If You Need: Information about Cancer

To make good choices about your medical care, you will need correct information about your cancer and its treatment. If you are upset, it is sometimes hard to remember all the information your doctors tell you. People with cancer can also be confused by what they hear in the news or by advice from friends.

Kinds of Information:

By talking with your health care team, reading written materials, attending education programs, and calling your local American Cancer Society, you can learn about the following topics:

Current and correct information about cancer and how it is treated
Second opinions and treatment options
What to expect from your treatment
Common questions and answers about cancer
False beliefs about cancer
Coping with feelings about a chronic illness
Local services such as job retraining, transportation help, and financial aid

Finding Information Services

Your doctor, nurse, and health care team members should be the first people you talk to about your cancer. They will give you information about your particular type of cancer, its treatment, and your cancer-related needs.

The American Cancer Society provides information and sponsors group programs to help you understand your illness and its problems. Programs, such as I Can Cope, will teach you how to live life fully while dealing with cancer. To find out about these programs, call your local American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345.

The Cancer Information Service, funded by the National Cancer Institute, offers books and pamphlets about cancer. The Cancer Information Service will answer your questions and will often send you written materials. To discuss your cancer questions and find out about written information available to you, call 1-800-4-CANCER.

Helpful Hints

If you are having trouble getting information, plan a meeting with your doctor just to discuss your questions and concerns. Bring a loved one along to help you remember everything you and your doctor discuss.

In a notebook, keep a list of questions you would like to ask your doctor. Take this with you to your meeting.

Not all patients need the same amount of information. Tell your doctor if he or she is giving you too much or too little. If you are confused, you may worry and find it harder to cope. The booklet, "Talking with Your Doctor," may be helpful. You can get this from your local American Cancer Society.

Be aware that books about cancer from the library or bookstores may not contain the latest information. Booklets and information sheets from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute tend to be the most current sources of information.

In talking with friends or others who have cancer, keep in mind everyone's illness is different. To compare your illness or treatment with someone else's may confuse you. People mean well when they give advice, but your doctor is the best source for information.

If you still feel stressed or fearful, talk with your nurse or social worker. They can help you figure out what information you may need. You may be too worried to hear all your doctor is saying. Perhaps your doctor isn't aware of your concerns. If you understand what is going on, you will find it easier to cope.

This Fact Sheet is adapted from the book, Helping People Cope: A Guide for Families Facing Cancer, written by Joan F. Hermann, ACSW, Sandra L. Wojtkowiak, RN, MSN, Peter S. Houts, Ph.D., and S. Benham Kahn, MD, and supported by the Pennsylvania Cancer Control Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Health; 1990 Revised Edition

c 1993, American Cancer Society

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