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Information is Power

In Uncategorized on September 22, 2011 at 2:50 pm

 Information is power. It can help you to successfully navigate the cancer journey. Every individual and every cancer is unique.  Knowing your options and obtaining the necessary information is critical in order to make the right choices for you, for your cancer.   The right plan, as well as the right team, can make all the difference in mortality as well as in quality of life.

To read my blog about finding the right team, please visit: http://elynjacobs.blogspot.com/2011/05/cancer-find-right-team.html

  You have more options than you think when choosing a treatment plan.  Conventional (allopathic) medicine offers surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and other medical interventions to battle cancer.  For many, this is the route to take.  For others, surgery may be acceptable, but radiation and or chemotherapy either are not an option or are not acceptable to the patient.  Some will take the integrative approach, combining conventional with alternative therapies, and some will choose to use only alternative methods.   Keep in mind that within these modalities, there will be further decisions to make, for example which of the surgical options or chemotherapies would be best.   Information is power

 Today we have genetic testing that enables the oncologist and patient to make more informed choices for a treatment plan.  For example, when considering Tamoxifen, one might request a test such as Mamaprint or a CPY2D6 test.  These tests will help your doctor to determine if Tamoxifen would be effective for you.  When chemotherapy is advised, the patient and doctor have many options.  The oncologist will recommend the course of treatment that he or she feels would be best for your cancer.  However, often times this requires a trial and error period during which the patient starts and stops many different drugs in response to tolerance and effectiveness. 

 Now we have molecular-level diagnostic testing which can help oncologists receive more information on an individual’s cancer, and to develop a more personalized cancer treatment plan.  One resource for this is www.n-of-one.com.  Since each patient’s cancer has a specific genetic and molecular signature, this group focuses on how that may affect its response to different treatments. Identifying the biological markers driving a particular cancer may help to determine the best treatment option.

CellSearch, a circulating tumor cell test, helps doctors determine the prognosis of patients and offers a reading of tumor information so that oncologists are better prepared to care for their patients.  My hope is that these tests can also aid patients in their decisions for surgical and alternative options.

Now, it’s great that we have all these tests, but the next challenge is how do we make people aware of them? The buzz is on amongst the online support sites.  Some of my favorites for support and advice are:

http://www.inspire.com

http://navagatingcancer.com

http://www.talkabouthealth.com

http://www.mybreastanswers.com/

http://www.cancercove.com/

 Today I came upon a new site, www.IsMyCancerDifferent.com.  Their goal is to help patients understand how their cancer is unique and why it matters.  Cancer is not just one disease, so cancer treatment must be tailored to the individual cancer and circumstances of each patient. They believe that sharing this knowledge can inspire and empower patients to seek out the most appropriate treatment for their unique situation.  Right up my alley, you know how I like that word empower.

 For more information on genetic testing and Cell Search, please visit:

http://www.agendia.com/pages/mammaprint/21.php

http://medschool.umaryland.edu/molecularpath/documents/Newsletter2007.pdf

http://www.veridex.com/cellsearch/CellSearchHCP.aspx

http://latestbreastcancer.blogspot.com/2011/09/latest-research-on-cyp2d6-variations.html

 Elyn Jacobs

elyn@elynjacobs.com

https://elynjacobs.wordpress.com

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Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, the Director of Grants for the Emerald Heart Cancer Foundation and a breast cancer survivor.  She helps women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers.  She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.

 

Empowerment is the Key to a Successful Journey

In Uncategorized on September 19, 2011 at 7:11 pm

  “You have cancer” Three of the most dreaded words you can hear from your doctor.  Your world has changed and you feel a loss of control.    A moment ago you were a student, parent, wife, maybe even a doctor. Now, suddenly, you are a patient.  In the ensuing panic, disbelief, fear, and confusion you have to make decisions. But you don’t feel like a patient. Maybe accepting the role of patient is unsettling to you. You are not just a patient, someone who is expected to passively accept the treatment plan being offered, you are a person.  Being a passive participant in your care is a recipe for disaster.  As an empowered individual, you can take the path of action and self-advocacy; you can be part of your treatment team.

Empowerment is essential in the fight against cancer.  It can help you to successfully navigate the cancer journey. Every individual is different and every situation is different.  Knowing your options and obtaining the necessary information is critical in order to make the right choices for you, for your cancer.   The right plan and the right team can make all the difference in mortality as well as in quality of life.

   You have more options than you think when choosing a treatment plan.  Conventional (allopathic) medicine offers surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and other medical interventions to battle cancer.  For many, this is the route to take.  For others, surgery may be acceptable, but radiation and or chemotherapy either are not an option or are not acceptable to the patient.  Some will take the integrative approach, combing conventional with alternative therapies.  Massage, acupuncture, nutritional therapy and other treatments associated with complementary medicine can support patients during their journey, and more and more allopathic cancer facilities are incorporating integrative medicine into their programs.  Still others will choose to use only alternative methods.  The important thing is to choose what feels best to you.  Keep in mind that within these methods, there will be further decisions to make, for example which of the surgeries available would be best or which alternative treatment would be the most effective and tolerable.  Information is power and is necessary to a successful outcome.

Finding the right team is equally important.  Institutions and doctors often have very different approaches to treatment, as well as different personalities.  Be sure that your team understands your goals, limitations, fears, and questions.  I cannot stress this enough.  You deserve the “A Team”; you need the “A Team”, so find it.  I recently had a client come to me post-surgery.  She had a huge scar for a surgery that should have been very minor.  However, her doctor had one mission, that being to remove the cancer.  I know of many doctors who could have operated on her with minimal battle scars.  If life after cancer, including cosmetic appearance, is important to you, you must be proactive in discussions with your team.

