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The Many Feelings of a Diagnosis of Cancer

If you have been recently been given a diagnosis of cancer you are probably experiencing a wide variety of emotions: fear, anger, sadness, guilt, helplessness and anxiety. It is important to deal with these feelings so that they do not hinder you in your fight against the cancer. At some time or another almost all people with cancer will have some or all of the following feelings:

Denial and Disbelief

Newly diagnosed patients sometimes deny that they have cancer. After all, they think, I’ve not been that sick, how could I have cancer? Denial can be an obstacle to appropriate and timely treatment; you must accept the diagnosis to begin fighting the cancer.

Fear

The word cancer stirs up fears in everyone. Fears such as What is going to happen to me? Am I going to survive? Who is going to pay for all this medical care if I am sick? are very common in newly diagnosed cancer patients. Talking with others with cancer can help resolve some of the fears.

Anger

Anger may stem from feelings of Why did this happen to me? Anger also comes from the disruption of your life, goals and your dreams. Discussing your feelings with others who are in the same situation can help put these feelings into perspective.

Stress and Anxiety

Stress and anxiety are common reactions to a cancer diagnosis and may manifest with physical symptoms such as headaches, difficulty sleeping, and loss of appetite. The immune system may be affected so finding a means to relieve stress is very important. Go get a manicure or a massage, walk, read a good book. Attend a support group; ask your oncologist for a referral to a mental health professional for a consultation if you are not able to cope.

Loss of Control

A cancer diagnosis can make life seem out of control. You can help reduce these feelings of powerlessness by exercising the control you do have over your situation. Increase your knowledge and understanding of the cancer that you are diagnosed with, research your treatment options and the side effects of these treatments.

Guilt

You may blame yourself for causing your family worry and grief. You may worry about becoming a burden to your family; physically and financially. Support groups and counseling for both the patient and the family, can be helpful in the ability to overcome the destructive impact these feelings can bring.

Loneliness

It is not uncommon for newly diagnosed cancer patients to want to shut out everyone and everything at times but the support from caring friends and family can be a tremendous resource. They may not know how you feel, but they do want to help you.

Depression

Many patients with cancer and their families can experience some level of depression. Feelings of dread, hopelessness and a sense that life has no meaning are not uncommon feelings. If you experience symptoms of depression, ask your doctor for a referral to a mental health professional.

It is important to remember that you are not alone in your fight against cancer and to not lose hope. Researchers are constantly making discoveries that one day might result in a cure for cancer. In the meantime, the best hope for successful treatment comes from learning all you can about the details of the cancer diagnosis and the treatment options available. First, find out the name of the cancer, its size and location, where it started and if it has spread. Find out if it’s usually a slow growing cancer or an aggressive one. You need this information for get an accurate understanding of your options.

Denise Michael

7 Tips on Choosing Disposable Wipes or Washcloths

What are disposable washcloths? Rather than a premoistened wipe, they are dry unscented washcloths. They don’t have lanolin or aloe vera. They don’t come in a fancy pop-up single use box. They’re expensive. So why choose them?

When you are choosing a disposable washcloth, whether for incontinence care, general invalid bathing, or home health care, you need to keep in mind the following points:

1. Is your patient sensitive to perfumes? Many people, especially the elderly, have skin reactions to the perfumes used in premoistened wipes and other lotions.
2. Is your patient sensitive to lanolin? Some people actually have allergic reactions to lanolin.
3. Are you looking for disposable cloths only for incontinence wipes or also as general bathing care? A disposable washcloth will meet your needs for general bathing.
4. Are you looking for flushable wipes? Many disposable washcloths are NOT flushable. Flushable wipes are available from some vendors. You must look specifically for flushable if that is a factor for you.
5. Do you need a pop-up box that you can remove a wipe with one hand while not touching the other clean wipes? Some disposable washcloths are sold in such a box. There are brands which present their premoistened washcloths in a box that allows for hygienic removal of one washcloth at a time.
6. Are you looking for a replacement for non-disposable washcloths? Disposability decreases the likelihood of contamination.
7. Is name brand recognition important to you? May sound silly, but when it comes to your confidence in your home health care products, you may feel better going with well known manufacturers whose quality track record is proven.

You may find that the disposable washcloths are exactly the solution you’re looking for. And if not, there are plenty of other wipes and washcloths online to choose from.

Samantha Rangen writes about home health issues. She has a BA in chemistry and has worked as a research technician for over 20 years in biochemistry, genetics, biochemistry, and cancer research.

Samantha markets Kendall Curity Washcloths at http://www.getinspec.com. Visit for a comparison of disposable washcloths and wipes.

