The Evercare Hospital, Lekki, has said educating cancer patients on strategies for coping with the condition may lead to improved treatment outcomes.
Consultant clinical and Radiation Oncologist at Evercare Hospital Lekki, Dr Uchenna Okoro, explained that with cancer as one of the leading terminal illnesses, the first step for a patient just diagnosed with cancer was understanding the diagnosis and disease process.
‘‘Discussions with the managing physician should provide information on the type of cancer, location of cancer, stage of the disease, is the disease treatable or not, treatment options, side effects of treatment, cost of treatment, what happens if patient declines any treatment and life changes to expect during and after treatment,’’ he said.
Okoro, whose core specialties include malignancies of the Breast, Genitourinary tract, Gastrointestinal tract tumors, Gynecological malignancies, Prostate malignancy, and Head and Neck tumors, explained that maintaining a healthy lifestyle was important for any patient being managed for cancer.
‘‘This will not only improve your energy level and help you manage the stress and fatigue of cancer and its treatment but will positively impact treatment outcomes. Choose a healthy diet. Get enough rest and exercise if you can.
“It is important for a patient to allow family or friends and in some cases where accessible professional caregivers to assist patients to deal with some of these demands. It is also important to consider how your diagnosis will impact your finances. A plan for funding cancer treatment is important and such plans must also consider life after treatment.’’
He added that the emotional and psychological burden of the disease was occasionally so much for patients to handle which may be the reason why cases of depression in patients with cancer were higher when compared with other non-communicable diseases.
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