Adjuvant Chemotherapy For Women With Young Children: Our Patients as Parents

Article Tools ART OF ONCOLOGY: WHEN THE TUMOR IS NOT THE TARGET Article Tools OPTIONS & TOOLS Export Citation Track Citation Add To Favorites Rights & Permissions COMPANION ARTICLES No companion articles ARTICLE CITATION DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2001.19.1.279 Journal of Clinical Oncology - published online before print September 21, 2016 PMID: 11134226 Adjuvant Chemotherapy For Women With Young Children: Our Patients as Parents Daniel RaysonxDaniel RaysonSearch for articles by this author Shirley RuedyxShirley RuedySearch for articles by this author Show More From the Division of Medical Oncology, Dalhousie University, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2001.19.1.279 First Page Full Text PDF Figures and Tables © 2001 by American Society of Clinical OncologyjcoJ Clin OncolJournal of Clinical OncologyJCO0732-183X1527-7755American Society of Clinical OncologyCOMMENTARY01012001 Having been diagnosed with primary breast cancer twice, first at age 43 and with a young family myself, I felt a close feeling of kinship to the described patient. A cancer diagnosis often mantles patients with a sense of isolation, as though they have been singled out from their fellow humankind. Couple this with a geographic isolation from the extended family, then further link it with high parental responsibilities, and the feeling of isolation blooms into an understandable sense of being overwhelmed. To be sure, cancer is not a day at the beach for anyone. Each patient population has its own problems extraneous to the disease but singular to its nature and stage of life. With the onset of cancer, circumstances or factors that were easily—or barely—managed before swiftly assume a wholly different complexion. Dr Rayson has illuminated, particularly well, the distinctive landscape facing the patient who has a young and active family. Today’s mobile society only deepens the crevices in the terrain of this landscape. For help, the patient must explore every avenue she has, including relationships developed at church and through organizations to which she and/or her spouse belong. Dr Rayson rightly points out the active role the oncologist should take in explaining the effects of chemotherapeutic agents, their varying degrees, and some of the paths open to the patient in this particular situation. The wisdom of an ongoing evaluation of family dynamics cannot be overestimated. Lastly, a call to the American Cancer Society may reap further sources unique to the patient’s area. Author, “Cancer Update” column The Gazette Cedar Rapids, IA