Ah my little Andrea! How wonderful it was to see your
post. I am very sorry to hear your mother passed on to her next journey. I
will keep all of you in my prayers. I hope what I am writing helps
you. Warmly your friend, lillian
America appears to be one of the leaders in cancer treatments,
therapies and researching; however we lack in certain areas.
I believe that much more work needs to be done in the
researching of the cancers that have a grim survival rate. I say this even
though both of my cancers were not in that group.
I believe we need to push on with alternative treatments, the
educational aspects of such and a way of permitting the good alternatives the
license to sell. To weed out the alternative treatments that simply are
not effective.
I believe we need to learn much more about death. When
one truly understands and has the knowledge of the death process, they are less
afraid. That all health care professionals are made more aware as to the
treatment of patients that are dying. Some are absolutely wonderful, then
there are the others. A family should be taught the dying process; so that
they won't panic.
I believe more funding is necessary so that every American has
access to the same quality of treatments.
I believe the Spiritual aspect of a patient should also be
addressed by the attending physician, no matter what the persons beliefs
are.
This is Andrea Deschenes...I was a part of the
forum last year when my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Unfortunately, she passed away this summer.
I'm doing okay but I need you help now. I'm
in broadcasting at Ryerson and I'm doing a story on Cancer and whether or not
we, as a society of cancer patients, are losing faith/confidence in our Cancer
care systems.
There is an article at Canoe.com called "Canada
Lagging in Treating Cancer" which pretty much states that Americans are
fairing better than Canadians in regards to survival rates.
So, I would like to hear what you guys have to
say. You were always such a great help to me when my mom was sick that I
really value your opinions. I know that all your answers and/or opinions
are sincere.
Questions: Are Canadians losing confidence
in the national cancer care system? What problems do you see with the
current system? and how can these problems be improved?
I appreciate your help very much and hope that
everyone is doing as well as can be expected. The one lesson the forum
(and thus, all of you in it) taught me was to keep my chin up and always think
positively. I will never forget that.
