Talking to a Professional

  

         













         In my previous blogs I have talked about interviewing a doctor that has worked with Cancer patients before. I had not really been in any luck with that. When I told my mom about she said I could talk to her school nurse. The nurse at her school used to be a nurse at a Cancer hospital and then she decided to work at schools. I asked my mom if I could ask her some questions to see what answers she would give me.

        The questions I had planned were the following:
-When the patients are told they have Cancer, are there different ways they deal with the problem?
-Is dealing with Cancer parents emotionally draining for the doctors as well?
-Are there signs to look for to see if you have Cancer?
-Do patients get help with dealing with their emotions about having Cancer?

        The answers I got:
-"Yes the patients all deal with the information differently. Most of them want to know what their options are. They ask two common questions. They ask "Will I live?" and "How am I going to live?" It`s shocking to all patients, but it`s most shocking to the patients that have Cancer and they are perfectly healthy."
-"Yes the Caregivers do get affected by this as well, but there are points where there are boundaries. There are points where they just treat and help the patients, but don`t take the emotions to their house because it`s their job."
-"Well first let me tell you quickly what Cancer really means. Cancer is a word that means a large group of diseases. When you have Cancer you have uncontrolled cell growth. There are some signs, but it depends on the type of Cancer you have. There are some that don`t have any signs."
-"It depends if you`re at a good clinic like Texas Oncology, Baylor, etc. There are these people called "Navigators" and they are your helpers. I really love the Cancer Center of America because they just don't focus on treating your Cancer. They also try to make every aspect of the patients lives as great as possible."

*The name of the nurse I interviewed was Mrs. Laura Moneymaker. Her title is RN, BSM.

           I really loved to interview someone who knows so much about this topic! I loved interviewing her because I learned so much with just four questions! It`s just fascinating!

Cancer Patients and their Emotions

        I`ve studied  many aspects of Cancer so far. I`ve learned about the disease, the Cancer Cells, and today I  researched how patients deal with Cancer. Everyone deals with their emotions differently. I`m focusing on how they deal with their emotions when they find out they have Cancer.

        Today I  went on several websites and I found up some very interesting things. I learned that people who are told they have Cancer think about dying with Cancer and not living with it. That upset me so much. It`s like as soon as they find out they just give up. That`s not how it should be though! This should make them more motivated to keep fighting for their lives. They have so much to live for and it just frustrates me so much! I think I want to talk to these people and try to make them realize this. I want to make a difference even though it may seem small.

          

         I also discovered that some people in order to cope with their feelings just shut everyone out. They shut their family and friends out. I`ve learned that some do this in order to not hurt anyone. They think that since they have this disease they should just shut everyone out. This is just worse. It doesn't really help anyone. It just frustrates everyone involved. I think it`s just so interesting how different people and personalities react differently to their diagnosis.

How I`m doing with my research.

     When I started to research last class I got a lot of information over Radiation therapy. It really shocked me because what they have to go through is very tough. They`re getting treatment to try and cure their cancer, and then their healthy cells get damaged. This causes them to become even weaker during treatment. In a way I already knew this because of my Grandma. When she was going through treatment even walking to the bathroom fatigued her.

       While I was doing my research today I learned about many different aspects of Cancer. I discovered that there are three different types of cancerous cells that can be created. There is Oncogenes, which makes cells multiply, there`s tumor suppressor genes, which halt cell multiplication, and then there`s genes that repair other damaged genes that have to do with DNA. I had absolutely no clue there were three types of cancer cells. I just thought you got cancer and that`s that.
       
          I`m planning to try to go to a cancer hospital soon. I really want to talk to the doctors. If they don`t that`s perfectly fine because I  know they`re really busy. I`m just really excited to see what else I`m going to learn! I`ve learned and absorbed SO much information in just two class periods! I wonder what I will learn next!




       

How does cancer start and how does it affect people?

        I have had many family members die from cancer. I was very young when this happened, so my parents didn`t tell me the full story back then. Since I was very young I`ve always been very curious. I`ve always wanted to know more and more!


        I picked this driving questions because I`m very interested in how cancer starts. Medicine has always been interesting to me from a very little age. This is why I want to go in depth with this driving question.


        I`m going to research my question, but at the same time I`m planning to go to a hospital where they treat Cancer patients. Then I can try to talk to the doctors, so they can explain to me the disease and maybe they might let me talk to the actual cancer patients. I know I can go in depth with this topic! I`m so excited to start and learn from these experiences.