Cancer Patients, Essay Example

Fair Treatment of Cancer Patients

Having read the article in NY Times about cancer and how people are not getting sufficient care, I can say that it is rather shocking. The treatment patients get when they are facing life and death decisions, mental breakdowns because of the sudden sickness has to be changed and adapted accordingly.

Cancer is a terrible disease that is affecting more and more people every day in our country. In year 2007 the forecast was that “there will be more than 1.4 million new cases of cancer in the United States, and 559,650 deaths” in the following year. The number grows rapidly and sometimes there is nothing we can do about it.

The story of Karen Pasqualetto and the indifference of the doctors who noticed but did nothing about the possible tumor she had, seems a little cruel. US has a good health system but when it comes to personal touch and compassion, it is lacking a lot. The case of Ms. Pasqualetto shows that sometimes people do not want to care more than the situation is. The woman gave birth and that was it. Doctors did not find it necessary to advice the patient to go through the screening when they saw a “bruise” in the area of her liver. Doctors made assumptions based on nothing but just a look and they were wrong. They took a life of a person. I believe there should exist much stricter rules about treatment guidelines of cancer patients. Health care system should be a one big synchronized mechanism that works and functions together, that aids and assists.

Doctor is one of those professions that make a big impact on our lives. I tend to think of doctors as the people who have a particular talent to heel others and devote themselves to serving the needs of humanity. Therefore, when it comes to such a big issue as cancer, I think the doctors should offer more care than it exists today.

When a person learns that he or she has cancer, they go through a very complicated stage in their lives. Starting from analyzing personal issues such as why is it me, people ask big questions such as which doctor should I consult with, what hospital is the best to help me out. It is a complex dilemma when patient hears from two or three doctors, totally different forecasts about how long they will live and even more essential which is the best treatment to undergo.

Coming back to my thought that the health system should be a synchronized mechanism, I think it is vital for doctors as well as hospitals in general to provide people with the information on where they can get a second consultation to get a second or third opinion. And even more I believe that the patients should not be facing totally different forecasts leaving them in despair of choice and fear to make a wrong decision in the first place.

Cancer is one of the toughest diseases that people face and are afraid of, therefore, it is important to work on the professional treatment guidelines that can ease persons’ choice and give them confidence in the health system. Cases such as of Ms. Pasqualetto should happen very rarely because they show the indifference of the doctors. Ms. Pasqualetto was giving birth by Caesarean section which means that there was a surgeon present in the room. Therefore, how could a professional doctor seeing a tumor in a size of “a banana” not point it out to his or her patient as a sign of concern? There is just something wrong in this situation. Is it indifference? Is it the problem of a surgeon’s busy schedule? These are the questions that we cannot answer but they are essential to be taken into consideration if later the doctor is telling his or her client that she has six months left to go.

On a contrary note, it is worth mentioning that sometimes doctors who are treating cancer patients try to avoid giving clear answers to such questions as how long will I live because before saying out loud, they are making all possible to save the client and offer all the treatment there are. This is understandable if we are talking about a perfect scenario of patient finding his or her best doctor who cares. But when at the beginning stage of identifying the disease patients are given two or three various opinions, it is quite outrageous.