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Surviving cancer
CANCER touches almost everyone. It takes its toll not just on patients themselves, but on the family and their friends who support them through the ordeal.
Anyone who has seen this can talk of the damage it wreaks on the body of a cancer survivor. The cancer care available on the NHS, and the dedication of its oncology staff, has made Britain the envy of the world – but patients accept that after battling the disease, they then have to learn to live with the side-effects of treatment.
More can be done to help these people. Many of those who survive cancer are in later middle age, when the body is less well-equipped to withstand the power of treatments like radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Up to 10 years after treatment for the disease
has ended, they still face having to cope not just with pain, but often acute embarrassment at the changes in their behaviour which are a legacy of their illness.
Fatigue, nerve damage, hot flushes and impotence are just a handful of the problems with which patients will have to live while they are in remission. Often sufferers may feel reluctant to speak up because these problems are less serious than the cancer itself – but their presence can still reduce quality of life sharply. Britain's ageing population means this issue will only increase in importance.
Macmillan Cancer Support has spoken up for the needs of this group of people. This is entirely fitting because the third sector plays a huge role helping patients and their loved ones to deal with the after-effects of the Big C, not least because NHS staff are already working flat out to deal with people in a critical condition.
Now it is up to the Government and the NHS to listen to what has been said, because there is no one who can say they will be immune from the pervasive impact of cancer.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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