The cancer journey is not an easy one, but there are many wonderful doctors who can get you to the path of recovery.   Just because a team or treatment has worked for others, make sure the plan is working for you. Teams work together.  If you find it hard to communicate with your team, or are not getting results, fire them and find a new one.  You owe it to yourself to get it right the first time.

 Elyn Jacobs

elyn@elynjacobs.com

https://elynjacobs.wordpress.com

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Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor.  She helps women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers.  She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.

 

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Elyn’s Blog

In Uncategorized on September 9, 2011 at 6:42 pm

A Positive attitude

There has been so much controversy over the need for a positive attitude.  A positive attitude does not mean you have to be upbeat about your cancer or prognosis.  It simply means that if you convince yourself you are going to die, then it could just become a self-fulfilling prophesy, and the reverse…if you convince yourself you will live a long-healthy life, you are on the road to achieve this goal.  I recently benefitted from Reflexology, so I decided to blog about the benefits.  However, in picking up a book on Reflexology, The Art of Reflexology by Inge Dougans, I came upon some words I wish to share.   I have much confidence in modern medicine, and I sincerely believe it has its place.  I owe my life to my cancer team, but I have also suffered greatly from doctors treating other issues.  The narrow-minded view of treating symptoms with little regard to the true cause of the problem has caused me much pain and suffering.   My wish is for people to be offered the option of combining the best of conventional medicine with the benefits of complementary medicine. 

The following is adapted from a portion of The Art of Reflexology, a Totally New Approach Using the Chinese Meridian Theory.

Disease (is) not an entity but a fluctuating condition of the patient’s body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self-healing tendency of the body.                                                                            HIPPOCRATES

Holism is a recently rediscovered concept in healing.  According to the holistic approach to medicine, health is defined as a positive, glowing state of mental and physical well-being, not merely the absence of disease.  Prior to the advent of modern medicine the manifestation of disease was recognized as being the result of disharmony in the physical, emotional and spiritual spheres, and health perceived as a balance between these three.  Thus no symptom or disorder could be treated in isolation.  Holistic healing methods, therefore, always treat the person as a whole.  They do not work specifically on an impaired organ or malfunctioning system, but on the whole person with the aim of mobilizing the body’s own healing powers to restore the organism to a state of equilibrium.

 For thousands of years it was accepted that illness resulted from a disturbance in man’s internal environment.  Then came the orthodox scientific approach dominated by the germ theory.  It has been the focus of medicine ever since.  Once it was known that micro-organisms could invade the body and flourish into specific diseases, the search was on to seek out, identify and combat them.  Man came to be perceived as a sum of working parts and the approach to disease dominated by symptomatic diagnosis and palliative treatment. 

The germ theory has been quite convenient, as most of us prefer to believe that illness is the result of external forces.  This approach is now seen to be far too simplistic.  The failure of the germ theory to combat the vast and intricate realm of disease has resulted in increased interest in, and demand for, natural therapies; therapies which recognize that the problem of health and disease does not lie in identifying symptoms but in the greater understanding of people and their needs as individuals.

 Disease is generated by a combination of circumstances both inside and outside the body.  The main object of holistic healing is to help correct the life condition that predisposes a person to disease.  A vast number of factors can initiate disease—particularly in our modern, highly industrialized, polluted environment.  Yet one of the most important factors in the development of disease is state of mind.

 The mind is immensely powerful and the relationship between mind and body should never be underestimated.  Because all life is based on energy, health is considered to be the harmonious interplay of energies within the body.  Negative thoughts and emotions restrict the free flow of these energies, causing congestions which ultimately manifest as disease if not corrected.  It is now widely accepted that a positive attitude is a major step towards creating a healthy body.  This is so eloquently expressed by Dr Randolph Stone who said: ‘As you think, so you are.’  He wrote in Health Building: We become what we contemplate.  Negative thoughts and fears make grooves in the mind as negative energy waves of despondency and hopelessness.  We cannot think negative thoughts and reap positive results, and therefore we must assert the positive and maintain a positive pattern of thinking and acting as our ideals.

 Igne has a new version of this book, The New Reflexology – A Unique Blend of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Reflexology Practice for Better Health and Healing. This edition also has a small section on breast cancer relating the issue to specific meridians.

 Elyn Jacobs

elyn@elynjacobs.com

https://elynjacobs.wordpress.com

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Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Executive Director for the Emerald Heart Cancer Foundation, a certified cancer coach and a breast cancer survivor.  She helps women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers.  She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.

You can visit my blog It’s a Strong Tree that Withstands a Hurricane at http://elynjacobs.blogspot.com Thank you!

Hello world!

In Uncategorized on August 2, 2011 at 5:14 pm

 This site is for those newly diagnosed as well as those out of treatment.  Battling cancer is no easy task; my hope is that I can make the journey less difficult and more successful for you. I will continue to research cancer resources and add the ones that I believe are most useful.  If I have missed one that you find beneficial, please email me or leave a comment.  If there is anything more I can do for you, please let me know.

Please visit and comment on my blog: It’s a Strong Tree that Withstands a Hurricane http://elynjacobs.blogspot.com

If you would like to make a donation to the Emerald Heart Cancer Foundation, we would be happy to acknowledge your business on the EHCF sponsor page as well as adding a link to the Links and Resources page on this site.

Thank you all!

Elyn