A – Z of Breast Cancer: OTHER CANCERS

Do not freak out every time your doctor has you tested for another cancer. A good doctor is a professional hypochondriac; however cavalier they may be about their own health it is their job to worry and fuss over you. They would be negligent, given your history, if they didn’t check out any suspicious symptoms you develop. Just think, if they didn’t you’d have plenty to gripe about.

Luckily, my GP told me right at the start that for years to come every twinge would be investigated with cancer in mind so I wasn’t shocked or horrified when I was sent home with a hideous little kit used to screen for bowel cancer. Fecal Occult Blood. Sounds like a video nasty, some kitschy 1970s devil worship horror. And no, it is nothing like a home pregnancy testing kit. For a start, you have to bring it back to the lab for analysis (ick, who’d work in a lab?) and then there is the agonising wait for your results.

If they found your nodes were affected by the primary cancer you will have been given extra tests and scans to determine whether or not the cancer has spread to other areas of the body. This can provide peace of mind if you get the all clear and the reassurance that something will be done if you do not. Look on testing for other cancers as an opportunity not a threat. And if fear makes you falter, remember the mantra: Early diagnosis saves lives.

Read more at http://breastcancercares.blogspot.com/