Good Morning Cancer Patients and Caregivers;
I recently provided a continuing education session for
the cancer practitioners of a large hospital program, as part of their Cancer Care
Spring Session. Toward the end of the
session, a discussion started with an oncologist regarding a cancer patient
that was not actively participating in their treatment process and the reason
could be they may be going through depression. I asked the oncologist the
question: If you only spend 7 to 10 minutes with a cancer patient, how would you
know if the patient is going through depression? The answer was: He wouldn’t
know. Unfortunately, the cancer patient loses out because it is not recognized
they are going through depression which should be treated. I challenged the
oncologist about how they would suspect depression, and he explained, from
experience. I called it Medical Tribal
Knowledge.
The knowledge gained through years of treating cancer patients,
is well known among the practitioners but is seldom deliberately shared with cancer
patients. Additional examples of medical tribal knowledge include: if 10
percent of the cancer patients weight is lost during treatment, the treatment
success will diminish; chemo brain as a result of extensive or aggressive treatment;
lack of increased nutrition and an exercise regiment to improve treatment
success; and many more tribal knowledge facts I continue to learn about.
The abundance of medical tribal knowledge facts should be
communicated and known by the cancer patient but because of numerous reasons,
are not shared with cancer patients. The treatment process, regulation and
insurance reimbursement for services may all be contributing factors.
Undoubtedly, there is a shortage of man power in the oncology profession. Oncologists get paid to provide treatment,
not to provide counseling. Yet, cancer patients expect a better quality of life
and quality of cancer care and treatment. There is a huge chasm between treatment
vs cancer care and this chasm can be seen among the older and younger
generations of oncologist. The chasm is growing as regulations dictate what
activities the medical profession will be paid to provide.
The cancer patient can’t wait for the chasm to be filled.
Cancer is a relentless 24/7 enemy that doesn’t rest, and the cancer patient should make
certain their oncologist is the leader of the cancer treatment team and
process. In addition, the cancer patient needs to be proactive in their
treatment process and access the medical tribal knowledge from their oncologist
and treatment team. There is an abundance of medical tribal knowledge facts
cancer patients should be informed about. The only way to glean this knowledge
is for the cancer patient to be proactive in their treatment process, with
their oncologist and cancer treatment team. In addition, every cancer patient
should be eagerly willing to share with other cancer patients the tribal
knowledge facts they have gained.
The battle with cancer may be the worst battle of your
life and for your life, for most people. Every medical tribal knowledge piece of
information that can be gained by the cancer patient may just be the pearl of
wisdom that makes the difference in their treatment success.
