| Nobody wants to tell someone else that they are | | | | truth and 69 to 90 percent of the doctors |
| going to die and there is no easy way to tell | | | | favored avoiding the truth," yet, still either way |
| someone that their treatments have failed and/or | | | | the cancer patient has the right to know and if |
| they are going to die from cancer. Nobody wants | | | | they are not told, this can often be more cruel. |
| to tell a cancer patient they have a terminal or | | | | Those who bring the bad news must do it in an |
| incurable cancer and it's only a matter of a short | | | | empathetic way and allow dialogue back and forth |
| time. It's never been easy to tell people of horrific | | | | and answer the questions honestly. It helps to |
| future events in their lives. | | | | have X-rays and graphics to show the cancer |
| And someone who is too blunt with a terminal | | | | patient what is going on and break it down into |
| cancer patient may find quite a bit of reflex and | | | | laymen's terms. The cancer patient will have |
| reactionary emotion coming back at them. An | | | | many questions, such as the time frame left, if |
| outburst filled with hostility, anger and pure hate. | | | | they will be experiencing pain, if there are any |
| Of course, this is a reaction of fear and it is often | | | | other new medical cures or experimental drugs |
| coupled with denial and ignored. Thus, a doctor or | | | | and such. |
| loved one that is in charge of breaking the news | | | | The doctor needs to be truthful without giving |
| needs to do it correctly. Otherwise, they may | | | | false hope. The patient's emotion will be filed with |
| feel the effect of a "kill the messenger" | | | | thoughts of divine intervention, anger, denial, |
| syndrome, which is quite common. | | | | depression, resignation, and hopefully eventually |
| In the book; "The Cancer Reference Book," the | | | | acceptance. Please approach this issue carefully, |
| authors explain that; "according to various | | | | how you go about it will mean a lot to the person |
| [psychological] studies 77 to 87 percent of the | | | | you are relaying the news to. |
| terminal cancer patients favored knowing the | | | | |