevent us from experiencing all of life. Rather than experiencing life, being truly alive, we unconsciously tone down our experience to one we deem more acceptable. Unfortunately what we get is a mental experience rather than the entire experience, one that leaves us feeling disconnected and lost.

“Every life has dark tracts and long stretches of somber tint, and no representation is true to fact which dips its pencil only in light, and flings no shadows on the canvas.” Alexander Maclaren

A picture is worth a thousand words, so let me draw one. When we build a wall, it is as if we create a shell around ourselves. Consider yourself an egg inside an egg shell. Without the shell the egg slides all over the place…including into the frying pan…erase that…good for a picture but the analogy, while accurate, will most likely add more fear rather than opening an opportunity to shed it.

Let’s try again with a trip down memory lane. Back in 1976 John Travolta starred in a movie called, “Boy in the Plastic Bubble”, a film about a boy who was forced to live in a plastic isolation chamber because he was born with a non-functioning immune system, leaving him vulnerable to even the most common everyday viruses. The bubble is a great analogy for what we do to ourselves when we say ‘no’ to any aspect of our lives. In “The Grand Experiment” we call it the crystalline shell. Rather than being forced to live inside the bubble, though, we choose it, believing it to be safer than this painful experience of life. The virus we are vulnerable to is fear. When something good comes along, we don’t drop the layers and step free of the bubble. If we did that, the painful energy might find us, so instead, we engage life, the good and the bad from inside the bubble.

None of this is conscious, and though it may sound contradictory, it is a choice. It becomes a choice when we realize what is happening. At that point, we choose either to stay safely inside the bubble or choose to crack it, dissolve it, dismantle it…whatever it takes to live freely. Even knowing, we may continue to choose what appears to be safety, at least until the pain of being ensconced within the bubble exceeds the pain we perceive to be on the outside. In the movie, John Travolta’s character fell in love with the girl next door. He decided that life on the outside, even if it meant his death, was better than a long, safe life, disconnected from the ability to fully love—a true coming of age story.

Coming of age…what does that mean? It usually means growing up and entering into adulthood. Consider using it to mean growing into a true human, into our humanity, into our full compassion, fully aware of what it means to be human and that includes the good and the bad, the suffering and the pain. We are not meant to find the golden bucket at the end of the rainbow. There is no prince on a white horse. We cannot and should not choose only the apparent good in life. If we do we miss out on life…messy life…complex life…real life. We miss out on the ability to engage life. We miss out on the ability to live life fully present—present and accounted for! We look through the bubble and wonder why it feels as if we are missing out on something, why we feel so disconnected, why life just doesn’t satisfy. Inside the bubble we have the appearance of safety, but it is killing us slowly, roasting us one dream at a time. Outside is painful. Outside is joyful. Outside is all full! Outside is life. Inside is mind’s version, mind’s game, mind’s diversion from life.

Live now. None of us know how long we have here or how long the people we love will be with us. These moments are precious. They are God’s gift to each of us when we choose to fully experience life. Hell is inside the bubble of mind’s making. Heaven is filled with sorrow and suffering, joy and ecstatic, full-on living and it is here, outside the bubble. Come out and play.

“Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.” Albert Schweitzer

Gayle Gregory, co-author of The Grand Experiment, an Expedition of Self-Discovery, is a coach and consultant dedicated to radically transforming humanity’s interactions, personally, locally and globally. Freedom from fear is not only possible, it is our birthright! Her coaching business is Pure Possibility and is affiliated with WE, Workplace Evolution.

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Breast cancer radiotherapy is at best an ordeal and at worst a living nightmare for many women.

The worst moment after being told you really do have cancer is being told you will need chemotherapy and radiotherapy as treatment to fight the disease. Having been there I know it’s shocking and I felt I just simply would never cope with it all. I’m writing this article and describing my experiences in the hope that it will make it easier for others to cope. If that applies to you then my thoughts are with you - good luck on your journey. Be strong and you’ll see it through.

My own breast cancer treatment regime was to consist of four treatments of FEC chemo, four weeks of radiotherapy treatment then four treatments of Taxotere chemo. This would all take the best part of ten months.

Having survived the first part of the chemo ( just! ) I went into my radiotherapy a bit bruised and battered. The first thing that needed done was going to a simulator to have the very complicated process of marking out where your treatment would be. This is done with lasers and details of where your tumour or tumours were. Small tattoos are then done to mark out the treatment area. This enables the machine to be set up very quickly every day during treatment.

