Your head may still be foggy and spinning if you just received a cancer diagnosis. You realize that you are going to have to deal with issues, some that may be life and death, while others may be more ordinary — like will the dog get fed?
You do not have to travel this path alone and neither will your family and friends who you know are already there to support you. In addition, you’ll have your physician, but he or she is not the only medical professional that is going to be part of your support team. Proper treatment of cancer takes the skills from a lot of people.
Because the treatment of cancer is not a single approach, but multi-pronged, that is the reason you will have numerous physicians treating you. And the good treatment of cancer is not merely treating the disease alone. All kinds of other life aspects have to be addressed such as your diet, your mood and how this affecting your friends and family.
Because of all the considerations your team make include dietitians, therapists, nurses and other medical experts. There will be professionals that work behind the scenes, some of whom you may not meet including anesthesiologists and pathologists.
It is more than valuable that you have all of these professionals and experts on your care team. Each team member will be bringing a different approach and perspective to both treatment and diagnosis. And if you have many people on your treatment team, your treatment will also have many available options.
You do need to realize that the center of your team is going to be your doctor who is generally an oncologist. You will want to choose an oncologist that you feel you can communicate with and that you can trust. You need to feel that your doctor is clearly professional and knowledgeable.
