Cancer Fighters Thrive is a quarterly print and online magazine bringing readers practical, innovative and inspirational information about cancer treatment and survivorship.
Issue link: http://cancerfightersthrive.epubxp.com/i/197379
SPECIAL FEATURE KEY TERMS TO KNOW benign growth or disease that is mild, not progressive and not cancerous UNDERSTANDING CANCER TERMINOLOGY, HOWEVER, IS ACTUALLY AN ASPECT OF TREATMENT THAT YOU CAN CONTROL: BY BUILDING A CANCER VOCABULARY, YOU WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND THE DETAILS OF THE DIAGNOSIS AND YOUR TREATMENT PLAN AND BECOME AN EMPOWERED MEMBER OF YOUR CARE TEAM. understand encouraging information, such as potential benefts of treatment. But Colleen had more to learn, much of which would help her feel hopeful and more in control. "I didn't even know what the word 'metastatic' meant when frst diagnosed," she says. But she soon started her education: "I slowly learned the medical terms and what it meant to be diagnosed with late-stage disease." To help newly diagnosed patients get a head start on vocabulary, Goodwin reviews key words with patients on day one: "I always try to go over new terminology and make sure patients understand it all." She believes that this is an important cfthrive.com biopsy the removal and the examination of tissue for the purpose of diagnosing disease cancer a diverse group of illnesses characterized by the rapid reproduction of abnormal cells that invade normal tissue chemotherapy a conventional medical treatment using drugs that kill cells that reproduce quickly, including cancer cells; chemotherapy drugs may be prescribed individually or in combination with other chemotherapy agents or with other conventional treatments, such as radiation lymph nodes small, bean-shaped structures that are part of the immune system and contain lymphocytes, which can trap cancer cells or bacteria traveling through the body in lymph fuid metastasis the spread of cancer from the place of origin, through the lymphatic system, to other organs or tissues of the body neutropenia a condition characterized by an abnormally low count of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that helps fght infection oncologist a medical doctor who diagnoses and treats people with cancer; may have an area of specialization (for instance, a radiation oncologist specializes in radiation therapy, and a gynecological oncologist treats cancer of the female reproductive system) recurrence the return of cancer after a period of remission, usually a year or longer; may occur in the same place as the original cancer, called "local recurrence"; in nearby tissues or lymph nodes, called "regional recurrence"; or in a new area of the body, called "distant recurrence" regimen a treatment plan that specifes the dosage, schedule and duration of treatment stage a measure, from one to four (I-IV), of the size and the extent of cancer; a lower stage indicates less or no spreading, whereas a higher stage refects cancer that has metastasized to distant areas of the body winter 2013 | cancer fighters thrive 11