I mentally decided that for the four weeks of radiotherapy I would treat it like a job. It took 45 minutes or so to drive to the hospital and back every day. The Western General in Edinburgh where I had all my treatments has a fantastic set up for radiotherapy patients. There is a dedicated car park next to the unit and you are guaranteed a space or they will valet park your car. This was amazing and a big weight off my mind as your appointment only lasts five minutes and you have to be there in time as the machines are in use constantly.

The actual radiotherapy lasts a few minutes and is painless-quite relaxing really. Some people find the treatment very tiring. I didn’t, but I think if you’ve had chemo first then your perception of tiredness changes! The going to the hospital every day is a bit of a bind but use any mental trick to over come this.

After a few weeks of treatment the skin over the treated area can become very red and fragile. No soap or creams should be used as these can make your skin even more sensitive. This does clear up but it did cause discomfort for a few weeks. The skin on this area will always be more sensitive and sun should be avoided. It’s also worth mentioning not to forget the exit area – mine was on my back – where the radiotherapy exists your body during treatments.

Radiotherapy treatment, for me, was the least unpleasant of the treatments I went through. At the outset it seems daunting but really it’s not – honestly!

Marjory Ramsay is a nurse and mother in Edinburgh. She has blogged about her breast cancer treatment experiences in the hope that others might find help or comfort. You can read her breast cancer survivor story and about the symptoms of breast cancer by following these links.

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Herceptin Treatment is a fairly new treatment for breast cancer. It was originally licensed for women who had some form of meteastatic breast cancer spread but a little over two years ago it was licensed to be used on any woman with early stage breast cancer. For me this was amazing timing as I had just had a mastectomy and it was discovered that the tumour I had was HER-2 positive. This is the only type of tumor suitable for herceptin treatment.

So, it was organized that after chemotherapy and radiotherapy I would have seventeen Herceptin treatments at three weekly intervals. To be honest after all the other treatments I was tired and weary. However, I was aware of how important this treatment was and decided to give it my all!

Herceptin works by interfering in the way which breast cancer cells divide and grow. Some breast cancer cells divide and grow when a protein that naturally occurs in the body attaches itself to another protein known as HER2, which is found on the surface of the breast cancer cells.

Herceptin blocks this process by attaching itself to the HER2 protein so that the growth factor cannot reach the breast cancer cells. This stops the cells from dividing and growing.

Herceptin only works in people who have high levels of the HER2 protein. It appears to have little effect in those who do not. Approximately one in five breast cancer patients are HER-2 positive

The reasoning behind giving Herceptin over seventeen treatments is that the timescale from diagnosis to the end of Herceptin is approximately eighteen months … and eighteen months is the most likely time for the tumour to return, or metastic spread to occur – clever don’t you think!

During my treatments – which I got at home- I felt tired but not the dreaded near death tiredness of chemotherapy, and it only lasted a few days. That said there was a build up effect and nearing the end of it I did feel pretty ropey a lot of the time. My biggest problem with Herceptin was cannulation. Having had Epirubicin as one of my chemo drugs my veins in my hand and arm were hard and near impossible to cannulate.

The nurses could only use one arm because my lymph nodes had been removed on the other side during the mastectomy and no cannulations or injections should be done on that side to try to prevent infection. The poor nurses! Me a quivering wreck and no veins to be seen. It did cause me a lot of stress but they managed it every time. Virtually no cancer centres in the UK use portacaths - which are the commonest approach to this problem elsewhere in the world.

I was quite lucky not to have experienced too many side effects during my herceptin treatment. I did experience diarrhoea but while this is unpleasant, it’s manageable. Forward planning about location of toilets and Imodium in your handbag!

Flu like symptoms are also common following administration of the drug.

One of the more serious herceptin side effects is a reduction in heart function. To monitor this it’s normal to have an injection fraction scan every three months to determine if any damage has been done. These scans terrified me at first as I didn’t want anything to interrupt my treatments but I needn’t have worried as my heart function improved on Herceptin. Trust me to be different!

People can also experience allergic reactions and this is the reason the first two treatments are usually given in hospital.

My message to anybody out there who is embarking on Herceptin treatment is it’s not as bad as chemotherapy, it truly is life saving and it will be over before you know it! Stick with it and see it through. It’s tough but you’ll be glad you did once it’s over.

Marjory Ramsay is a nurse and mother in Edinburgh. She has blogged about her breast cancer treatment experiences in the hope that others might find help or comfort. You can read her breast cancer survivor story and about the symptoms of breast cancer by following these links.

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