Wednesday, November 20, 1996
CANCER:
Attitudes of friends and family toward patients can make the
difference in recoveryBy Jeanette Lomboy
Josh White’s account on cancer ("Faith, love provide strength in
time of crisis," Nov. 13) struck an all-too-knowing chord. Almost
four months ago to this day, my boyfriend Geoff who was just one
weekend short of his 21st birthday was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s
Disease Lymphoma, or more simply, cancer of the lymph nodes. As
shocking as the news was, and as tough as it was coping with bland
hospital rooms, treatment options, percent chances and
probabilities, I was more stunned by uneducated misconceptions of
different people who responded to the diagnosis.
For example, about two months after a particularly difficult
chemotherapy treatment, I was rummaging through a stationary store
searching for an inspirational card to lift Geoff’s spirits. An
employee and I began chatting and she asked (I am sure with good
intentions) what the card was for. I told her the situation
optimistically and she recoiled in horror, saying, "How can you
attach yourself to someone like that when you know they’re going to
die?" Instead of telling her off, I calmly and sternly lectured her
on the fact that cancer does not mean sure death. What maddens me
more is the realization that her voice is just one of the
uneducated many. (Trust me, I’ve met them).
This misconception has cruel repercussions, and is somewhat
responsible for cancer-related deaths. I knew of a cancer patient
whose family rejected him and he died shortly thereafter, even
though the doctors had given him a fair chance.
I know that if people were more educated and aware, cancer
patients would benefit from the resulting support  something
that can make the difference between life and death. Increased
awareness works miracles, and a cure in our lifetime is not
unthinkable.
For those who have been lucky enough to escape the touch of
cancer, please, if it ever does arrive, don’t write yourself or any
other cancer patient off. With the innovations in medicine today,
cancer is becoming more and more of a hindrance than the wrath of a
grim reaper. Like White’s mom, 30 years ago the success of
neurosurgery would be a rarity, but today is more and more
common.
As for Geoff, he’s currently in remission and looking ahead to
the future. He’s got a good chance, but of course there are no
guarantees. That doesn’t matter so much. What we do know is that
without the combination of hope, support, and medicine, Geoff’s
cancer, if we had let it, would have meant death.
Increased awareness works miracles, and a cure … is not
unthinkable.