5 Fool-Proof Strategies to Market Your Start-Up

Starting a business can be a mind-numbing. If you wanted to know just one thing to get your business up and running, then all you have to do is to go out there and get your customers. Just how do we do that?

1. Write a marketing plan, even if you hated writing: Not because you have to write, but to firmly entrench deep into the nerve centers of your brain that your business will never even start to bring in cash until you know how to get your customers. So as a first act, just sit down in a corner and come up with a write-up as to how you intend to go about acquiring clients. Include everything you need here — budget, strengths, weakness, Unique Selling Propositions and the like.

2. When you start, start poor: If you had loads of cash that you might be lucky to start out with, it is highly recommended that you follow some guerrilla tactics to get your first set of customers — why is that you might ask? Well, because firstly, you don’t get into the habit of falling back on wads of cash and secondly, because you’ve got to get a taste of the dirty leg work that one needs to do, and thirdly, you better be prepared for the worst and knowing what to do when you have no taxes is the best thing to learn.

3. Pick up one skill, Sales: You would have heard this a million times, but it is worth repeating — if you had to pick up just one skill from anywhere (especially while you were working), you would do well to pick up “The Art of Making a Sale”. This single skill alone can indeed bail you out of any problem that you might have tomorrow and can single handedly turn the tables around when it comes to your cash-flow.

4. Go where your target market is, not where your taxes are: What is the mistake most businesses do? They simply go where their “Competitor” are going - wrong. You’ve got to be where your target market is. If they are students, you will find them hanging out in cafes, pubs, coffee shops. If your competitors were spending money on newspaper ads (which the students rarely read) — well, you are in trouble, aren’t you?

5. Marketing isn’t for the bad days; it is for each day - forever: Here is what some people do when they start up — they promote, market, sell until they make a few sales and once their tax are full, they stop. Stop? Excuse me? Marketing is like filling fuel in your car, only that it has to be done at regular intervals and not just when your fuel tank is empty. Marketing is an ongoing affair — the day you don’t make a sale, you are sending out distress signals and that’s your EAM (Emergency Action Message).

Robin Matuk is an Internet Business Coach who addresses the needs of entrepreneurs and business owners looking to maximize the power of the Internet to build, manage, and grow a thriving business. She is the founder of My Digital Coach, a blogger at Creating with Impact and a community builder at The Big Idea Community. Check out her website My Digital Coach.

Leukemia 101: What You Need to Know About

Cancer in any form is a deadly disease. But when it affects the most vital components of the body then their fatality increases manifold. One such type of cancer is cancer of the blood, technically known as leukemia. Blood is the most important tissue of the body. It is the connective tissue which carries and supplies oxygen and other vital elements to the remotest parts of the body. The importance of blood can be understood by the fact that it is the most important of all the connective tissues which provide the nutrients and other vital elements to the body.

The most dangerous feature of leukemia is that it is related to the blood which has access to almost all body organs including the all important brain and heart. The incidence of cancerous cells being carried to the different parts of the body increases drastically due to this fact. Another striking aspect of the blood cancer is that it affects the leukocytes or the “white blood corpuscles” of the blood. These are the ones that protect the body from external infections. Thus the immunity of the body is seen to decrease drastically due to leukemia. The main effect of the disease is that the body starts producing infected and abnormal cells that hinder the function of blood i.e. carrying of oxygen.

A patient suffering from leukemia is seen to loose weight due to anemia. This happens because the cancerous cells are unable to carry the hemoglobin properly which is the chief source of iron to the body. And due to that the body looses all vitality. The situation of the patient becomes vulnerable because the brain also starts to dysfunction due to infected blood. Headache, night sweats etc. can be commonly seen to occur as an attachment to this deadly disease.

The people living in areas prone to radioactive waste disposal and activity are most common targets of leukemia. Overexposure to radioactivity causes the cells to mutate and function abnormally. The children who are diagnosed with Down syndrome have a high probability to develop leukemia. Over exposure to Benzene, the industrially important hydrocarbon is also a known cause of blood cancer. The abnormal cells are easily detected under the microscope. Thus the doctor suspicious of such a disease advises the patient for a bone marrow examination. The onset can be detected by the swollen lymph nodes of the body which are commonly found in armpits, around the neck and at the thigh.

Chemotherapy is the most effective but a very painful way of killing the cancerous cells. The patient is subjected to drugs orally. The patient undergoes tremendous pressure as he is injected with lot many chemicals at a time. Another treatment is through the radiation. It is also very treacherous way of getting treated. The patients are seen to loose hair and texture of skin.

