Patients do have the right to refuse treatment and Patricia thinks that it is important for the health professional to provide the patient with all the information they need to decide.
Transcript
I’m, it’s not all of them for sure and not all oncologists for sure and not all nurses, but it’s a, it requires a huge culture change and it doesn’t just require a culture change on the part of the healthcare provider, it requires a culture change on the part of patients. You need to be responsible for your care. So if you are ill, you need to do something about it and then you need to share in the care and the treatment if that happens. For cancer patients that’s extraordinarily important. People have the right to refuse chemotherapy, they have the right to refuse radiation if they want to. It may not always be the sensible choice but the point is they have the right to do it. What the, what the healthcare providers need to do, is to make sure that the patient and family has the information they need to go ahead and make their decision and then to help them make that decision, to make the right decision and to make it through. I know people who have refused chemotherapy when it was recommended; again that’s a personal choice. You have to decide. That it’s, some people look at it as, as toxic. It is toxic. Radiation is toxic, nobody was meant to have that kind of radiation put in their body but it’s better than dying because that’s the alternative as far as I look at it.
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- Alternative and complementary therapies – PatriciaFollowing exercise classes with the cancer centre helped Patricia stay in shape and at the same time it provided an informal support group.
- Endocrine (hormone) therapy – PatriciaWhen Patricia started to feel weepy, she checked and discovered that this was a possible side-effect.
- Radiation therapy – PatriciaPatricia comments on the growing awareness about long-term fatigue following radiation.
- Surgery – PatriciaPatricia learned that her breast will not look the same after a lumpectomy.
- Messages to others – PatriciaPatricia sums up several things that could be helpful.
- Managing within the health care system – PatriciaPatricia feels that patients should be sharing responsibility with their providers for their care and decision-making.
- Coping strategies – PatriciaPatricia had returned to her church prior to her diagnosis. This decision proved to be helpful in dealing with her illness.
- Perspectives on treatment pathways – PatriciaPatients do have the right to refuse treatment and Patricia thinks that it is important for the health professional to provide the patient with all the information they need to decide.
- Physical activity and diet changes – PatriciaPatricia encourages women to keep exercising and not stop doing things just because they have cancer.
- Troubling long-term effects of treatment – PatriciaPatricia described the episodes of extreme fatigue she continued to experience and explained how these episodes were different from normal tiredness.