Cancer and Addressing Boundaries

What are the boundaries when you are left with few options or those on your team have clearly signed off on the assignment? Sometimes patients find themselves in a precarious position of following and going with the procedures that are laid in front of them.

In many cases, many feel that there may not be any room for limitations. It’s not easy making decisions and doing what’s right upon being diagnosed with lung cancer. Though the words of diagnosis and prognosis seem frightening, is there wiggle room in seeking the best care? How and can boundaries be considered when faced with this fight?

Tip 1: Deciding factor

You have more control than you think you do. You may have this interesting road ahead of living with lung cancer, but your outlook is in your control and your hands. Cancer of any kind must be met by reviewing options once the news has reverberated through your being.

What does care look like, and how do you want care to continue when your options are understood? I’ve written before how I wanted my mother at another facility for treatment, but she didn’t have the energy to travel all over the place, so she put her trust in where she died. I say that as sometimes the inevitable may seem to be the writing on the wall, but sometimes that’s not the case and it’s important to keep the conversation alive in what and how you want to move ahead.

Tip 2: Empathy

For whatever I’m going through; I’m all for an empathetic ear to my experience. Everyone may not understand the struggle personally, but having a medical team that at least makes an effort of caring means so much. My start in advocacy began not with my own health drama, but with my mother 10 years ago. The crazy call of how her doctor spoke to her upon reviewing her diagnosis, called for me to see it for myself, and that is why I do what I do.

Empathy is a strong review of how the latter deciding factor falls into play. Poor care should not mean that you continue with the motions. If you feel the communication is not up to what you expect, ask to speak with your hospital/facility social worker or a patient advocate at the facility. You have a choice, even when you think you don’t.

Tip 3: Hopeful

You’ve heard the saying, “Nothing in life is free”. Well, it’s the same thought when getting better and living with cancer. There’s going to be trials, whether the medications are not a good fit or the fatigue has settled in. The struggle in survivorship may be long and hard, but it’s slow and steady that wins the race.

Part of winning is being in a frame of mind of doing what you have to do with hope for the future. Though you may feel there are boundaries around your particular situation know that you have a will and a voice to express how you want this particular journey to be played out.

The time to fight is now, with integrity, grace, hope, and a smile...when you feel like it.