Bell Lap Blog

Cancer's Bell Lap Blogs are secular and practical guidance. For opportunities of a spiritual journey in a life with cancer, see the Cancers' Windrunners Blog.

14 - CANCER CLINICS - HOW CAN I GET THE MOST OUT OUT OF THEM?

Submitted by Dr. Robert F. Lane on

There are some things you need to know about doctors and their offices that will enable you to help them help you. Get to know key nurses and receptionist by their first names and ask for them by name whenever possible. It is huge. Write them down or have your teammate do it on the first visit and learn them. It establishes a connection which can make a difference when you call for assistance. Every office is swamped with complex people with complex problems.

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Cancer Clinics
Doctors
Best Patients
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16 - WHAT IS "STANDARD" vs "ALTERNATIVE" Therapy & ARE THERE RESEARCH OPTIONS?

Submitted by Dr. Robert F. Lane on

Standard Therapy-What is It?

Have a conversation with your physician about "standard therapy".It is defined as a time-tested regimen consisting of a combination of medicines given in a particular sequence over a particular time period for a particular cancer that over the years has over the years yielded the best responses for a large heterogeneous group of patients. In order to have reached this status, a regimen has had to be created and tested over a period of time and the results have been observed for at least five years or more.

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Alternative
Standard & Research Therapy
Scam Artists

17 - WHAT IS MEANT BY CANCER STAGE AND HOW IS IT RELATED TO PROGNOSIS?

Submitted by Dr. Robert F. Lane on

You cannot leave the starting blocks without learning the type, grade and stage of your particular cancer.  At the outset, everyone may have a notion of what cancer and cancer treatment is, but it is highly unlikely that your concept aligns with your specific type and stage of cancer.

Cancer is a behavioral disease of cells the way crime is a behavioral disorder of humans. Cells which have become cancerous have two aberrant, neigh criminal, behaviors: uncontrolled multiplication and a proclivity to spread to other parts of the body.

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CANCER STAGE
TYPE
GRADE
Prognosis

18 - WHAT IS PROGNOSIS & HOW OFTEN SHOULD I ASK ABOUT MINE?

Submitted by Dr. Robert F. Lane on

Ask Your Doctor About Prognosis Repeatedly

Prognosis tells you what to expect in terms of length of life only as of that moment, but not quality. It will change as time passes and new information comes in, so you must ask repeatedly. Initially it estimates how long you will live if you take no treatment to give you a baseline against which you can consider treatment.

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CANCER PROGNOSIS
CURE
RESPONSE RATE
REMISSION DURATION

19 -What Is The Chance This Will Work Doctor?

Submitted by Dr. Robert F. Lane on

Each patient must remember the critical differences between RR, PR, CR, OS, MDR, and Cure, and listen carefully for which one the doctor is talking about. Beware when treatment is described as some percentage chance of working, without "working" being defined. It often only means OR= objective response. That is any measurable response or tumor shrinkage less than 50% which may or may not be clinically meaningful to you in terms of quality or length of life: i.e. measurable but not beneficial.

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