Leukemia though very dangerous is still curable and the research in the field is also being done on an extensive basis. Proper treatment at the right time can prevent the reflux of this disease. Methods like bone marrow transplant, which may be required at a later stage, are also effective in treating the patient. Above all to over come with the disease a person needs to be loved and supported by all. Leukemia is fatal disease but life is mightier then it.

Mansi aggarwal writes about leukemia. Learn more at http://www.leukemiacorner.com

The Growing Popularity of Tea and Health Benefits

With the growing popularity of tea, Americans enjoy drinking tea on a daily basis totaling an average of 165 million cups a day. According to on-going research, drinking just 4 cups of tea a day may offer significant health benefits.

For some people, drinking tea starts as a medicine, but its rich flavor and wonderful taste later rendered it a beverage. It has been associated with such traditional health benefits as being able to lower blood pressure, aid digestion and cool the body from excessive ‘heat”. Modern science confirms that tea contains many antioxidants which may help prevent cancer. Other findings suggest that tea may help improve bone density, strengthen teeth, lower cholesterol and blood sugar, eradicate toxins from the blood stream and cleanse the plaque deposits in the arteries.

One example is Organic Tea, which has a superior taste when compared to others teas. This tea is organically grown in India and produces a bright green infusion with delicate vegetable notes in the aroma and a slight citrus flavor. A caffeine-free variety which is very popular. The C02 process used to decaffeinate this green tea preserves its full flavor and aroma while removing the caffeine.

Another interesting variety available is Wulong Slimming Tea. Research suggests that this tea aids weight loss because it contains a substance which activates body enzymes that break down fat. Another beneficial tea variety is black tea, which has been shown to boost the immune system and improve mental clarity.

Other types of tea include several flavored teas and herbal teas as well. Teas are packaged in resealable pouches for optimum freshness. Authentic tea sets which are ideal for brewing the perfect cup of tea. With the growing popularity of tea, no wonder so many Americans enjoy drinking tea and why they make it part of their daily diet.

Contact: http://www.teaandwares.com for more information.

What Are Clinical Research Trials For Cancer?

For many people the very word cancer conjures up images of an incurable disease, possibly one that is terminal. Worse still it is commonly believed that many of the treatments for cancer are almost as bad as the disease itself. The most often applied medical interventions include medications, chemotherapy, radiation treatments and surgeries. While cancer is nothing that any of us wish to have to face it is important to know that there are many treatment options available and that at any time there are also a significant number of clinical trials that are going on that are working on developing promising new treatments for the disease.

When medications or other treatments are developed there is a long process before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) releases the treatment or drug to the general public. Strict laws govern the testing and development phases to insure the safety of the consumer. Before any new medication or medical technique can be tested on humans in clinical research trials it will first be tested on animals and with other lab techniques. These techniques can include in-vitro and tissue testing, among other methods. Many potential treatments never make it past this stage for a variety of reasons.

Those that do, however, will be slated for a clinical research trial. Clinical research trials involve human participants who are willing to be given an experimental treatment. The hope is that not only will the trial participants benefit from this treatment but that it will be successful and consequently benefit untold numbers of other patients in the future. There are three different phases of clinical research testing.

In Phase 1 the new drug is administered to a very small number of people in order to assess the safety of the drug in humans. Side effects will also be noted. The 70% of drugs that pass this phase move onto Phase 2.

Phase 2 studies will test for the effectiveness of the medication in treating what it is designed to treat. In these studies generally a portion of the participants will be given the real drug while the rest receive a placebo. Only about 1/3 of drugs make it through this phase of testing.

Phase 3 testing involves a much larger group of patients and continues testing for safety, side effects and effectiveness of the medication. This phase of testing often lasts for many years. If a drug successfully passes through these three stages a pharmaceutical company may then apply to the Food and Drug Administration for approval. Clinical trials can be a wonderful opportunity for patients to get innovative new treatments that might not otherwise be available. However one must weigh the potential benefits against the risks.

First of all patients participating in a Phase 2 study are not guaranteed to even receive the medication but may be part of the placebo group. In this case, they will not benefit from the trial, except through knowing that they are helping to get a new treatment out to others who may benefit from it. Additionally, because these medications have not yet been approved by the FDA there is, of course, a risk of side effects.

These side effects may not show up immediately as it is often years after a drug is released into the market before some of them are seen. For cancer patients for whom currently available treatments are not working, however, a clinical trial may offer a better chance of recovery.

Laura Guthrie is a former cancer patient who successfully recovered. She now shares her best of the best information to give back.

She’s put together a website simply to give back to people just like you with tons of free information, you can get free instant access at http://www.savemefromcancer.com

We hope you got lots of value from this article, good luck in your journey.