your doctor, for, from the doctor's point of view, many of the problems in communication come from the family—the husband or wife, the sister or brother, the cousin or friend who has heard about a cure somewhere or about someone who's had better treatment. By making sure that all interested parties are kept informed, everyone can focus their energies and efforts in the most constructive channels.
Overcoming a Loss of Self-Esteem Your self-esteem can be threatened by the very idea of having cancer. Unfortunately, it's not unusual to feel that if you were somehow a better or more complete person you wouldn't have been stricken in the first place or that the cancer is some sort of divine punishment.
These are all superstitious beliefs that, sad to say, still cling to the word cancer. But having cancer doesn't mean that you are unworthy in any way or that you are guilty of some terrible wrongdoing. Cancer can happen to anyone. It will happen to one out of every four Americans.
Even if you don't fall victim to these superstitions, however, cancer can take away or change some of the things that have always given you a sense of self-esteem.
Your Body Image Changes to your body as a result of surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy can have a devastating effect on your self-esteem, especially if the changes are visible to other people. If you lose some part of your body, if you have scars or skin changes or if you lose your hair or a lot of weight, everyone can't help but notice. And you're bound to feel uncomfortable when they do, at least at first. If you have to have an
